27th James Joyce Ramble draws a crowd in Dedham
By Andrea Salisbury Thursday, April 29, 2010
Runners filled the front lawn of Dedham’s Endicott Estate Sunday to pick up their numbers and stretch out with a little help from folks with the Tennis X club.
As time drew near to the start of the race, Peter Reynolds called all participants to the start line. On the word “go,” a swarm of 4-year-olds sprinted to the finish line, where their parents swooped them up into hugs.
“Everyone who crosses the finish line is a winner,” Reynolds said to the next group of kids in the North Star Children’s Ramble, a smaller version of the much bigger race yet to be run.
On the back lawn of the East Street estate, the scene was the same as participants in the 27th James Joyce Ramble hunted for their names on printouts and received their numbers. Whole Foods gave out bananas and healthy snacks, while Subaru of New England, one of the event’s sponsors, showed off a few of its newest models.
An hour before the Ramble was to begin, a group of five Boston College students stretched out on the side lawn.
Alexandra White, 24, of Harwich, said she heard about the James Joyce Ramble during a “Ulysses” class at BC and got her friends to join in.
“It’s a cool way to work to celebrate the book,” White said.
White said she hoped to finish under an hour, but joked that she hasn’t really been preparing for the 10K.
“I just started and thought I would wing it as I go,” she laughed, “no, I’ve been running.”
White met her goal, finishing in 57 minutes, and was the 947th runner to cross the finish line.
As the 11 a.m. start time neared, runners were ushered over to the start line on East Street, where Granite State Race Services had its instruments in place to register the runners’ times. Upon registration, every runner received a small plastic device to attach to their sneakers. When the runners crossed the start and finish lines, the device sent a shortwave radio signal to Granite State’s instruments to register the runners’ times.
Sitting on a stone wall on East Street, Westwood runner Gregory Buckley, 39, said he had eaten Mexican the night before but he was determined to run.
“It’s like a rite of passage in Dedham,” Buckley said. The former Dedham resident was the 100th runner to cross the finish line, completing the Ramble in 42:50.
As roughly 1,600 Ramblers found their places on the start line, the Dedham High School Marching Band, led by outgoing conductor Joseph Brogan, prepared to accompany Dedham High student RJ Del Rosario as he sung the “Star Spangled Banner.”
The runners, wearing bright colored sneakers, tank tops and shorts, placed their hands over their hearts. The start was only minutes away. Brogan was invited to the stage to sound the gong and start the Ramble. As the countdown started, the front row of men had their fingers on their wrist stopwatches to keep their times. With one solid swing, the mallet met the gong’s drawing of James Joyce and the race began.
Along the way, Ramblers were treated to actors mixed in with fans who read from six different works by James Joyce, including “Ulysses,” “The Dead” and “Exiles.”
At the finish line, volunteers took their posts to welcome the runners. Kristen Folan, 13, of Norwood and Kari Masters, 14, of Dedham were in charge of holding the finish line tape.
“I think I am going to mess up,” Masters said. She was instructed to let go of the tape as the runner approached, allowing him to pass through with ease.
Someone shouted that they saw the course car and the girls held the tape firmly. The first runner was getting close. Coming around the bend, the yellow shirt of 22-year-old Boston University graduate student Brian Harvey could be seen, way ahead of the rest of the pack.
Harvey, who lives in Allston, crossed the finish line in 30 minutes, 42 seconds.
“It feels good,” Harvey said. “This was a unique race with people all over the place reading. It was cool.”
Folan and Masters, weren’t done with their volunteer duties for the day. When Maria Busienei, 24, of Charleston, WV, neared the finish line the girls got to their spots. At 36 minutes, 31 seconds, Busienei was the first woman to cross the finish line.
Out of breath, she plopped down on the sidewalk after crossing the finish line.
“It’s not bad,” she said between breaths. “Not bad. I feel good.”
Amnesty International was at the Ramble collecting signatures to ask the government of Sri Lanka to free journalist J.S. Tissainayagam. Event organizer Martin Hanely said the Ramble focuses on human rights issues. This year, as in 2009, the event aligned itself with the plight of Tissainayagam, who Hanley said was arbitrarily detained by police in March 2008 and later indicted under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for two articles he wrote for a monthly magazine.
Tissainayagam, who is Tamil, wrote articles that addressed issues Tamils, an ethnic minority, face in the South Asian island nation. Tissainayagam was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison last August, and was granted a release on bail this January while his appeal is pending, according to Hanley.
At 9:30 a.m., Shanthi, a volunteer collecting signatures, said roughly 80 people had signed.
“People are very focused today,” she said. Shanthi, a native Sri Lankan who did not give her last name for security reasons, said she knows Tissainayagam has been tortured and is malnourished. She said she hopes the signatures will be enough to convince the country’s government to free him.
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