Annual CABI road race another ‘huge success’

The 14th annual Canton Road Race started and finished at Pappas Rehab. (Michelle Stark photo)

Canton road racing legend Louis Raffetto repeated as the 5k champion and the local business community netted close to $50,000 for Canton-based charities at another “hugely successful” Canton Road Race held this past Sunday at the Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children.

Presented by City of Boston Credit Union in partnership with the Canton Association of Business and Industry (CABI), this year’s race drew an estimated 330 participants of all ages and ability levels. In addition to the traditional 5k and 10k races, the event also included a kids’ wheelchair race, kids’ fun run, walk, and a 10k corporate challenge.

“This is our signature event, and it was a huge success,” said CABI board member Steve Cesso. “The weather was great, the facility was great. There was plenty of food. We had face painting, kids were outside blowing bubbles and playing games. It was just a wonderful event.”

Previously hosted and sponsored by Reebok, the race was moved to Pappas last year after Reebok relocated to Boston, and the change in venue, although unexpected, has worked out wonderfully, according to Cesso.

“They’ve really opened up their facility to us and they’ve just been tremendous hosts,” Cesso said of Pappas, a pediatric chronic care hospital serving children and young adults with multiple disabilities. “It’s a beautiful facility run by wonderful people doing wonderful things.”

Cesso added that it was heartwarming to see the residents of Pappas “getting out and cheering on the runners crossing the finish line.” Several Pappas residents also took part in the one-mile wheelchair race, which kicked off the event at 8:15 a.m.

Also contributing to the success of this year’s race were the sponsors, led by presenting sponsor City of Boston Credit Union and platinum sponsors Boston Mutual Life Insurance Co. and Fresenius Kabi.

“Since joining the Canton community in 2015, the City of Boston Credit Union has been proud to support the Canton Road Race and the charities and organizations that make this town such a great place to live and work,” said CBCU President and CEO Dan Waltz, who ran in the 5k — his first ever road race. “Sunday’s tremendous turnout and the energy throughout the day’s events were a testament to this vibrant and supportive community.”

Lauren Raffetto, 9, who finished 1st in her division, with her dad, Louis, winner of the 5K

Other sponsors for this year’s race included Bank of Canton, Canton Citizen, Computershare, Eversource, FIS, Harbar, Humboldt Storage & Moving, and Triad Advertising. Several other local companies also contributed with donations of cash and products, including Trillium Brewery, Wegmans Westwood, and Stone L’Oven Pizza.

Throughout its 14-year history, the race has raised over $700,000 for local charities and civic organizations through the CABI Charitable Foundation. Recipients have included Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital, the Canton Police and Fire departments, and the Canton Food Pantry. Proceeds also fund scholarships for students at Canton High School and Blue Hills Regional Technical School who are actively involved in the community.

Regarding this year’s races, RaceWire posted results for 200 runners in the 5K and 73 in the 10K. Louis Raffetto, an accomplished distance runner who has won all of the major Canton road races, bested his winning 5k time from a year ago to finish in 17:41 — 40 seconds ahead of runner-up Steven Croft of Warwick, Rhode Island. Raffetto’s 9-year-old daughter Lauren also competed in the 5k and finished tops among all runners ages 18 and younger and 15th overall with an impressive time of 23:30.

Also in the 5k, Pembroke’s Allison Cleary finished first among the women and fourth overall in 20:31, just two seconds behind third-place finisher Anthony Genna of Mendon.

In the 10k race, Braintree’s Matthew Drummond cruised to a victory in 33:55, while 14-year-old Abby Deveau of Framingham took top female honors. The top Canton finishers were Alexander Curry and Fernando Iriarte, who finished seventh and eighth, respectively.

This year’s corporate challenge title went to Computershare, whose top five runners bested the times of 18 other corporate teams. Cesso, who works as U.S. general counsel for Computershare, said the Canton Road Race is a “big event” for the company and winning the corporate challenge made it all the more special. “Everyone loves running in it,” said Cesso. “It generates enthusiasm and spirit and it’s an opportunity for Computershare to give back to the community.”

For a complete list of race results, go to http://my.racewire.com.

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