The course rolled early and often. I opened up with a pair of 5:45's. The 3rd mile had the most climb and I registered a 6:09. I mentally was breaking the race down into thirds. Mile 4 had the most net drop (-41ft) and I returned a sub six. Mile 5 was level but recall a hill that I could see from a half mile away. I was sort of keeping Josh Perks close on the down hills. Mile six gave me a 6:00 split.
Two thirds of the race distance was in the rear view mirror. Dave Dunham came by and went by easily. I was hurting. I begged Tim Van Orden to jump back into the race and "jog" with me. He was done, walking off calf pain. I had a pair of 6:17's for miles 7 and 8. Tough ones for me. I regrouped a little bit in the last mile when Joe O'Leary came up on me. I heard his cough and I peeked back and said that I recognized that cough. He laughed and told me to bring us home to the finish.
I gave it all I had. Despite that I lost two spots in the last half mile including one to Bradford Klinedinst, within my age group which put me into 11th for the day. Overall, 93rd place with a time of 56:38 – 6:04 per mile pace. I felt pretty good with the effort. I would not have changed my approach. I really liked the course and the rolling terrain. The CMS teams did very well with 2nd open, 2nd masters, and 3rd senior team. I am looking forward to resting up this week and looking for more races which could include Doyles 5 mile and the Merrimack River Trail Race.
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| My coach, Joe O'Leary catching me in the last mile Photo by Rodney Hemingway |
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