Registration hits max. capacity for 20th Canton Road Race

By Mike Berger

For the first time in its 20-year history, the popular Canton Road Race, organized by the Canton Association of Business & Industry (CABI), had to shut down registration two weeks prior to race day after reaching the maximum capacity of 500 participants.

Held on Sunday, September 29, at Trillium Brewing Co., this year’s race went off without a hitch under cloudy skies with temperatures hovering around 60 degrees.

10K third-place finisher Christian Baglini of Canton with his wife, Jaclyn, and their daughter Ellery, 10 months. (Mike Berger photo)

Event organizers Steve Cesso of Computershare and CABI President Ty Conder of Boston Mutual Life Insurance Co. said they plan to apply for a new permit next year that would double the maximum capacity, allowing up to 1,000 participants combined between the fun run, 5K and 10K races.

Cesso said the fact that they will need a new permit speaks to the success of the race as a community-focused event tying health and wellness together with corporate citizenship and civic engagement. Originally held at Canton High School, the race has seen a steady increase in participation over the past two decades, with last year’s event at Trillium reaching the 500-person maximum on the day of the race and this year’s race becoming the first to sell out ahead of time.

Under the leadership of CABI’s Charitable Foundation, the Canton Road Race has become one of the most successful annual fundraisers supporting local organizations, generating more than $300,000 since its inception for groups such as the Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children, Canton Public Library, Canton Food Pantry, and Canton Police and Fire departments. Proceeds also fund scholarships for students at Canton High School, Blue Hills Regional Technical School, and more recently, Norfolk County Agricultural School and Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech.

In 2023, the event raised over $30,000 for local organizations, and Cesso estimated that this year’s race would top the $40,000 mark.

Starting and finishing at Trillium headquarters, both the 5K and 10K courses traveled through the commercial area in and around Royall Street while traversing the campus of Point32Health, which served as the race’s presenting sponsor for the second year in a row.

Established in 2021 following the merger of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan, the nonprofit health insurer is now headquartered at the former Reebok site and ranks as one of Canton’s largest employers — and also one of the most charitable, joining fellow road race sponsors Boston Mutual Life Insurance Co. and Bank of Canton as winners of the Boston Business Journal’s 2024 Corporate Citizenship Award.

According to Anne King, Point32Health’s vice president of real estate and workplace, the company is proud to once again put its name in front of the Canton Road Race — an event that King said perfectly aligns with Point32Health’s commitment to “work together to build a lasting community of care.”

Besides Point32Health, Boston Mutual and Bank of Canton, other 2024 race sponsors included Computershare, Trillium, Gray, Gray & Gray, Fagron Sterile Services, Wegmans of Westwood, RedBall Promotions, Hilton Garden Inn, Canton Citizen, Donahue Real Estate, Judge Rotenberg Center, Harbar, Stop & Shop of Stoughton, and New England Baptist Surgery of Dedham. Of these 16 companies, seven had teams competing in this year’s Corporate Challenge.

Food and beverage donations for the race participants were provided by Trillium, Wegmans, Pepsi Co., 99 Restaurant of Quincy, Stop & Shop of Stoughton, and Shaw’s of Canton. Also assisting with race-day duties were volunteers from the National Charity League, a nonprofit organization promoting community service opportunities for mothers and daughters.

Prior to the start of the 5K, a short fun run was held with 7-year-old Lucian Vallone of Scituate placing first overall. Travis Dolcine of Holbrook, head coach of the Stoughton High girls cross country team, won the 5K race in a fast time of 17:58, followed by Peabody’s Jason Karakaedos in second place (18:17) and Canton’s John Cavanaugh in third (19:14). The top female finishers in the 5K race were Torrey Beck of Sharon (20:27), Andrea Spiewak of Canton (21:38), and Anne Blackney of Southborough (21:39).

Besides Cavanaugh and Spiewak, other top Canton finishers in the 5K included Michael Devlin (6th overall), Alex Maddestra (7th), and Fernando Iriarte (10th). Canton’s Joshua Mei also had a strong showing, placing 19th out of 255 runners, while 13-year-old Sydney Merchant finished second among all teenage runners and 32nd overall.

The youngest finishers of this year’s 5K were a pair of 7-year-old runners, and the oldest was 90-year-old Larry Cole of South Weymouth, who finished the course in 50:09.

In the 10K race, Timothy Violino of Somerville edged Pat Benson of Lunenberg by 16 seconds to take the top spot, with Canton’s Christian Baglini coming in third out of a field of 161 runners. Abigail Postlewaite of Watertown was the first female runner to cross the finish line, placing 12th overall, followed by Canton’s Rose Vogel (18th) and Emily Lanci (22nd).

Also placing among the top 30 runners in the 10K were Canton residents Mike Donohue (11th), Russell Stevens (16th), Kent Lam (20th), Prasad Ganni (27th), and James Puccio (28th).

Other top Canton 5K finishers: Alex Kaplan (3rd, M 1-15), Cooper Curry (6th, M 1-15), Lucy Merchant (4th, F 1-15), Molly Loughran (6th, F 20-29), Fiona Gilmore (7th, F 20-29), David Giuliano (7th, M 30-39), Cristi Cavanaugh (6th, F 30-39), David Lewis (4th, M 40-49), Kimberly Curry (6th, F 40-49), James Gilmore (7th, M 50-59), Ellen McGrath (6th, F 50-59), Paul Dudley (2nd, M 60-69), Joseph Perry (3rd, M 60-69), Michael Lyle (2nd, M 70+)

Other top Canton 10K finishers: Katherine Durant (2nd, F 40-49), Danny Berman (3rd, M 60-69)

Full race results can be found at my.racewire.com/results/38034.

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