Mother's Day Run Celebrates Melrose Women
By Ellen Putnam
On Sunday morning, hundreds of Melrosians turned out to run or walk in the annual Melrose Run for Women, which is organized by the Melrose Running Club and supports the Melrose Alliance Against Violence.
The morning began with short races for kids on the track at Pine Banks Park, before runners and walkers gathered at Sylvan Street for the main race. The race went down Sylvan Street, turned right on Lebanon Street, with a brief leg in Malden, before turning onto Swains Pond Avenue to wind around Swains Pond and Towners Pond, before finally turning onto Beech Ave and then back onto Lebanon Street to end the race back at Pine Banks Park.
Many (although not all) of the runners and walkers were women, and some pushed strollers as they ran or coached older children as they ran together. Along the route, neighbors cheered the runners on with homemade signs, music, bubbles, and yelling encouragement. Police officers directed traffic at busy intersections to allow the race to keep moving.
At the end of the race, awards were presented to the fastest runners in each age group as well as for the fastest mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, and the fastest mother-daughter and mother-son pairs.
The Melrose Run for Women is a beloved Mother's Day tradition, and Sunday's beautiful weather provided community members with the perfect excuse to get outside and enjoy some exercise.
Kids races on the Pine Banks track before the main race
Runners and walkers gather before the race begins
Runners and walkers move to the starting line as the Melrose Police escort prepares
The race begins on Sylvan Street
Running down Lebanon Street
Running down Swains Pond Avenue
Members of the Melrose Running Club hand out water to runners and walkers around the halfway mark
Turning onto Beech Avenue
Back on Sylvan Street for the last stretch of the race
Runners cooling down at the finish line at Pine Banks Park
At the finish line
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