Great Stew Chase

Unlaced into the finish at the Great Stew Chase 15K in Lynn
Photo by KrissyK

I placed third (54:27, 5:51 pace) on Sunday at the Great Stew Chase 15K in Lynn. It was not easy as I had a front row seat watching CMS masters and teammates - Jason Porter and Dave Dunham take command in the second half of the race. Jason broke up a pack of six around mile 4 to chase solo leader, Daniel Croteau (NBTC). Jason got the lead somewhere around the "turn-around" while Dave and Somerville Road Runner, Ryan Kerrigan matched his move as they passed Daniel. I trailed a few strides and noted that my downhill prowess was failing. Dave Corbett was beside at this point and looking good. I had to work hard to keep Dave Dunham and Ryan close. I trailed both by four seconds when we left Centennial Park (6.5 miles). I felt my laces loosen up on my right shoe. I did not want to look down, maintaining denial that it was happening. For the record, the shoe was double tied with loops tucked in before race start. I was not about to stop and and take care of it, however, I worried. I lost focus and ground to Dave who was really holding tough and trying to catch Jason. I got past Ryan who stayed in my hip pocket and no doubt laughing at my laces whipping about. Dave and Jason never let up over the last two miles. I barely held Ryan off at the end where Krissy and my dad were. I just then looked down at the laces. Just one loop came untied, the other fine which saved everything from unraveling except my race. Still, this was a hard effort. It was fun to have the pack early on. These guys will be hitting the Amherst 10 mile race hard so the efforts on this course will pay off.

Full results on coolrunning
Stew Chase 15K photos by KrissyK