Kelley Ocean Beach Race

For the last few years, I've made a pilgrimage to Connecticut to run in the Johnny Kelley Ocean Beach Race. This year, I felt the physical price of running it would be too great (yeah, I wussed out!), so I worked at two water stops with my friend, Patti Dillon, her daughter, Raven, and Dr. Bob Chasen and his son, Ben, and my son, Matthew.
Here we were at the water stop near the two-mile mark.
The men's winner, Eric Blake, passes the water stop at nine miles.
The women's winner, Melissa Perkins-Banas takes water at nine miles.
Race Director Way Hedding provided the funniest line of the day, when he said, "People will go to great lengths to avoid running in this race."
The New London Fire Department provides a welcome shower at the end of the race. Eleven miles in the broiling sun tends to cake you with dried sweat and this will help remove it.
Patti Dillon poses after the race with Steven DePolito, who has produced a video interview with Johnny Kelley the Younger. It focuses heavily on the years 1953-1957, when Kelley was working with his friends, George Terry and Nick Costes. Mr. Kelley, though best known as the winner of the 1957 Boston Marathon, probably did something more remarkable, winning the USA National Championship Marathon eight consecutive years - 1956 through 1963, then getting beaten in only by 1964 by Leonard "Buddy" Edelen, who had run the fastest marathon ever shortly prior.
Amby Burfoot, John J. Kelley and Patti Dillon at a post-race party.