Mount Greylock's SEE Fund on the Run
 See more photos of the Fun Run here. |
"We're taking a long-term view on this event and consider it to have been a real success in its first year," Gerry said. "We had 28 racers ranging in age from 5 to 65. All of them finished and I believe that all had fun. That was our main goal, together with enhancing visibility of the SEE Fund."
Sustaining Educational Excellence Fund supports programs and extracurricular activities at Mount Greylock.
Runners followed a rolling 4-kilometer course along the woodland trails at Mount Greylock. The course is where the school's cross country teams train and where the Mount Greylock X-Country Invitational, a classic fall event for middle and high school runners from Berkshire County, was also held last Saturday.
Gerry, along with other members of the SEE Fund Board and cross-country coaches Larry Bell and Scott Burdick, organized the event and plan to host the 4k race annually. Many of the participants this year were family and friends of the high school runners.
David Wilson, parent of a Mounties runner, himself placed third among the men in the SEE race. "Not having been a runner during my own school years, I thoroughly enjoyed my first race on an authentic high school cross-country course. And I think my son got a kick out of seeing where my finish time stacked up among those of his teammates," Wilson said.
This year's SEE race raised about $300 in entry fees, which will be added to the SEE Fund endowment. Event organizers hope to build on this in the future and attract even more Berkshire County runners to the Fall race.
The SEE Fund has been active at MGRHS since 1996 and is managed by the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation. The Fund awards grants of about $10,000-$15,000 each year, which support the middle and high school curriculum as well as co-curricular and extracurricular activities.
"We think that this cross-country race, given its location, timing, and seamless integration with a student-centered event, is a perfect way to promote community involvement in the high school and to encourage financial support for sustaining excellence in education," Gerry said.The winner of the men's race was Michael Brouillette, coach of the South Hadley high school cross country team, who completed the course in 14:05. His was the fastest time of the day including all of the varsity races. The women's winner was Hilary Greene, one of the Mount Greylock coaches. Her time of 17:51 was also very impressive, and she returned to the course to complete the race again with her son Declan, age 5.
In addition to Brouillette and David Wilson, Brian Sinico was the other runner to finish in the top three in the men's competition. In the women's event, Greene was followed by Kinsley French and Gigi French.
Sophie Gerry, an eighth-grader at Mount Greylock and member of the Mounties soccer team, also pushed the pack forward with an impressive run.
"I really enjoyed running in the SEE race and seeing all the range of ages come in to the finish. Watching younger kids come to run, who had never done a 4k race before, was really inspiring," she said.
