Jones Group 10 mile

Krissy, Joe, Greg and I got to the Amherst early for the first championship race of the USATF New England Road Race Grand Prix. The Jones Group 10 mile was hosting again. I did a short warm up with Arthur Besse and Barbara McManus to make sure we saw the new start and new finish. All other parts of the course was the same staple we have seen before. The last mile would be quicker than the old course. Larissa Park wanted to run with me as I felt I would be just under six minute paced miles for the day. We were together for 2 miles (11:30) before I went after Martin Tighe who was about 20 seconds ahead. I was steady on the climbing and then hit the mud/ice in the middle of the course. The ice was manageable for 90%. The other 10% required traction control. Mile 5 passed by in 30:10 and I was sickened by that split but moved on anyhow behind Joseph Hegarty. He pulled me all the way into mile 8 and along side John Longo from SRR who I try to keep up with at the Tuesday track sessions. We trucked up the hills and I saw that I had a chance to catch Erica Jesseman who was the 2nd place woman as I asked a spectator at 8.5 miles. Meanwhile, Joe Lauer from SRR passed by and had carried some good momentum into mile 9 so I tried to rally and close in the last mile of the day. I managed to catch Erica on the driveway up to the finish. I ran 29:20 for the 2nd half of the race so I felt better about that. My chip time was 59:30.6 and finish place was 87th out of 642 runners. The 5:57 mile pace overall was what it was - really felt harder the whole day. I raced every step and did not take any mental or physical naps out there. Pleased with the effort even though I was gunning for a 58:30. Krissy took over 600 photos.

Final stretch into the finish
Photo by KrissyK