WINTHROP – Over the soccer fields and across the parking lots, to the finish line they ran, bounding by a soccer game and amid parked cars, using a mile’s worth of trails in the woods along the way, too.

At Winthrop High School, though, the fact that the Ramblers hosted a meet at their high school at all is a positive step in the right direction.

“In my four years coaching here, this is the first time since that first year that we have had a true home meet,” said coach Jay Lindsey. “It is great for the kids and for the program that we finally are starting to have something here to work on and call our own.”

To call it their own may be a technical misnomer, however, as part of the land that the trails dissect is privately owned.

“The land that abuts this facility is private,” said Lindsey. “The great thing is, though, they are supportive of our efforts to build a trail network, and they really have helped us out.”

From scratch

Nick Downing, a senior co-captain on this year’s team, remembers when some of the trails on which the team runs weren’t even passable.

“We’ve put so much work into it,” said Downing. “Honestly, we’ve shoveled and chipped brush and moved rocks all over the place, trying to get this thing in good running shape.”

And it’s all being done for free.

“The town owns some of the land, as well as another 26 acres next to it where we want to put another trail,” said Lindsey. “I can’t even count the number of volunteer hours that have been spent hauling things in and out of the woods. The kids have been donating their time, and so have so many people from the town.”

Even the owners of the land next door, the Guerette family, are “chipping” in.

“Not too long ago we actually had a truck able to back down the trail,” said Lindsey. “We had to go very slow and we were very careful, winding and weaving to miss stumps and all. We backed it up in there and dumped some wood chips, and Charlie (Guerette) came out and helped spread them around.

The bigger plan

In addition to the parcel of land that would add another mile to the current trail “system,” there is another parcel of land between the school and Mt. Pisgah that the town and private citizens are currently exploring.

“If we can manage to connect our system to the one that is at Mt. Pisgah (which Lindsey estimates is about three miles as the crow flies, and four or five by trail), that creates a nearly unlimited base of trails that we can access from here, not just for running and walking, but for cross country skiing and eventually, maybe, snowmobiling.”

And, of course, the regeneration of a trail system, and thus the team at Winthrop, has helped the team grow stronger.

“We didn’t have a middle school program three years ago,” said Lindsey. “Now we have one and it is starting to help. We have eight new freshmen this year and the middle school team is getting bigger each year.”

Lisbon High School coach Hank Fuller agreed, saying in part that “Winthrop will be a dangerous team in this conference, if not next year then very soon.”

“We’ve all worked so hard just to make this work for the kids,” said Lindsey. “Of course, there is always more to be done and anyone that wants to help can certainly track me down and give me a call. The kids, though, they have been great, and so has the community and so have the neighbors. Hopefully we can get this all done soon.”