It was nice to wake up to sunny skies on a crisp morning. Kristen, my dad, and I headed up to Gloucester for the Lone Gull 10K. Gloucester is only ten miles away from Beverly so this was a quick ride up Rt. 128 to Good Harbor Beach. This was a rare opportunity for me to see a new race course. We got there an hour before the race and the lot was filling up fast. I warmed up with solo until I ran into t’mates Dan Verrington and Mike Quintal.
After a fifteen minute delay and ten minutes standing in the third row in the masses, the race went off into a downhill with the Atlantic Ocean to the left. The weather was perfect. I hit 5:32 at the mile. Todd Callaghan, fellow mountain runner from Gate City Striders pulled up shortly thereafter and Terry McNatt kept good company. We got over the 1st significant hill on the course and down into mile two. I trailed Todd by a few steps. We got into welcomed shade leading out to Eastern Point which has a nice lighthouse that was not visible from the course. This section was also home to the loop where I saw the leader heading back from where we came from. I went through three miles and the 5K (17:12) just behind Todd as we passed Jose Ortiz from Whirlaway. I put in a surge to pull along side with Todd a few seconds later.
We are now on our way back to the finish. Todd and I did not separate more than a second for the remainder of the race. We reeled in a few guys until we caught Todd's teammate Rich Smith. The three of us ran together until about 800m to go when Rich put in a surge leading into the last hill where mile six waited. It was a very smart move. I trailed Todd by a step. Kristen stood on the hill for some photography to prove our existence on this fine day. As I crested the hill, I let loose to get around Todd and see if I could get Rich. Rich got to the line first but we got the same chip time. Todd was right behind me. I finished 61st for a time of 34:30 (5:34). I was shooting for something between 34:00 and 34:30. Official results.
Splits were as follows.
5:32
5:41 11:14
5:29 16:43 (5K 17:12)
5:36 22:20
5:28 27:48
5:38 33:27
1:03 34:30
After a fifteen minute delay and ten minutes standing in the third row in the masses, the race went off into a downhill with the Atlantic Ocean to the left. The weather was perfect. I hit 5:32 at the mile. Todd Callaghan, fellow mountain runner from Gate City Striders pulled up shortly thereafter and Terry McNatt kept good company. We got over the 1st significant hill on the course and down into mile two. I trailed Todd by a few steps. We got into welcomed shade leading out to Eastern Point which has a nice lighthouse that was not visible from the course. This section was also home to the loop where I saw the leader heading back from where we came from. I went through three miles and the 5K (17:12) just behind Todd as we passed Jose Ortiz from Whirlaway. I put in a surge to pull along side with Todd a few seconds later.
We are now on our way back to the finish. Todd and I did not separate more than a second for the remainder of the race. We reeled in a few guys until we caught Todd's teammate Rich Smith. The three of us ran together until about 800m to go when Rich put in a surge leading into the last hill where mile six waited. It was a very smart move. I trailed Todd by a step. Kristen stood on the hill for some photography to prove our existence on this fine day. As I crested the hill, I let loose to get around Todd and see if I could get Rich. Rich got to the line first but we got the same chip time. Todd was right behind me. I finished 61st for a time of 34:30 (5:34). I was shooting for something between 34:00 and 34:30. Official results.
Splits were as follows.
5:32
5:41 11:14
5:29 16:43 (5K 17:12)
5:36 22:20
5:28 27:48
5:38 33:27
1:03 34:30
I am looking forward to some cross country races coming up in the next several weeks and into November.
No comments:
Post a Comment