Run to Fall 5K Trail Race

Sunday December 6, 2020

This race was postponed from November which I signed up for in order to have cross country tune up before the New England Cross Country Championships. Former CMS teammate Tim Cox and family have been hosting this rolling terrain cross country event for almost two decades at Coe-Brown Academy in Northwood, NH. About eight inches of snow had fallen the day before. Most of the snow was plowed along the trails with a 4 wheeler while even a few trees were reported to be cut down and out of the way. There were six heats of races during the day to keep everyone distanced out. I fell into heat # 3 which started at 1:15PM. I saw Dave Dunham and Dan Verrington cooling down from their 11AM race. I got schooled on what the course terrain and conditions were like. Dave lent me a pair of Kahtoolah Microspikes which helped a lot in getting traction on the course. The toughest part of the course was the opening and closing 150M where the snow was ankle deep but already beat down by the first two heats of runners.

I jumped out and settled into 2^nd place after a quarter mile. I got passed by 800m in by the eventual winner who would run 23:45. I moved up to second place and held that place until getting passed with 400 meters to go. I was gassed and maintained into the finish which was on the track buried by snow. I placed 3^rd in the heat and 23^rd overall with a time of 24:55 and 8:02 miles for the 5K distance. It was certainly a fun race even with the tricky footing. I benefitted with the Katoolah spikes. I am going to invest in a pair which is perfect for lightly packed snow. I headed out for another 3 miles on the course for a cooldown on the quiet course which waited another hour for the last two heats/races for the day.

USATF New England Cross Country Championships

During the year of the “Crona” racing opportunities have been limited but the USATF New England Cross Country Championships secured Mine Falls in Nashua, NH for November 21. The Central Mass Striders entered a team with a mix of age groups. I was familiar with Mine Falls as I raced a month earlier on said trails. The 5K course would be a fast one in the form of a lolli-pop with a tiny bump or two in the middle mile. Joe Shairs drove us for a quick 45 minute ride. We met up with CMS teammates for our first team gathering since March. We settled our gear in a team designated area on the far side of the field. The women’s race was just wrapping up as we grabbed our team packet with bib numbers from Steve Vaitones. It was a great November weather day with very light wind and plenty of sun giving temps in the 50’s.

All precautions and safety measures were excercised for the event. Waves of 20 runners were sent off at the noon start. 10 seconds in between waves and 20 minutes in between the 4^th and 5^th waves. Masks are mandatory everywhere until you are racing from the start to finish line. I took off in a wide start line of about 18 runners in my 7^th wave of peer performances based on seed time. I entered with a 22:00 5K seed. USATF New England, officials and volunteers did a great job keeping people comfortably spaced and orderly.

I pulled the mask down and onto my wrist after getting up to speed. I found myself in the rear which is as usual for me. I slowly worked my way up in the middle of gents by the 1^st mile showing a time of 6:34. The middle mile slowed down with narrowed trail in the woods making passing a little tricky but doable if calculated right. Also, needed to pay attention to the many roots and tripping hazards in this mile. I moved up a few spots through here putting me a few ticks trailing GBTC’s Jason Pollutro who looked to be the 4th place runner in the wave. Mile 2 went by with a 7:07. Now back on the final straight to the finish but a far mile, I got a good stride getting past Jason and a Greater Lowell runner with a half mile to go. I got to the finish line in 20:32, with a 6:35 effort for the final mile. Overall I placed 68 out of 87 runners, 7^th in the 40-49 age group. Our masters team led by Eric Blake’s 40+ age group leading 15:41 took 1^st place over HFC and GLRR. Our open team placed 2^nd behind Battle Road.  

I was pretty good with the effort. Eased into the pace and felt good to race. GPS stats: 3.03 miles, 6:46 pace per mile, 20:32 time. Splits: 6:36, 7:09, 6:35. I did a 1 mile warmup and then another .3 miles shortly before the start. I wore a light-ish New Balance trail waffle. I ran 1.6 miles for a cool down minutes after the race with CMS teammates.  

Photo credits to Tom D, GSRS and Dave Dunham

Results 

Team Results 

 

68

7

M4049

20:32

James

Pawlicki

M

46

CENTRAL MASS STRIDERS [02-0009]

 

Mine Falls Trail Running Festival

Fall and cross country racing in New England is my favorite of all disciplines within the year. Being a crazy year with the "crona" and tight grouping/event restrictions in the state of Massachusetts, racing has been a huge void since mid-March. That has left us with virtual races. I just can't get fired up for the virtual races. I did a few Lynn Woods virtual races in May/June and a 1 mile in April. Otherwise, not a fan of virtual racing. 

New Hampshire seems to be ahead of the curve with getting events off the ground in recent months - even with some restrictions such as staggered start, small waves of runners, limited numbers of racers, et cetera. If you are looking for a centralized site or app to find a race, good luck, I don't know of any. Enter social media....read that CMS teammate Dave Dunham was targeting an Ultra Distance race in Mine Falls in Nashua, NH slated for early October. I never ran in Mine Falls and was very curious about the venue and running in a real race. There were various race distances offered as part of the Mine Falls Running Festival hosted by Sub5racing. Being that they had hosted a non-virtual set of races late in the summer and very reasonable COVID Common Sense requirements was a plus in my book. I booked the 5K and was looking forward to my first paid entry and race since January. 

