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Meet the New Hynes (continued)
The
week prior to the race Conners had to make
a trip to The
Thursday before the race, Conners received a call from a concerned
Dionne. Apparently the race received a huge flood of last minute applications
and had topped the 1000 mark. Dionne, fearing that they were not prepared
to handle so many runners asked Conners what to do. Conners in a factitious
tone replied, "Send back the applications, but keep the money."
Dionne of course ignored the advice and the race went off flawlessly
and became an instant success. So I guess you can classify that one
under the luck of the Irish after all. The
luck continued for the next 20 years as the race was held on the second
Sunday of each March. It became a staple on the All Good Things Must End . . . Or, do they?
By the turn of the millennium new ownership had acquired the venerable Hynes Tavern. The new owner didn’t want anything to do with the event and after twenty successful years the tradition ended. The running community mourned the loss of an old friend.
This brings us to 2006 when Joe Brue became the newest owner of the Hynes and he wanted to revive the old classic. He contacted local race promoter Sean Donnelly and after some planning they decided to bring the race back on March 11, 2007 -- the second Sunday in March. This ain’t your father’s
Hynes A lot has changed in the 27 years since the first Hynes Road Race. For example, any runner in this year’s race that is age 26 or younger was not born when the first race was held. At the first race a pull tag timing system was used. It took several hours to calculate the final results -- lots of partying transpired waiting for those results. This year the race will use the DAG RFID transponder chip timing system. Instead of hours, results will be produced in seconds.. In 1981 the age group awards stopped at 40 and over. This year they go up to 70-plus. In 1981 the only runners who got a prize were the division winners. This year every finisher gets a medal. In 1981 everyone got free beer, refreshments and entertainment after the race. This year they’ll get the same – thankfully some things never change.
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