Bobby Doyle 5 mile road race - Narragansett, RI

Gregory Putman drove Joe Shairs and I to Narragansett, RI for the USATF New England 5 mile road race Championships. The 9^th Annual Bobby Doyle race was race number three for the 2016 road race Grand Prix Series. The series has waited since the New Bedford Half Marathon in March. I picked up my new team jacket from Steve and went out for a warm up which was not really needed with the temps and humidity rising. I got in about 10 minutes before lining up at the start, five rows back next to Joe. The race bolted out of the school driveway and took a right down a slight hill before climbing up a bit. I settled in with a 5:29 1^st mile. I got behind Joe after 2 miles which my pace slowed down to a 5:43 mile (pretty normal for me). 

The 3^rd mile out on the water pinged a 5:41 mile (hey not too bad) and I got a step in front of Joe. The 5K split was 18 minutes. My personal temperature gauge was maxing out. I wilted shortly thereafter and it got ugly with the next mile coming in a 6:12. There was a hill in there that I would not typically call a hill with the mountain races that I witness. But this hill felt like a mountain and it was not too bad. Runners past by and I all I could do was keep my head down and just shuffle along. The last mile was no faster as I saw some carnage with a few folks stopping or dropping out. I managed to find some energy to get close to Dan Verrington at the very end to score as our 5^th master runner of the day. The 29:47 chip time is a good minute plus slower than my time last year. It is what it is. On the good news front, the open team placed 2^nd while the Masters and Senior teams took first place. A flurry of Grand Prix races are coming up: 10 mile, 20K, 10K.