NORTH ANDOVER — The Friends of Harold Parker’s annual Amazing Berry Pond Scramble was held on Sunday, June 11. After days of cloudy and drizzly weather, the sun finally cleared the skies for a perfect race day.
A total of 111 runners took part in the challenging 5.6K trail run, scrambling over the challenging trails of Harold Parker State Forest. New course records were set by both the men’s and women’s top finishers in the 16–40 division!
Anthony Johnson, 40, of North Reading, was the first over the line with a time of 21:45.8. Nicole Kroon, 16, of North Andover, won the women’s division with a record time of 26.10.0 (6th overall).
Other winners were Landon Zoss, 14, (26.15/7th overall) and Selby Sullivan, 11, (29.41/17th overall), both of Andover, in the under 15 division. Simonetta Piergentili, 58, (28.15/11th overall) of Wilmington, and William Guptill, 49, (25.31/4th overall) of North Andover, took the honors in the over 41 division. Both Sullivan and Guptill are repeat winners from 2022! For complete race results provided by Racewire, go to: https://my.racewire.com/results/37485.
As the Friends group does each year, they cooked hotdogs and offered chips, water, slush and ice cream sandwiches for the runners and volunteers. Berry Pond is a popular destination in the Forest where visitors enjoy cookouts, swimming, and just relaxing in the scenic outdoors.
The Scramble was established by FoHP in 2017 to celebrate the newly reopened pond, and to promote all that Harold Parker State Forest has to offer.
The Friends congratulate all the participants and thank the many volunteers who helped make this event a success. They also wish to thank the staff of HPSF and DCR for again permitting them to hold the event in the Forest. HPSF/DCR staff on hand before and after the event made sure the area was clean, registration tables were in place, and most importantly, they offered assistance unloading and carrying all the paraphernalia required for a successful day.
The Friends of Harold Parker (FoHP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving, protecting and enhancing all the natural and historic resources in Harold Parker State Forest. Since its inception in 2015, the Friends have cleared and marked trails, built bridges and boardwalks, installed informational kiosks and compiled a comprehensive map of the Forest. They also organize regular work parties and clean-ups and have collected truckloads of trash and invasive plants. To learn more, visit the website at: www.friendsofharoldparker.org.