With a whoop of the siren from a Temple-Greenville police car, they were off – the runners in the Souhegan Lions Club annual New Year’s Day Peanut Butter Chip Chase.
The 5-kilometer race returned in-person for 2022 after having been virtual last year, and 16-year-old JaceJoslyn took first place with a time of 18 minutes, 53 seconds. Second place was Gavin Ketola, 21, with a time of 19:02 seconds, and in third place was Peyton Joslyn, 14, with a time of 19:24 seconds.
The first female finisher was Lara Matthias, 24, with a time of 21:13.
Will Philips, a member of the Lions Club who was participating in the race this year, said the event was started by Doc Porter as a fun run, and taken over by the club in 1997. That’s when the event really began to grow, and it now typically gets over 100 participants each year. This year, despite fog and a drizzling rain, 87 of the 118 registered participants showed up at the starting line.
Philips said scheduling a New Year’s Day run in New Hampshire, and squaring off against unpredictable weather, is never boring.
“We’ve done it in the rain, we’ve done it in a snowstorm, we’ve done it when it minus-10 degrees,” Philips said.
Among the runners was Craig Romano, who was running with several generations of family members in what has become an annual holiday tradition. Romano lives across the country in Washington, but returns every year to spend the holidays with his family in Windham. He and various members of his family have been running the Chip Chase since 2004. This year, his son, at 7, was one of the youngest participants, and his mother, at 82, the oldest.
Romano said his family doesn’t have any ties to Temple other than annual participation in the race, but said after trying several different New Year’s Day 5K races, they like this one the best.
“We love the small town, and love the course – it’s hilly. It’s a great small-town tradition,” Romano said.
Romano, who turned 60 this year, said he was aiming to beat a time of 26 minutes, which he did, finishing first among his family with a time of 24:49.