Forrest Memorial Road Race in its 23rd year
By Ken Powers Contributing Writer

Marlborough - Like the man for which the race is held, the Forrest Memorial Road Race has become a city staple. Now in its 23rd year, the 5K race will be held Sunday Sept. 23 at 11 a.m. The race will begin and end at the Wayside Racquet and Swim Club.

The race is named in honor of Jim Forrest, a Marlborough city councilor who, in 1944, helped create the Marlborough Boys Club Inc., the predecessor of what is now known as the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metrowest.

Proceeds of the race will benefit the Greater Marlborough Programs Inc. (GMPI), the Marl- Branch of the Special Olympics. In the last 11 years the Forrest Memorial Road Race has raised more than $100,000 for GMPI.

Jim's son Pat Forrest created the race in honor and memory of his father back in 1985. At that time the race was five miles in length, began and ended at the Boys & Girls Club on Pleasant Street, and was a hilly and challenging course.

In 1995, at a roast of Pat Forrest, held to commemorate his 60th birthday, Darren McLaughlin, general manager of the Wayside Racquet & Swim Club, announced the race would move to that facility, on Broadmeadow Road, beginning in 1996.

Pat Forrest and McLaughlin had become friends as a result of McLaughlin's running the road race and Forrest's membership at the Wayside Racquet & Swim Club.

It was at that time, also, that the race was reduced in length from five miles to five kilometers (3.1 miles), and that the beneficiary of the proceeds became GMPI. Prior to that the proceeds were donated to the Boys & Girls Club.

The Boys & Girls Club used the proceeds to purchase much-needed items for the clubhouse and the community, including the scoreboard currently in use in the Marlborough High School Fieldhouse.

Over time the race has grown in popularity from an average of about 100 participants during the first 10 years of the race to as many as 300 in the last 10 years of the race.

Although still set on a hilly course, the reduction in the length of the race, plus the addition of walkers and families with strollers, has made it one of Marlborough's "can't-miss" events that is a mix of socializing and helping out the community in one fell swoop.

In keeping with long tradition, the Pre-Race Pasta Dinner will be held at the Marlborough Courtyard by Marriot Friday Sept. 21. The socializing will begin at 6 p.m., with dinner served at 7 p.m.

The guest speaker will be Paul Giogrio, the central Massachusetts resident who has climbed Mount Everest four times.

Also expected to be on hand providing musical entertainment are members of the Marlborough High School A Cappella Choir.

Also in keeping with tradition, don't forget to stick around after the event for the post-race cookout and bash that has become as much a part of the Forrest Memorial Road Race as the race itself.