RUNNINGCOLUMN,ROBROSE

It was a good year for the Billy Kelly races this year. No,

amend that. It was a great year for the Billy Kelly races in

2006! Race director Keith Purrier was surprised but grateful on

that November day when over five hundred runners showed up in

Mansfield to run the 5K and five mile races. 537 finishers to be

exact, an increase of over 200 runners from last year. So many

runners that Purrier had to go out and pick up more T-shirts the

night before the race to meet the demand. It was a great year

for the Billy Kelly races .... but it just got better.

Earlier this month, local runners Wendy Nelson of Foxboro,

North Attleboro's Audrey Bradley, Attleboro's Skip Desmarais and

Rehoboth's Dave Scanlon, convened at the Sun Chronicle and waded

through twenty T-shirts from area races to select THE ONE, the

best looking T-shirt that would be crowned the Sun Chronicle

T-shirt of the Year. The Billy Kelly T-shirt took top honors

edging out the Paul's to Tom's 5K. The Diamond Hill-Birchwold

22.5K Trail Race, the Attleboro Y 5K and the Wrentham Wroad

Wrace tied for third place. Other races receiving votes were the

Old Fashioned 10 Miler, the Crackerbarrel 5K, the Run For

Humanity 5K and the Newman Y 5K.

Desmarais wore a black long sleeve race T-shirt on that

judgment Saturday but it wasn't his first choice. "This morning

I had the Kelly shirt in my hand to wear today but chose another

shirt for some reason or another," he said. Blue, like the Kelly

shirt, is his favorite color but outside forces were coming to

bear on his fashion decision. "My wife had an influence on my

choice," he added. "She thinks I should be open minded and

choose a different color."

Well, let me break the news to Mrs. Desmarais. Your husband

still can't shake his predilection for blue because he cast his

first place vote for the BLUE Billy Kelly T-shirt. "I like the

Kelly shirt because of its simplicity," he said. "And it looks

good for wearing around."

Simplicity seemed to hold the day with the panel of judges as

Bradley reaffirmed Desmarais' choice by also selecting the Kelly

T-shirt. "Billy Kelly has a classic, simple design, great navy

blue color and has long sleeves ... all pluses for me." Nelson

had it as her second choice but she was attuned to the azure

theme. "I love the classic dark blue long sleeve." ^The

usually stoic Purrier was amazed but terse about winning. "I

can't believe it," he said. The T-shirt was designed by Kerri

Sankey, an assistant principal at Mansfield High

School. ^Purrier had the distinction of having two races that

were in the top six in the number of race finishers in the area

this year. The 5K had the third most finishers and the five mile

was sixth, all on the same day. He had no explanation for the

deluge of 200 runners registering in the week prior to the race.

"I don't know why," he said. "All I know is that nine kids will

be getting 1000 dollar scholarships this year and that's all

that matters but I do like this year's numbers. I'd do the same

thing next year if I knew what it was."

The Kelly races offered two T-shirts to runners this year,

blue or pink. A woman at the registration table made the

decision to go with blue for the contest. One wonders how open

minded Desmarais would have been if she went with pink.

The Billy Kelly T-shirt will be framed and presented to

Purrier at the Runners of the Year (ROTY) banquet on January 25

at Tom's Tavern in Wrentham. Perhaps the auspicious start needed

to have another great year.

Footnotes - Year In Review Stats - there were 26 road races in

the Sun Chronicle circulation area in 2006, down from 33 in

2005; 19 of those races were 5K's; the top race in attendance

for the fourth consecutive year was the Foxborough Run Against

Diabetes 5K (582); the other races with the most finishers were

the Old Fashioned 10 Miler (359), the Billy Kelly 5K (352), the

Foxboro Y 5K (189), Crackerbarrel 5K (187) and the Billy Kelly 5

Mile (185); only 12 races drew more than 100 runners; the

Wrentham Forest 15K was the only new race in 2006; the

TI/Dana-Farber 5K transmogrified itself into the Sensata 5K; the

Norfolk Harvest Festival 5K, John J. Kelley 5K, Plainville Fall

Festival 5K, Tom's Tavern Hangover 5K, St. Mark's Road Race, the

D-R Olympian 5K and Norfolk Community League 5K expired in 2006;

approximately 3,500 runners participated in Attleboro area races

this year; Wrentham (5) held the most races ... the Wampanoag

Road Runners have their traditional Hangover run at DB Sports in

North Attleboro; the starting time is 9 a.m., the course is

still six miles and refreshments will be served afterwards ...

the Tom's Tavern Hangover 5K returns after a year's hiatus at

11:30 a.m. on New Year's Day in Wrentham; call Jeff Hall

(508-384-2773) for details ...