Kalapos, Kellner are New England Champs at Bobby Doyle 5 Miler

Bobby Doyle 5 Miler, Narragansett RI
August 14, 2023

Joshua Kalapos (B.A.A.) and Katie Kellner (Green Racing Project) topped the New England results the Bobby Doyle 5 Miler on Sunday.  Early morning rains and thunder left the area well before the 9 a.m. start of the coastal run, and while it was humid, cooler than usual temperatures plus overcast skies made for not unreasonable August racing conditions.

In the men's competition, a high speed lead pack of 4 materialized before mid-way and only broke up in the final drive to the finish. North Carolinian Dylan Gearanger was strongest to the tape, winning in 23:35, 9 seconds back of the course record.  Kalapos led the locals, finishing second overall in 23:58 and 7 seconds up on third placer Ben Drezek (Tracksmith).  
Kellner took an early lead and unpressed to the gold medal in 26:32, 21 seconds up on UMass Lowell's NCAA qualifier Kenzie Doyle.   

With 8 of the top 11 men's finishers, the B.A.A. was a convincing team winner, and their women's squad matched the men's win.  
Four masters runners won their divisions to maintain a perfect 4-for-4 record in the 2023 Grand Prix Series; Prescott Leach (CSU, M40), Jennifer Lutz (Battle Road TC, W40), Rebecca Trachsel (Whirlaway, W45), and Karolyn Boweley (B.A.A., W50).
 
Rhode Island's running community produced another memorable event honoring a legend of the state's running history, Bobby Doyle.  Over half of the race finishers (434) were USATF members, and though a past accompanying 5K race was eliminated in 2023 to focus on the premiere event, the 805 race finishers was large than the combined 5K/5Mile total of a year ago. 

Preliminary overall results are found at bobbydoyleraces.org/race-info/results/ and Grand Prix scoring will be verified and updated at the end of the week. The GP series continues on August 26 at the New Hampshire 10 Miler in Auburn NH.

Photos used with permisson from scottmasonphoto.com