Since 1992
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By Bill Van Tassel
WINTHROP – Nearly 50 runners and walkers participated in the Patriots’ Day Pitter Patter run, held at Winthrop High School on April 18.
The 5k race was planned and organized by the Rambler sophomore class with the help of teachers Kirsten Said and Ed Van Tassel. Class officers David Gustin, 
Kaydenn Downing and Chris Pottle, along with classmates Harold Vance, Haley Williams, Elizabeth Roman, George Ferguson, Jordyn Kinsman, Teddy Wagner, Sam Brito, Bennett Ross and Ellen Michaud put the project together in the weeks before April vacation.
The crew enlisted sponsors to help with the class fundraiser and a fee was set for runners to register. T-shirts were designed and ordered, while unique wooden medallions were fashioned in the school wood-working lab. The day of the race, class volunteers helped the timer, monitoring the runners and helping out at the registration and food tables. Students took charge of having plenty of free post-race snacks available.
While it wasn’t an officially sanctioned event, the 5k still had its share of good runners. Participants ranged from parents with children in strollers, with some youngsters between ages of 8 and 12. Several runners in their teens, including a few high school athletes were among the first finishers.
Josh Gosselin, a student at St. Dominic Academy, had the fastest time, 19:19. The first female finisher was Allison Johnson, at 20:24. The 11 and under category was a family affair as Michael, Kylie and Natalie Van Tassel were the lead finishers, with the oldest, Michael’s time just under 23 minutes. The real winners, though, were the WHS sophomore class.
Everyone who came out to support the Class of 2024 finished the course with some in the 40 to 70-year age range either running or walking alone or with their children.
Randy Easter, a long-distance runner from the town of Mexico, was the timer. Full results can be found at Northeast Race Timing (barttiming.com).
PHOTOS:
TOP: Runners descend from Winthrop Middle School after the start of the Patriots Day Pitter Patter, a fund-raising event held by Winthrop High School sophomore class on Patriots Day, April 18. ABOVE: Pitter Patter T – Wooden medallions and this Pitter Patter T-shirt were designed by the Winthrop class of 2024 for their Patriots Day event participants. BELOW: Race timers – Winthrop sophomores helping to time the Pitter Patter race at Winthrop High School are, from left, Harold Vance, teacher Kirsten Said, Haley Williams, Elizabeth Roman, George Ferguson and Jordyn Kinsman. (Bill Van Tassel photos)
