Westborough Women Made of 'Tufts Stuff'

If you’re planning to run the Tufts 10K Race on Columbus Day and don’t want to get lost, just follow Judi Masters of Westborough – she knows the way. Judi is one of a special group of 18 women who will be running this year’s race for the 35th consecutive year - since its inception in 1977.

“My goal is to finish it, to do a decent job, and to not be injured,” Judi said.

Judi will be running with daughter Kimberly, who has completed 33 Tufts 10K races and granddaughter Olivia, who has completed five. The three generations of women “stay together because that’s what it’s about,” Judi said.

The famous race began in 1977 as the “Bonnie Bell Mini Marathon.” The flat scenic course begins and ends at the Boston Common, winding through Back Bay and along the Charles River in Cambridge. It is one of the largest women's-only 10Ks in the nation and has been USA Track & Field’s USA Women’s 10K Championship course for the last eighteen years.

“It’s a fantastic race for women. It’s very supportive,” Judi said.

Among the thousands of participants this year will be at least 22 Westborough women, including and Resa Sherr, who will both be running their first-ever 10K race. They are running as part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training group. Both women began running over the summer as a way to achieve fitness.

“Resa and I were talking about how we both had just gotten into running. I thought, ‘If I have six weeks to train maybe I can do this thing,’” Susan said. “It’s definitely a stretch for me.”

Resa, who last spring described herself as “so not a runner” was inspired to take up the sport after her husband, , completed the 2011 Boston Marathon with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. “We were there as a family supporting him,” she said. “Now I’ll be the one at the starting line. I’ve definitely caught the runner’s bug,” she added.

Both women are particularly inspired by the many people they’ve met through Team in Training, including one woman on their team who is a cancer survivor.

“If she can run it, everyone can do it,” Resa said.

The festivities include a 1K fitness event for kids prior to the start of the 10K race. Led by Olympic Gold Medalist and race spokesperson Joan Benoit Samuelson, the kids' course winds around the Boston Common. Susan’s 8-year-old son, Aaron, will be participating this year.

For Judi Masters, the Tufts 10K has become a lifelong family event that her daughter and grandaughter have literally grown up with. 

I’m very proud of my daughter who’s still running. And I’m proud of my granddaughter," she said. "I’m tickled that I can keep doing this with them. It’s a nice memory.”