From 2007-2013, Brian Rusiecki was a major presence at the Vermont 50 as he rattled off seven straight top-10 finishes in the 50-mile race including championships in 2009, 2010, and 2012. After a two-year absence, he returned to the race Sunday, Sept. 25, in Brownsville, Vt., and found himself back in familiar territory battling at the front of the pack.
The 37-year-old resident of South Deerfield, Mass., was in a heated battle with 25-year-old Colton Gale of Beverly, Mass., from the outset. The runners blazed out of the parking lot of the Ascutney Mountain Resort, down the road and off into the Vermont countryside where they remained within a few strides of each other for nearly 30 miles. Gale arrived at the Mile 30 aid station with about a 90-second lead, but he was still at the aid station when Rusiecki arrived, and the Vermont veteran appeared ready to pounce. The race remained tight for the next six miles, but momentum had shifted and Rusiecki soon pulled away during the final 14 miles and crossed the finish line first in 6:35:36. Gale easily held on for second in 6:52:48 – his best finish in four tries at the race.
Eric Wyler, 28, of Watertown, Mass., spent the entire day in the top 10 and earned a third-place finish in 7:17:29. Mark Larosa saw to it that Massachusetts produced the top four finishers as the 38-year-old from North Andover crossed the finish line in 7:19:00.
Of the race’s 184 finishers, 46 hailed from the Bay State. That included top-50 finishes by 40-year-old Grigory Kolesov of Brookline, Mass., who was 18th in 8:24:44; 44-year-old Todd Curtis of Grafton, Mass., who was 29th in 8:51:36; 47-year-old Carsten Braun of Greenfield, Mass., who was 34th in 8:52:20; 47-year-old Mark Snowise of Pittsfield, Mass., who was 39th in 9:07:16; 44-year-old Stephen Foley of Pittsfield, Mass., who was 40th in 9:07:17; 46-year-old Chris Ollari of Longmeadow, Mass., who was 41st in 9:10:33; and 56-year-old Steven Snook of Shelburne Falls, Mass., who was 42nd in 9:11:03.
Brenda Phillips, 42, of Arlington, Mass., was the top female finisher from the Bay State. She placed 72nd overall in 10:10:22 and was the 25th female finisher. Liz Gleason, 31, of Waterbury Center, Vt., was the women’s champion and sixth overall in 7:33:02.
Princic Earns 50K Victory
On a day with near-perfect running conditions including dry trails, sunny skies, and temperatures ranging from the mid-30s to upper-50s, Daniel Princic turned in a near-perfect performance. The 36-year-old resident of Reading, Mass., led nearly wire-to-wire en route to a first-place finish in the 50K race at the Vermont 50.
Princic was a few seconds behind 42-year-old Sylvain Rioux of Montreal, Quebec, early in the race, but Rioux soon faded. Meanwhile, Dan McGrath, 33, of Maspeth, N.Y., also hung close throughout the day, but Princic remained in control and held a lead of about three minutes at the final aid station. McGrath closed a bit down the stretch, but couldn’t catch Princic who crossed the finish line first in 4:47:29. McGrath was second in 4:48:45. Marek Telus, 40, of Contoocook, N.H., finished third in 4:50:23. The trio were the only runners to complete the course in less than five hours.
A tight race also was waged among the women as Amy Rusiecki of South Deerfield, Mass., Hilary McCloy of Conway Center, N.H., and Patricia Dowcett of Cheshire, Conn., dueled for the top spot. The trio was close for the first 13 miles before McCloy and Rusiecki started to pull away. Ultimately, McCloy, 33, opened up a lead and claimed the victory in 5:07:41, also good for fifth out of all runners. Rusiecki, 37, was the women’s runner-up and seventh overall in 5:10:52. Dowcett, 45, was the third-place woman and ninth overall finisher in 5:18:51.
Much like the 50-mile race, Massachusetts had a strong presence in the 50K as 65 of the 217 finishers hailed from the Bay State.
Joining Princic and Rusiecki in the top 50 were 32-year-old Antonio Parillo of Sherborn, Mass., who was 17th in 5:31:23; 49-year-old Paul Hyry-Dermith of Holyoke, Mass., who was 19th in 5:32:33; 31-year-old Alex Nichols of Cambridge, Mass., who was 21st in 5:33:39; 54-year-old Mike Marks of Sudbury, Mass., who was 29th in 5:43:01; 29-year-old Stacey Sarber of Arlington, Mass., who was 38th in 5:55:17; 30-year-old Alexander Hayman of Cambridge, Mass., who was 41st in 5:58:31; 43-year-old Dana Christensen of Somerville, Mass., who was 42nd in 5:58:36; and 33-year-old Antoine Dubois-Rande of Arlington, Mass., who was 50th in 6:04:10.
