"If the weather is cool," the smart money predicted, "Melody will win."
Well, the weather for the 93rd Annual Dipsea cooperated and 61-year-old Melody-Anne Schultz performed according to form, breezing to a victory in 63 minutes and 36 seconds. Melody was five-a-half minutes ahead of three-time winner Shirley Matson, 62, who turned in a respectable 1:08:09 run for second.
Third place went to Cliff Lentz, 38, who battled step for step down the finishing chute to nip fourth place winner Diana Fitzpatrick,45, by only two seconds.
Right on their heels was another neck and neck sprint between Adam Hersh, 31, and Chris Phipps,33, for fastest time honors. Hersh won, completing his first official Dipsea competition in just 50 minutes and 12 seconds.
Michelle Hannaford was the twelfth runner to cross the finish line, but she completed the course faster than any other woman in the field.
The first high school finisher was 18-year-old Nicci Fish, who won a black tee shirt by coming in 23rd.
There was, of course, huge applause and cheering for the top finishers, but there was at least as much of an ovation and upsurge of emotion when two sentimental favorites crossed the line. The first roar was for Stephen Daffron, a 51-year-old Kentucky runner who finished in 507th place. The Dipsea was the first race he has run since Daffron was run over by an ambulance last November, losing a kidney and part of his liver. The feat is remarkable considering that he wasn’t even able to walk until March. During the awards ceremony following the race, he was awarded the Norman Bright Trophy for exceptional effort in The Dipsea.
And finally, toward the end of the ceremony, there was a huge applause as 96- year-old Jack Kirk shuffled around the final turn and stepped gamely toward the finish to complete his record shattering 68th consecutive Dipsea. The ceremony just stopped, and with camera crews and motorcycle cops escorting him, over a thousand people in the audience cheered and shouted as Kirk crossed under the Dipsea finish line banner, possibly for the last time.