MARTYNS ANOTHER GREAT SIDE OF FEASTER FIVE
There are many positives about this one particular Thanksgiving Day race in Andover.
Here’s a quick list:
Family. Energy. Dogs. Smiles. Thankfulness. Incredibly organized event (see race director Dave McGillivray). Apple pie. Bananas. Sports tech T-shirts (2022 was the best ever!). Bill Rodgers.
Etc., etc.
But there are a few ancillary topics that sometimes get lost, particularly those that have ever walked or run the Feaster Five Road Race.
Health and competition.
While watching the 4- and 5-year-olds take off in Kids K on Main Street in Andover, the “voice” of the Merrimack Valley Striders, host of the Feaster Five Road Race, said, “What a great way to start an athletic career.”
Those words rang (and run!) true with a few people from North Andover waiting at the starting line.
The Martyn family. Yes, family.
Specifically, dad, Doug Martyn.
He not only won this thing, the 5K race at an amazing 16:04, in 2001 at the age of 41, but before he would run “to possibly win,” he would take his two daughters, Deirdre and Katrina, to the Kids K event.
“That was a ball,” said Katrina, now 30 and a guidance counselor at Needham High. “I remember those kids’ races like they were yesterday. and we have the pictures to prove it.”
Well, we have results from yesterday’s 2022 race to prove the impact, too.
Deirdre, 28, who works for a mental health services company in Manhattan, finished first in the women’s 5K at 18:16.
Katrina, a top 10 finisher several times in the past decade, took third place behind her kid sister, at 19:53. She finished second last year.
And pops, Doug, the reason everybody was there, finished in 18:54, finishing 26th overall but first in his age group, 60 to 69.
“To run with my girls, that’s special,” said Doug. “They’re very good, both of them. But I just love being with them.”
The Martyn women both took their early Feaster Five experiences to high school, both top competitors at North Andover High, and then later at UMass Amherst.
The three Martyns are members of the Whirlaway Running Team, based in Methuen under coach/owner Dave Kazanjian, competing in New England-based races throughout the year.
“We are running family,” said Deirdre.
Yes. and it started, at least for two talented young ladies, on a Thanksgiving morning and the Kids K.
“It’s a family tradition,” said Katrina. “It’s our tradition.”
Upon hearing stories like this, Boston Marathon legend Bill Rodgers simply smiles.
“That’s why the Feaster Five is one of my all-time favorites,” said Rodgers. “Families being healthy ... We need more of that in our world.”
And a few wins, like the Martyns have under their belts, ain’t too bad either.