50-MILE RUN
MASSACHUSETTS FINISHERS
Place/Name/Age/City/State/Time
1 Brian Rusiecki, 37, South Deerfield, Mass., 6:35:36
2 Colton Gale, 25, Beverly, Mass., 6:52:48
3 Eric Wyler, 28, Watertown, Mass., 7:17:29
4 Mark Larosa, 38, North Andover, Mass., 7:19:00
18 Grigory Kolesov, 40, Brookline, Mass., 8:24:44
29 Todd Curtis, 44, Grafton, Mass., 8:51:36
34 Carsten Braun, 47, Greenfield, Mass., 8:52:20
39 Mark Snowise, 47, Pittsfield, Mass., 9:07:16
40 Stephen Foley, 44, Pittsfield, Mass., 9:07:17
41 Chris Ollari, 46, Longmeadow, Mass., 9:10:33
42 Steven Snook, 56, Shelburne Falls, Mass., 9:11:03
51 Dean Barbera, 40, Westford, Mass., 9:35:49
62 Damien Morvidelli, 37, Agawam, Mass., 9:52:10
71 David Diriwachter, 47, Vinyard Haven, Mass., 10:09:25
72 Brenda Phillips, 42, Arlington, Mass., 10:10:22
79 Wayne Ball, 42, Feeding Hills, Mass., 10:14:03
81 David Dobrindt, 45, Milton, Mass., 10:14:52
85 Marcus Wilhelm, 47, Boston, Mass., 10:17:33
86 Mike Kirk, 44, Manchester, Mass., 10:19:30
87 Annie Gagliardi, 33, Medford, Mass., 10:22:48
89 Mark Rowe, 37, Springfield, Mass., 10:26:58
93 Ross Stern, 31, Needham Heights, Mass., 10:28:16
94 Bill Lapsley, 60, Plymouth, Mass., 10:36:49
95 Mark Belanger, 45, West Newbury, Mass., 10:40:12
97 James Ryan, 50, Lincoln, Mass., 10:42:27
98 Karoline Ryan, 51, Lincoln, Mass., 10:42:27
99 Steven Pelletier, 42, Granby, Mass., 10:43:42
100 Nathan Combs, 55, Andover, Mass., 10:44:56
101 Dave White, 42, East Taunton, Mass., 10:46:27
102 Tammy Godin, 53, North Grafton, Mass., 10:46:31
104 Dave Long, 46, Bridgewater, Mass., 10:47:15
110 Steve Murray, 52, Milton, Mass., 11:02:12
114 Glen Cooper, 49, Harvard, Mass., 11:04:00
123 Heather Cook, 33, Sterling, Mass., 11:11:02
124 Mike Cousins, 49, Westfield, Mass., 11:11:07
125 Mike Machnik, 39, Upton, Mass., 11:11:35
129 Adam Winger, 36, Plymouth, Mass., 11:16:33
130 Robert Kenefick, 50, Hopkinton, Mass., 11:17:47
131 Michelle Roy, 46, Hopkinton, Mass., 11:17:48
132 Robert Falconi, 65, Milton, Mass., 11:22:02
139 Oliver Truog, 43, Milton, Mass., 11:28:29
149 Charles Joyal, 46, Feeding Hills, Mass., 11:33:25
154 Chris Welch, 49, Dorchester Center, Mass., 11:35:07
156 James McCowan, 32, Boston, Mass., 11:35:33
171 Ryan Fox, 38, West Roxbury, Mass., 11:53:58
184 Kevin Draper, 44, Acton, Mass., 12:42:45
50-KILOMETER RUN
MASSACHUSETTS FINISHERS
Place/Name/Age/City/State/Time
1 Daniel Princic, 36, Reading, Mass., 4:47:29
7 Amy Rusiecki, 37, South Deerfield, Mass., 5:10:52
17 Anthony Parillo, 32, Sherborn, Mass., 5:31:23
19 Paul Hyry-Dermith, 49, Holyoke, Mass., 5:32:33
21 Alex Nichols, 31, Cambridge, Mass., 5:33:39
29 Mike Marks, 54, Sudbury, Mass., 5:43:01
38 Stacey Sarber, 29, Arlington, Mass., 5:55:17
41 Alexander Hayman, 30, Cambridge, Mass., 5:58:31
42 Dana Christensen, 43, Somerville, Mass., 5:58:36
