Did you know the Hynes was the origin for Rose Maguire’s Great Women Chase?

The task of measuring the first Hynes race course for accuracy fell on the shoulders of Cool Running co-founder Dave Camire. “I was the only one who knew how to use a Jones counter (a device used for accurate measurement) so that’s why I got that job,” recalls Camire. His first task was to ride the course backwards to get a quick approximation of the start and finish. He then set out to accurately measure and mark each mile.

“I got to the first mile spot and was looking for two landmarks so I could triangulate the exact position of mile one” he recalled. “I found a telephone pole for one point but there wasn’t anything else nearby except a cemetery for the second point. I look into the cemetery and right at the mile mark was Rose Maguire’s gravestone. An Irish race with an Irish gravestone to mark mile one – priceless; it must be an omen I thought to myself.”

Twenty-one years later Camire started the Rose Maguire Great Women Chase (now the Rose Maguire Great Mill Girl Chase) a first of its kind event where the men chase women participants for prizes (see: Rose Maguire’s Great Women’s Chase 5K--The Only One of Its Kind in New England).

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