Annual Fred S. Warren Road Race in Holden has become a fine tradition among local runners

One of Central Massachusetts’ lasting road-running traditions remains strong, with the promise of even strengthening over the next year or two.

Always of concern is how hot weather can affect the Fred S. Warren 5.5-Mile Road Race in Holden, as it is always held on the last Sunday of July. At least the 6:30 p.m. start time saves the event from the heat of the day.

Here’s hoping last year’s race-day weather can reappear for this year’s event, slated for July 31.

MORE: Looking for a road race in Central Mass.? Here's a calendar to keep you running in summer

“No, it wasn’t very hot – it was one of the cooler days for this time of year,” said Andrea Berger, who serves as race co-director with Nicole McGurin for their fourth year. Sure enough, the 2021 results report partly cloudy and in the 70s, and can’t have much better fortune on a summer evening than that.

This is the Warren race’s second year back live following the COVID hiatus on 2020, and the completion of road construction has allowed the start/finish to return to 1059 Main St., in front of what is now Sweets and Java.

The race celebrates the memory and accomplishments of Fred S. Warren, the longtime Wachusett Regional teacher and coach of cross-country and track, whose contributions to the state’s running community were beyond immense.

Beside establishing the foundation for a storied and impressive traditions that Wachusett holds today, Warren, a member of the Mass. State Track Coaches Hall of Fame, also helped establish the Central Mass. Track Officials Association, and was the founder of the Wachusett Striders AAU running club, which eventually evolved into the Central Mass Striders, who pour their resources into this event he kicked off in the 1960s.

“This is a wonderful celebration of what Fred had started,” Berger said.

Until recent years, Fred was even present at the race carrying his name, cheering on the runners as they passed. He passed away in 2019 at age 95.

For many years, Gordon Warren, Fred’s son and himself a MSCTA Hall of Fame coach while at Shrewsbury, was active in presenting the race. Gordon is now retired and living on the Cape, but he and other family members were present for last year’s event.

Registration for this year’s race began with a flash sale at the Central Mass Striders members banquet on June 22 and has picked up steam. Most years, the field numbers about 100, and there were about that many registered last year, with 79 finishers from the area and other states (one Dean Paxson of Sun Lakes, Arizona, was a finisher passing through).

“We have a decent amount registered,” Berger said. “Sometimes it’s hard to attract more for the field while families are taking vacations.”

But for those not away, this event is a gem on the calendar. The distance is longer than 5K, but serves as a fine workout, and there will be a post-race cookout afterward adjacent to the start/finish.

And for the distance, the entry fees are hard to beat. The entry fee is just $15, $20 on race day.

“One of the things we’ve always wanted to do is keep it affordable, and also make it available to the younger runners,” Berger added. “It’s vital that we connect to that community.”

While organizers are excited about a race with added features since last year’s return to live racing, their eyes also are on next year, when the Fred S. Warren 5.5-Miler celebrates its 60th running, and the logistics are well into the planning stages.

“Next year, we’re hoping to put on something even more special, a bigger celebration,” Berger said.

To register on RaceWire, visit https://racewire.com/register.php?id=13025. For more information, visit https://cmsrun.org/races-events-3/fred-warren-5-5-miles/, or email Berger (andreab264@gmail.com) or McGurin (nicole.mgurin@gmail.com).

Remembering a coaching legend

The worldwide running community lost a giant last week, when famed cross-country and track coach Bill Squires passed away at age 89. The Arlington native was an All-American standout in the sports at Notre Dame and beyond before his illustrious coaching career.

Along with being the longtime cross-country and track coach at the old Boston State College, Squires headed up the Greater Boston Track Club starting in 1973, when the running craze picked up the pace following Frank Shorter’s victory in the '72 Olympic Marathon in Munich.

What followed under Squires at GBTC was nothing short of amazing. Boston Marathon champions Bill Rodgers, Alberto Salazar and Greg Meyer were dazzling on the world stage, along with the likes of Fitchburg’s Randy Thomas, Dick Beardsley and Bob Hodge, among others. Even wheelchair racing pioneer Bob Hall trained under Squires.

Current St. John’s High cross-country coach Mark Murray joined GBTC after graduating from Holy Cross in 1978, but his association with Squires began long before that.

During the summer entering his senior year at Wellesley High in 1973, Murray and a teammate attended the New England Cross-Country Camp at Stonehill College, where he first met Squires.

“That was such a watershed moment in my life,” said Murray, who ran for GBTC for six years. “It was such a great experience.

“He was passionate, knowledgeable and really cared.”

“Billy Squires was a believer in people,” said Rodgers, a four-time wiat both the Boston and New York City Marathons. “He loved coaching, and he understood what it took to get us to the top. He believed in us, and we had faith in him.

“He was so high energy, you couldn’t stop the guy,” Rodgers added. “And he didn’t over-rush us, keeping us at our own pace. He had a way of knowing when you were at your limit, He wasn’t coaching for Nike, he was coaching for us.”

When Murray joined GBTC, Rodgers hired the recent HC grad to work in his Chestnut Hill running store, which was along the Boston Marathon route.

“Squires kicked off high-level American marathoning,” Rodgers said.

“(Squires) knew what I needed, and addressed what I needed as well as the rest of the team,” said Murray, who while wearing at Greater Boston singlet won a Charlie’s Surplus 10-miler in Worcester. “He played a big part in how I approach coaching. He got you to love what you did.”

Murray and Rodgers couldn’t emphasize more how Squires’ approach was the opposite of “one size fits all.” What worked for Meyer, the 1983 Boston champ who could blaze through track workouts, didn’t work for Rodgers, whose strength was building up mileage upon mileage on the roads.

“He influenced me a lot, and a lot of other people, too,” Murray said. “To care and love your runners, to care about them as people and as athletes, in that order, and love them. He cared, and it showed.”

Still chasing dad

One of these days, John Murray will eclipse his dad’s best performance in a marathon.

The former Shrewsbury High and Georgetown star now coaches at Northeastern, but he was able to slip in some intense training for the Boston Marathon in April.

Mark Murray couldn’t be prouder about John’s 2 hours, 31 minutes, 6 seconds, which placed 156th in the field of more than 30,000. Mark’s best in his GBTC days was 2:29, but Dad knows that family standard is coming down soon.

—Contact John Conceison at john.conceison@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @ConceisonJohn. 

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Annual Fred S. Warren Road Race in Holden has become a fine tradition among local runners