The Winners! 2022 Killingworth Road Race Results

By Clark Judge

(August 7, 2022) — Mario Vazquez is hard to please.

The 43-year-old New Britain native conquered a field of nearly 200 runners and sizzling weather conditions to win the 15^th Annual Killingworth Road Race on Saturday, August 6th, and it wasn’t close. He beat the runner-up by nearly two minutes.

That’s impressive … except, apparently, to everyone but Vazquez.

He covered the four-mile route in 22:38, an average of 5:40 per mile and 1:58 better than second-place finisher Andrew Breck of Melrose, Massachusetts.  Nevertheless, he was far from satisfied.

“I didn’t have a good week (of training),” he said. “I couldn’t eat right this week for some reason. So my training wasn’t where it was supposed to be. But I came out and did the best I could.”

The key word there is best. He was by far the best of an event staged for the first time in three years because of COVID.  Leading from start to finish, Vazquez wound up with a time almost identical to his 2019 Killingworth Road Race when he was second to winner Conor McCabe.

McCabe won in 22:10. Vazquez finished in 22:37.3.

“That’s why I came back,” said Vazquez, who promised to return next year. “Because of my time. I wanted to beat it. I was hoping to run 21-something this time.”

OK, so he didn’t get there. But he was 10 minutes faster than all but 32 competitors, or 83 percent of the field.

Vazquez is an interesting story. He ran only one year of high school, competing in the 5000 meters, and did not compete in college. In fact, he said he didn’t compete again for 15 years before taking up running again “to see what I could do.”

Now he knows. So do the other 193 finishers Saturday.

Among them was Linda Spooner, 47, of Sturbridge, Massachusetts (photo above). She not only won the women’s open in 26:10; she finished sixth overall, averaging 6:33 per mile.  Ivoryton’s Erin Lopez, 41, was second in 27:14.

In 2019, the last time the race was run, Guilford’s Maureen Terwilliger won the women’s event in 26:35.7.

Because organizers were uncertain of the turnout, they ordered 180 T-shirts for participants. With 148 running three years ago, that seemed sufficient. It wasn’t. According to organizers, 189 individuals pre-registered, including one at 5:00 a.m. Saturday, with another 14 – or 203 in total – signed up by the start of the race.

“I bought the 180 shirts because you have to make the call early,” said Chuck Langevin, who co-organizes the annual event with Shawn Sodergren.  “I thought I could have 50 extra. But the fact that we got most everybody a T-shirt was gratifying because everybody is happy, and we made more for charities. We definitely exceeded my expectations.”

Sodergren agreed.

“We’re very happy with the turnout,” he said. “We had a great turnout from the 169 Running Club ( a group of men and women dedicated to running a race in all 169 towns in Connecticut). The weather was good. Everybody got on the course and off the course safely. We didn’t know what to expect after COVID, but, as Chuck said, this exceeded our expectations.”

The results:

MEN’S WINNER

1. Mario Vazquez, 43, New Britain – 22:38.

WOMEN’S WINNER

1. Linda Spooner, 47, Sturbridge, Mass. – 26:10.

MALE AGE GROUPS

12 AND UNDER

1. Fischer Norton, 12, Killingworth – 35:18.
2. Connor Sodhi, 11, Marlborough – 38:33.

13-17

1. Jack Cozean, 15, Haddam – 25:02.
2. Jack Collins, 16, Griswold – 25:57.

18-39

1. Andrew Breck, 39, Melrose, Mass. – 24:36.
2. Simon Carvalho, 19, Naugatuck – 27:37.

40-49

1. Eric Ciocca, 44, Northhampton, Mass. –26:09.
2. Ion Norton, 42, Killingworth – 30:06.

50-59

1. Mark Reider, 58, Rocky Hill – 29:41.
2. Scott Hines, 56, Killingworth – 30:54.

60-69

1. William Clark, 60, Thomaston – 31:35.
2. Dennis Barone, 67, West Hartford – 33:22.

70  PLUS

1. Christopher Aiello, 75, Killingworth – 36:00.
2. Bob Dacey, 73, Vernon – 38:43.

FEMALE AGE GROUPS

12 AND UNDER

1. Violet Spooner, 12, Sturbridge, Mass. – 52:43.
2. Audrey Nims, 7, Haddam – 59:19.

13-17

1. Olivia Kaisin, 17, Guilford — 27:47.
2. Isabel Berardino, 17, Killingworth – 28:32.

18-39

1. Emily Sienna, 21, Haddam – 27:43.
2. Olivia Skapczynski, 19, Guilford – 27:54.

40-49

1. Erin Lopez, 41, Ivoryton … 27:14.
2. Mary Bernier, 45, Hamden – 32:26.

50-59

1. Stacy Levy, 54, Wilton – 33:59.
2. Christy Miller, 52, West Hartford – 38:13.

60-69

1. Cynthia Vogt, 63, Killingworth – 35:17.
2. Katherine Bazinet, 60, Westbrook – 35:37

70 PLUS

1. Dawn Werneck, 76, Avon – 41:09

Photos by Clark Judge