Todd, Joe, Greg, and I rolled into Amherst for race # 1
in the USATF New England Grand Prix 10 mile road race championship. The snow
that fell during the night was a non-issue on the drive and as it turned out –
for the race course which was the same as last year yet under a new title sponsor
name, Five College Realtors. I warmed up with Andy McCarron and Phil Savoy just
long enough to get beyond the mile marker and turned back to get into the race
gear. The sun was trying to break out of the cloud cover as I lined up in the 2nd
row at the start next to Joe. I took an inventory of the competition and teammates
ahead of me in mile one dodging a few pot holes. I settled in to what I figured
as a tolerable pace. I wheeled down into mile 2 with a 5:22 mile (my quickest
of the day). I was content with my position once getting past the lead women and
soon hit the hills where I kept a BAA singlet close. I assumed we were both the
5th men for our respective masters (40+) teams. A look at the
results two hours later would prove my theory.
I reached the dirt road which is
always a concern and has been mud, snow, and ice pack over the years. Everyone
was aiming for anything that resembled brown dirt laid down in recent hours by
the town in the middle of the road. Footing was loose, as expected at the reservoir
and beyond. It was a relief to reach pavement and open up the stride. Mile 6
was my second quickest mile with a 5:23, by hustling down the hill away from
Joe OLeary and closing the gap on Brian Rusiecki and Rodney Hemingway. I
reached mile 8, the valley, with the big three stage hill coming up. My legs
were absolutely fighting me every step up and I slowed. I heard a few spectator
acknowledgements of the lead women not too far behind. I used that as
motivation to moving forward in an ugly 6:24 mile fighting gravity. I held
position into the driveway leading into the finish line and a gun time of
59:26.8 (5:57 per mile average). This was six seconds than last year under less
training due to the recent record setting snowfall. I collected some feedback
from the CMS mates that already finished. I was the 5th man for our
masters team and we narrowly won by seconds over the BAA. It was that close
where a lapse in a race can cost a team position in the game of seconds. The rest of the team did great with the open team 3rd overall and the Seniors placed 4th.
