Beverly 2017 Gran Prix Saved By Sponsors

BEVERLY, MA – Near the end of 2016, the 9th Annual Beverly Gran Prix didn't look like it would happen. Sponsors were hard to come by, and the volunteers that run the race were getting a little down.

When their trailer, worth roughly $3,000, was stolen from an industrial park in Peabody, it looked like the end of the line. Then the phone calls started coming in.

"People came out of the woodwork," said Paul Boudreau, race director. "It kind of gives us a renewed sense of purpose."

People offered to give the race – a bike race held on a short course on closed-down main streets in Beverly set for July 26, 2017 – whatever they could afford, and Goldberg Properties signed on as the new title sponsor. Kelly Automotive Group signed on as the new presenting sponsor.

Boudreau credits a couple local newspaper articles for helping the race garner the attention it needed to keep going. Andrew Goldberg, a Goldberg Properties partner, read one of the articles when he was abroad and decided to help.

"We do this event out of love for the sport of bike racing and for the community," said Boudreau. "The opportunity to introduce my hometown to bike racing, and to be able to invite my bike-racing family to my hometown, is a rare pleasure."

Boudreau also credited David Comb of Cell Signaling Technology for the company's consistent support of the race. The Gran Prix features more than 240 racers, with an Amateur Men's race, a Masters 40-plus Men's race, an Elite Women's race, and a Men's Elite race. All four groups will race the same serpentine course, which starts and finishes on Cabot Street, and winds along sections of Hale and Dane streets through the heart of downtown Beverly.

"Events such as this bike race help make all of us more prideful in our Beverly community," said Bill Goldberg. "It also enhances our collective quality of life. We need more events (like this), and didn't want this wonderful event to disappear."

For information about the race, visit its website.

Image via Russ Campbell Photography