Hollis Fast 5K

Still rolling down through 3 miles in Hollis
Photo by KrissyK

It took me nearly two full hours to get to the Hollis Fast 5K. The traffic was as hyped for race number three of the USATF New England Grand Prix. This was a race I always wanted to do so coming here for the race series to take on all other teams from the region is always a treat. The weather was at least consistent with the last few races I have done, rain. It let up as I ran the course from the finish line with some SRR and CMS guys up to the start. Joe OLeary gave me some history as he has run very well on this course in the past. The point to point course drops 224 feet making it a barn burner. It was nice to see some CMS mates at the starting line that I have not seen in a while. I got off to a good start among the men (not trip up) and rolled away. The women came in from another direction and merged in from the left. It took a while to open up and see what was going on ahead. I did not have a game plan and did not wear a watch so I just put the head down and rolled with it. It was fast. Mile one according to the bib split was at 5:07. The gang I was near continued to pull and I could not get any quicker coming through 2 miles in 10:23. I held tangents and was holding my own without really having any back and forth with anyone until with Paul Doe through 3 miles (15:36). He finished strong with another 50 plus year old and I followed. I rolled into the finish with a time of 16:08.8 (chip/bib time) or 16:10 (gun time). I was good with the time but would have felt better around 16:00. Jason Porter had to remind me that I was just two and a half weeks removed from a marathon effort. His point was well taken. The consensus is that this course offers a time 45 seconds quicker than your average 5K (with a little up and down). The CMS open and masters team ran very well placing 3^rd in both divisions. Results