50 Antoine Dubois-Rande, 33, Arlington, Mass., 6:04:10
54 Peter MacEwen, 52, Beverly, Mass., 6:08:15
61 Edward Hult, 38, Weston, Mass., 6:19:18
62 Donald Dwight, 53, West Newbury, Mass., 6:19:19
64 Rebecca Spencer, 41, Amherst, Mass., 6:19:40
65 Chris Wristen, 36, Medford, Mass., 6:20:26
68 Matthew Getz, 31, Cambridge, Mass., 6:23:32
69 Michelle Maiese, 41, Roxbury Crossing, Mass., 6:25:59
77 Chelsea Curran, 29, Florence, Mass., 6:28:41
78 Sara Staats, 40, Winchester, Mass., 6:28:56
79 Bradford Berry, 26, Cambridge, Mass., 6:29:51
80 Paul Mertzlufft, 50, Lexington, Mass., 6:30:06
82 Johan Hellestam, 39, Quincy, Mass., 6:30:39
84 Amy Brown, 47, Sudbury, Mass., 6:6:33:09
86 Allyson Nelson, 26, Chatham, Mass., 6:33:59
88 Kate Huyler, 37, Boston, Mass., 6:36:40
89 Eric Howe, 49, Paxton, Mass., 6:37:17
93 Dan Bombardier, 32, Marshfield, Mass., 6:39:34
94 Bill Gause, 51, Essex, Mass., 6:39:36
98 Christina Hall, 36, Plymouth, Mass., 6:43:56
99 Crystal Ross, 35, Carver, Mass., 6:43:59
104 Blake Lanford, 37, Boston, Mass., 6:46:38
115 Kimberly Dwight, 46, Newburyport, Mass., 6:53:13
120 Todd Cleland, 47, Oak Bluffs, Mass., 6:56:20
123 Taylor Thompson, 30, Cambridge, Mass., 6:57:19
124 Mark Gauthier, 47, Fairhaven, Mass., 6:57:40
127 Jao Santos, 40, Franklin, Mass., 7:02:11
129 Keith Orni, 45, Lunenburg, Mass., 7:09:19
130 Kristen Elechko, 41, Northampton, Mass., 7:09:30
131 Kamran Tavangar, 52, Lexington, Mass., 7:10:49
132 Elizabeth Aigler, 25, Boston, Mass., 7:11:27
135 Patrick Flaherty, 56, Quincy, Mass., 7:13:23
138 Rachel Ritter, 34, Billerica, Mass., 7:18:11
141 Peter Johansson, 37, Medfield, Mass., 7:22:14
143 Michael Sullivan, 62, Sterling, Mass., 7:22:23
144 Christopher Bunnell, 36, Weston, Mass., 7:22:24
146 Eb Lynch, 42, Lakeville, Mass., 7:23:00
147 Shaun Daylor, 37, Lakefille, Mass., 7:23:01
151 Minna Kim, 42, Sudbury, Mass., 7:31:19
157 Kimber Green, 49, Arlington, Mass., 7:39:03
158 Patti Dobrindt, 44, Milton, Mass., 7:39:26
168 Joe Moscariello, 53, Wrentham, Mass., 7:52:22
169 Vanessa Bilbe, 41, Sudbury, Mass., 7:54:00
170 Mark Bilbe, 41, Sudbury, Mass., 7:54:01
178 Curtis Rising, 49, Manchester, Mass., 8:01:30
182 Kristin Mattocks, 46, Shutesbury, Mass., 8:10:18
185 Liv Gauthier, 43, Fairhaven, Mass., 8:17:15
187 Dane LeBlanc, 58, Littleton, Mass., 8:20:14
188 Kyle Robidoux, 40, Roxbury Crossing, Mass., 8:20:14
196 B.J. Tomlinson, 57, Amherst, Mass., 8:35:47
197 Lauren Holt, 54, Shutesbury, Mass., 8:35:50
202 Catherine Sullivan, 37, Scituate, Mass., 8:52:10
208 Catherine Still, 40, Taunton, Mass., 9:05:35
211 Susan Snyder, 62, Williamstown, Mass., 9:25:35
214 Elaine Puleo, 65, Shutesbury, Mass., 9:41:41
216 Jackie Studer, 36, Mansfield, Mass., 10:07:47
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