Beverly Homecoming 5K

In flight with 1000m to go.
Photo by Roger Perham

I could not resist going back to my former home town race that starts and finishes at Lynch Park. I left work early to give me extra time to haul up to Beverly. Krissy got there before me so she picked up my bib number and race t-shirt (simple design without a huge screen on the front). I warmed up with Jonathan May (SRR) and John Ayers. It was a typical warm August evening. I got out with a very quick start and found my self seeking oxygen earlier than normal. My 5:10 split at the mile, next to Jonathan May, summed up my point. The leader, Jordan Kinley, had a Craft/Karhu singlet on and looked legit. He was all business and certainly sub five at the mile. He would continue to average fives all the way to the finish line. Meanwhile, Jonathan dropped me after seven minutes. I was toast. By the time I hit the hill before mile two, I had no fight left. Mile two passed  in 10:52 and the oxygen deprived math for that second mile made me mentally sour. I just tried to keep steady in the last mile and not let any more pavement get between Jonathan and I. I kept track of the spectator cheering for those behind me - fearing that I was getting reeled in. The results showed several hungry runners not too far behind in the end. I wrapped up my race with a 16:52, 5:26 average pace per mile, good for my quickest 5K of the year (shaving three ticks off the 16:55 run at the Jim Kane Sugar Bowl a few weeks ago). It was nice to run on Beverly soil again. My dad was on hand to watch and I also ran into my high school x/c coach, Dave Jellerson. Sean Dunleavy, a training partner from the ol' days ran the race again, reminding everyone that he is still running a bit while coaching the high school kids. I caught up with Matt Curran and Lacey Alves on a cool down jaunt over the course. Full results of the Beverly Homecoming 5K