By Grady Flinn
After a full afternoon of scholastic and community races, including an 8-and-under quarter mile and a family 4×400, the tone shifted at the Adrian Martinez Classic this Sunday in Concord, MA. The emcee quieted the pulsing hip-hop coming from the speakers, and the crowd hushed. As he announced their names and listed their accolades, professional runners from across the globe jogged, one by one, to the start line and shook out their legs.
For one evening a year, Concord becomes a mini Eugene, as dozens of elite runners flock to a town track nestled in a public park between a municipal playground and a couple tennis courts. Spectators of all ages, many of whom just cooled down from their own races, rim the perimeter to catch a glimpse of the pros.
Between the women’s and men’s 800-meter and 1500-meter races and a men’s 2-mile, this year’s lineup included Olympians, an Egyptian National Record-holder, and competitors for the Olympic trials, to mention a few.
The Adro (as it’s affectionately called, after its namesake’s nickname) is not a particularly big meet – at least not by crowd numbers. It’s in Concord, not a big city or a college town. Its suburban park venue is far from the stadiums many of these professional runners are used to. You might have to peer over a shoulder – or two – to catch the finish.
Yet there’s something unique about the Adro that brings professional runners from all over the world back to Emerson Park each June.
James Mwaura, a 3x All-American in track and cross-country who placed 5th at the USATF Outdoor Championships 10,000 meters last year, attributed his own sense of ease to the day’s unpretentious vibe.
“I came in, and they were running a mixed relay with young kids. It was easy to get in the groove, get my nerves calm,” he said in an interview after his race.
In the 2-mile on Sunday, Mwaura held a steady lead over a tight front pack until breaking away during the bell lap, putting up a final time of 8:34.61.
Katie Snowden, a British Olympian and 5x finalist at the European Championships, was drawn to the Adro by the good word that “it was a really fast track.” It’s a sentiment shared by many – professional or otherwise – who have raced at Emerson. For her, the Adro was a one-of-a-kind opportunity to gear up for the next big race:
“It’s supposed to be a good meet, so I was excited to get a 1500 under my belt here before the L.A. Grand Prix next weekend,” she said in an interview.
Snowden finished second in the women’s 1500-meter race in 4:10.79.
Hazem Miawad, Egypt’s National Record holder for the indoor 800 and a 2x Egyptian National Champion, competed at his fourth Adro this Sunday.
“They just run such a good meet, and they really help the pros out. We love the energy and the fans, and we get a lot of really fast times here!” he said in an interview.
While Miawad hopes to bring the medal home to Egypt at the Mediterranean Games later this summer, “I always circle [the Adro] on my calendar.”
Perhaps part of what makes the Adrian Martinez Classic special is that it is a meet for everyone. Just as community members stick around to appreciate the rare talent that gathers in this unlikely place, the chance to be immersed in community running is part of what makes the Adro special for many pro runners, too.
To international coach and track cognoscente Peter Thompson, who has supported the Adro since 2014, the creation of a ‘big-little’ event was “exactly what we were trying to do: to mix the two, bring the world-class to the community.”
This year’s showing was, indeed, world-class. Andrew Casey, a Junior at the University of Wisconsin, won the men’s 800 in 1:45.08 after being seeded in the second heat, breaking the all-time meet record of 1:46.03. Olympian Nia Akins surged ahead of an otherwise tight women’s 800 with a time of 2:00.79. Lindsey Butler, 2022 NCAA 800 champion, pulled out a 4:09.24 in the 1500. Kaden Kluth from American University won the men’s 1500 in 3:41.10.
The Adrian Martinez Classic is named after a former star miler at Concord-Carlisle High School, who passed away from cardiac arrest at 22 after graduating from Williams College. It raises funds for his high school teams and for a scholarship in his name.
The community-driven meet was founded in 2009 by meet organizer Stephen Lane, a social studies teacher at CCHS who coached Martinez. Last year, he told the Concord Bridge, a local paper, that he’s “tried to keep it true to [Adrian’s] spirit: running, racing, community, and fun.”
As Nia Akins, the 800-meter champion who competed for the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympics, accepted her applause on Sunday, she shared a few words that it’s safe to say Adrian lived by: “Every race is a brand-new experience…in anything in life, it’s good to be a student. There’s no ceiling that way.”
