Andover Country Club 3.5 Mile Cross Country Race

I ran this race in 2004 so I was familiar with the terrain and great atmosphere. CMS teammate Al Bernier won the race back then. I ran 18:31 finishing a few strides in front of Greg Putnam who was running unattached. Race director, Dave Labrode, tagged me as a “fast guy” while registering. “Give him one of those numbers” pointing to a stack of low bib numbers. I got bib # 8. Slowly, more and more CMS guys showed up which was awesome. Jim Johnson, Bob Wiles, Mike Quintal, Dave Quintal, and Dave Dunham were present at the time of our warm up so it was evident that we had a solid team. It was nice to catch up with the guys before and after the race.

The race went by pretty quick. Picture several ups and downs along a golf course. I did not rest for a second (well maybe one hill). I had a nice back and forth duel with Dave Dunham. He advised after the race that he planned on keying off me. It certainly helped having him there in the second half of the race. He would pull away on the downs and I would catch back up on the ups. Dave Quintal entered the fray with about 800m to go and took charge. I was barely able to reel him in on the downhill grass finish for 7th place overall, 19:32 for the 3.5 mile course. Someone got 3.53 miles measured on their Garmin.

I stayed for a great post race meal: salad, pasta with meatballs, and some cookies. Life was good. Good race, good competition, good company, good food, good day. Dave Dunham has a nice write up on the race.

Andover Country Club 3.5 Mile Cross Country Race results November 28, 2010 results