St. Patricks Day Hibernian 5K

Closing in with 800m left in the Hibernian 5K

I signed up for the Hibernian 5K with a paper entry and cash in hand on Saturday afternoon at the Hibernian Hall in Lynn. Krissy was volunteering so she picked up an assignment and orange “race in progress” shirt. There were so many enthusiastic volunteers handing out race shirts and packets the day before the race. The following morning, Krissy and I headed over to the race which can’t be more than a 2 mile drive. I parked my gear inside the hall and did a solo 2 mile warm up. It was windy and going to be a variable to contend with. Dan Vassallo and Dan Chruniak (set a PR at New Bedford last week) were on the starting line awaiting the Irish and American anthems. It was chilly under the Level Renner singlet and hat. About a dozen youngsters bolted out at the start. I got into 3^rd place about a quarter of a mile into the race watching Dan squared duke it out up the hill at ¾ of a mile. Respect to them trading blows into the wind at mile one where Vassallo started to pull away. I was so far back with a 5:40 mile with barely a trace of someone behind me. The stretch into mile two provided relief from the nasty head winds and clocked with a 5:37 mile. I passed Krissy with less than a half mile to go. She had an Irish flag in one hand, camera in the other, and an eye on traffic. Mile 3 proved quicker with a 5:27. I rolled into the finish line with a 17:37 for 3^rd place, top master. I got lucky as that time would have not been in the top six last year. Vassallo took the win with 16:05 and Dan Chruniak netted a 16:40. Once the dust settled, I headed out for a 3.5 mile warm down with them, Nakri, and Katrina.