By Stan Grossfeld GLOBE STAFF  JUNE 06, 2015

CONCORD — Where else in the world can kids scoot down a playground slide and watch 18 sub-4-minute milers cruise by just a long jump away?

Nowhere.

Think that’s unique? How about watching a 71-year-old grandmother break a world record?

Welcome to the Adrian Martinez Classic, which was held Thursday evening at Emerson Playground.

“There’s nothing like this anywhere,” says meet director Steve Lane. “It’s really special."

The event was born from sorrow.

Adrian Martinez was captain of the Concord-Carlisle High School track team and a champion miler. By all accounts, he was kind, humble, and universally loved. He was carefree and didn’t believe in stress.

“He was a terrific kid,” says Lane, who was his track coach. “He definitely followed the beat of his own drummer.”

After graduating from Williams College, Martinez was playing in a pickup soccer game in Acton when he collapsed and died of sudden cardiac arrest on Aug. 10, 2006. He was just 22 years old.

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