At 62, Farmington’s Chris Chisholm wins Trick or Trot 5K Road Race

Chris Chisholm (221) leads Trevor Glidden in the final yards of the Collinsville Trick and Trot Road Race Saturday. More photos from the race.

CANTON, Oct. 26, 2024 – Farmington’s Chris Chisholm has been running and winning races for a long time.

He first burst onto the scene more than 40 years ago as successful runner at Farmington High under his cross country coach Lee Chisholm, his father. Chris once won three straight Northwest Conference titles at the conference championship meet at Canton High School from 1977-79.

In 2015, Chris won the Torrington Road Race with his son, Matthew. He won the Lobster Loop in Canton three times and is the oldest runner to have won the race at 51 in 2013.

On Saturday, he came out to eighth annual Collinsville Trick or Trot 5K road race to get in some mileage and work in preparation for the annual Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving morning.

Now 62, he took the lead from the start and held off a late challenge from 19-year-old Trevor Glidden of Seymour to win the 3.1 mile race in six seconds with a time of 18:10.

The women’s race was won by Granby’s Beth Cote, who just ran her first marathon a week ago at the Eversource Hartford Marathon.

A record 200 runners finished the race, which benefits Canton’s Dollar for Scholars program, which provides scholarships for Canton High graduates going onto higher education.

“A young gentleman pushed me most of the way,” Chisholm said. “I thought I had broken him at the two mile mark. I looked at the 2½ mile mark and he was still there. I just had to run harder.”

Seymour’s Trevor Glidden had Chisholm in his sight for most of the race. He just couldn’t reel him in.

“That guy is fast,” Glidden said. “He is triple my age and he schooled me. I was behind him the whole time. I thought I could catch him but I don’t that dude was tired at all.”

Chisholm had no intention of outrunning the taller Glidden in the final steps of the race.

“In that situation, I am old and slower at the end so I try to break them a little earlier and hopefully hold onto the lead,” he said.

And to warm down after the race, Chisholm ran to Canton High, which is about 1½ miles away to take a lap around the track, which wasn’t there when he was winning cross country titles for Farmington.

Cote, 36, is returning to running after a long absence. She ran cross country at Granby Memorial before taking a job at the local YMCA that she enjoyed. After high school, she has been a mom to her two children, who are now 17 and 15.

But she has always wanted to run a marathon and with her children getting older and more independent, she has been able to find some time to run. She did a 5K race in Granby this spring and ran her first marathon in Hartford a week ago in a time of 3:53.17, finishing 23rd among the women in the 26.2 mile race.

Saturday was her first run since finishing the marathon and she felt strong, finishing tenth overall in 22:27. Avon’s Christie Kania, who won this race in 2022, was second in 23:21.

“I felt great,” Cote said. “The most fun part of this race is that it is out-and-back so I got to see all of the costumes. It was so much fun.”

For many runners, it is an opportunity to run a race in a Halloween costume.

Cote and her daughter, Victoria, ran as Gatorade water bottles with a G on their solid green shirts and an orange wool cap for the top of the bottle.

Trick or Trot 5K Road Race
At Canton
Overall – Chris Chisholm, Farmington, 18:10.8 for 3.1 miles, 2. Trevor Glidden, Seymour, 18:16, 3. Trevor Krzyzek, Canton, 19:15, 4. Ken Day, Plainville, 20:55, 5. Matt Saindon 21:29, 6. Kevin Mullins, Canton, 21:41, 7. Scott Shaw, Farmington 21:46, 8. Coltin Jespersen, Newington 22:14, 9. C. Casarella, Burlington, 22:18, 10. Beth Cote. Granby, 22:27
Top 10 women: Beth Cote , Granby (10th overall) 22:27 for 3.1 miles, 2. Christine Kania, Avon (14) 23:21, 3. M. Berning, Canton (15) 23:35, 4. Riley Ahlgren, Canton (17) 23:38, 5. Lee Robin, Canton (19) 24:15, 6. Amber Deer, Canton (21) 24:35, 7. Margaret Genetti, New Hartford (23) 24:41, 8. Courtney Kane, New Hartford (26) 25:06, 9. Sharon Czako, Avon (27) 25:08, 10. Barbara Pearce, Guilford (28) 25:38
2024 Trick or Trot Road Race results

Three Ghostbusters make sure the Stay Puff man stays out of trouble during the Collinsville Halloween Trick of Trot road race on Saturday. More photos from the race.

More photos from the race