Team King Kong Crushes RIMAConn (Relay)

Excuse the editorial license as the team that crushed the 95-mile, 18-leg RIMAConn Relay on Aug, 24 was actually named the Half Steppers.

 

Like Kong however, they had some large footprints as pointed out by Hartford Marathon Foundation VP of Operations Matt Anderson.

 

Photo: Half Stepper Tyler Raymond running 1:08:18 at the 2018 Eversource Hartford Half Marathon. Photo by MickFoto/NERunner

First off, the squad set off last from the Pratt Dam in Lincoln, RI at 9:00 am after the first of 106 6-person teams (there were also three-person teams) set off at 4:00 am.

 

With 85% of the course on multi-use trails through RI, MA and ending in Hartford, CT, the Half Steppers finished first in 8 hours 40 minutes 38 seconds for an average pace of 5:29 per mile. The runner-up Brown Running Club ran a very credible 6:43 per mile pace but placed almost 2-hours in arrears.

 

The weather was great—and the “fun” component was huge for everyone regardless of pace—with a big post-relay bash by the Connecticut River at Mortensen Riverfront Plaza in Hartford.

 

What tweaks NER’s further interest is that 4 of the 6 team members are in the New England’s Finest program slated for the half marathon in Hartford on Oct. 12.

 

Three members ran in the NEF program last year during a continuous rainstorm:

 

Tyler Raymond of Terryville, CT, ran 1:08:18 in 2018; Portland, CTs Morgan Kennedy ran 1:09:08 and Farmington, CT’s Jon Krell ran 1:09:38.

 

Photo: Portland, CT’s Morgan Kennedy at Hartford, 2018. Photo by MickFoto/NERunner

New NEF member Tyler Lyon of W. Hartford is this year’s Mystic Half Marathon champion and this past April ran 2:28:33 at the Boston Marathon.

 

The NEF crew was further bolstered by teammates James Boeding, a former runner at Bowdoin College, and 2015 Springfield College graduate Scott Bushey (Hebron, CT) who ran 2:38:17 at Boston this past Patriots’ Day,