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Chilly and Hilly at Roxborough Debutilly BY HERB TOWNSEND PHILADELPHIA, PA--Notwithstanding the endless media chatter about global warming, it had been an unusually cool spring. So it was no big surprise that April 14 was hats-and-gloves weather for many of the 112 runners who turned out for the debut of the Roxborough (a Northwest Philadelphia neighborhood) 5K. Still, it was not the temperature for which this race will be remembered; it will be the hills. With a steep, 100-yard uphill segment at the start, it was immediately apparent that this race would not be flat. This was followed by a quad-busting 1,000 yards of downhill. Then, with little respite, came another 1,000 yards or so of uphill to the turnaround, after which the process was repeated in the other direction. Given the nasty changes in elevation, there was small wonder at the generally slow times as evidenced by the men’s (Raymond Bokenkamp--19:07) and women’s (Aliah Molzan--22:03) winning performances. With its good mix of age-group and random-drawing prizes, and the challenging course, it’s a safe bet that this race will attract a larger following in the future. Overall 1. Raymond Bokenkamp 19:07 |