One man’s cranberry dedication inspires hundreds to hit the trails in annual 5k

“He was not married, he didn’t have a family but he had lots of families. He was a very caring man and this is a testament to that. They all remember the goodness in his heart and what he did for them,” Claire Smith said of her late brother Bob “Grumpy” Conway.

For nearly 15 years, hundreds of runners and walkers have completed a 5K in Conway’s honor. This year’s rendition brought over 300 participants to the cranberry bogs at A.D. Makepeace’s headquarters, Saturday, Nov. 1.

Conway was a longtime advocate for the cranberry industry and photographer. The race raises scholarship money through the Cranberry Education Foundation, a non-profit supporting students pursuing agricultural degrees.

“After my brother passed away, one of the women from Ocean Spray approached me because they wanted to do something to memorialize him,” said Smith.

She added the race not only honors his love of the cranberry industry but also the wildlife surrounding the bogs by giving the first place winner a bluebird house.

“My brother was responsible for bringing bluebirds back to Eastern Massachusetts,” Smith said. “He noticed he wasn’t seeing a lot of birds so he alerted the [cranberry] growers that they needed to do something different. So they stopped using certain chemicals but they also put bluebird houses out on the bogs.”

What makes this 5k unique from others is not only the cause but the location too. Participants could see active cranberry bogs on the trail.

“I saw they were harvesting on the way in and that was cool to see,” said Peter Benson of Harwich. “It just makes this even more special.

Benson, a Wareham native and avid runner, said since he began running he always wanted to do this race but never had the time, until this year.

“I’ve always wanted to run this race because I was born and raised in Wareham,” he said. “It looks like a fun race and it's meeting my expectations already.”

Since joining the Cape Cop Athletic Club, a group dedicated to getting people involved in running and other sports on the cape, Benson said he has accomplished much more in his 50s and 60s than he thought.

“I’ve run three marathons and I’ve done triathlons,” he said. 

At 64-years-old, Benson said he was hoping to finish in 27, or 28  minutes and posted a time of 28 minutes and 10 seconds.

Others in attendance were less concerned with their finishing time and wanted to take the opportunity for a walk around the bogs.

“It’s a beautiful course and it’s just a great way to spend a nice fall morning,” said Cyn Spence of Dartmouth.

Spence and her friends have been walking in the event since its inception and Mark Hurley said he tried to run the course one year, which didn’t go exactly the way he wanted.

“I was going to run the race but at the end there’s this huge hill and I decided my reward for running the race will be walking up the hill,” he said. “It was the same year they got a bunch of volunteers from Tabor Academy to stand at the top of the hill and cheer everyone on so I just felt like a loser walking.”

The overall winners for the race were 15-year-old Josh Varland from Palmer, Alaska who finished the race in 20 minutes and 42 seconds and Rebecca Cotugno from Fairhaven who posted a time of 22 minutes and 5 seconds.

For a complete list of results, visit the link here.