I met up with Dave Dunham and Dan Verrington for a warmup over the 5K course which started from the Pine Street extension of the park. The single track trails were very runnable. A few small bumps, would not even call them hills along the way. Most of the 5K course was fire road width. There was a set of 20 long steps to stumble down with 300m to go but that was the only hazard on the course. 

About 60+ gathered at the start line at 9AM. Everyone was masked and spaced out evenly based on their comfort level. No one wanted to line up on the start line. I found that funny. I stood about 3 rows back, excited to run my first race since January. As we started, I focused on getting some room and settling into something around 7 minute pace. I took my mask off in a hurry so I could breath. Soon, a single track path had me caught behind some folks and I struggled to pick a spot to go around them. I respected the tight quarter to pass with 6ft surrounding so I waited for some room after what felt like several long minutes.

Mile one was around 7:22 and seemed content as I was working for that. Mile 2 was around 7:44, slower with the bumpy part of the course. After two miles, the course had a generous flat section along a canal. The guy in front of me laid some "gapplebees" like I was standing still. It was lonely out there but no complaints. A youngster past me after I managed to not trip down the steps at the end. From there, it was a flat 300 meters to the finish. A tiny participant trophy awaited me in my black CMS shirt, sweating out the almost 25 minute effort over 3.34 miles (note longer than 5K). Low 7:20 pace hurt a bit but so happy to get a race and heart rate up.

Mine Falls Running Festival results, October 11, 2020 Nashua, NH

6th place James Pawlicki 24:49.0 Gun Time

Dan would run 22:34 for 3rd place while the winner, Ian Post ran 20:16. Dave changed his race down to the 16 mile (8 and 16 milers started together) and would take the win. I unofficially joined the Dunham Running Club for the team competition. Still not sure how the team did or how the scoring worked out. But I scored the best gift of all with Dave sneaking a DRC patch and sticker into my race bag.

Trophies!

Dan Verrington and I after the start

Limited Edition Dunham Running Club patch and sticker

My Marathon History refresh

Was recently put on the spot for a fun fact about me. I have not been hit by that in a long time. I should have been prepared. I dunno, tough question. Depends on the audience. It got me to thinking about how many marathons have I run. Maybe a dozen? 

Thankfully, I found a blog post from 2014 where I compiled the results until that point. I had to dig deep into the "way back machine" to find results on the four marathons since then.  

Summary: 14 starts, 13 finishes

1997  2:33:35  Ocean State Marathon

1998  2:44:27  Boston Marathon

2001  2:45:46  Hyannis Marathon

2001  2:46:27  Boston Marathon

2003  2:37:59  Chicago Marathon

2011  2:40:01  Baystate Marathon

2012  3:14:10  Boston Marathon

2013  2:57:26  Vermont City Marathon

2014  DNF      Boston Marathon

2014  2:53:15  Manchester City Marathon (1^st race as master runner)

2015 2:52:19   Vermont City Marathon

2016 3:05:28   Boston Marathon

2017 3:34:33   Boston Marathon

2018 3:12:30   Baystate Marathon

Socially distant

Odd times still 2 months deep into the COVID-19 shelter in place isolation here in Massachusetts. Races, group workouts, Sunday long runs, social fun runs seem like a thing of the distant past. Mask up or be ridiculed by society. I have only run with a covering over the yap once. Lasted for 3 miles before snot and moisture suffocated me. That was just yesterday actually. Pulled it down to wear it like an Abe Lincoln beard for the 2nd half of the run.

Seems like we may be turning a corner however. Warmer May weather has been teasing. Yet mother nature gives us snow flurries yesterday, May 9th. Good times. I have seen big groups biking and a few pairs of runners in recent weeks. Good to see. Gives hope. Some light.

I ran all 7 days this past week. First time. Long time. A high water mark of 32 miles, the most I have run in a week since a 40 mile week last May, almost a year ago. Kind of a big deal, silently, a win, during what I would say is a fair commitment to at least 5 days of running per week and no less than 4 miles if the sneakers are tied on and a GPS device timing me on my wrist in the past 90 days.

Virtual runs....was not really getting into it. I did manage to get my ass to an outdoor track, 1st time in a long time (year and a half?) to run a mile to see where I was fitness wise. I was reminded, after sucking wind 200 meters into a 100 second quarter mile that I was OUT OF SHAPE. Each step and stride was mechanically not pretty. A lot of 9 minute paced runs in recent months. A week later I ran the similar 6:39 mile on the Swampscott High Track. Well, maybe a second quicker the second time around. The motivation for the mile on April 20th was the virtual 26 X 1 mile, er, Marathon that CMS was partaking in for fun with other clubs around New England.

I was actually grateful for the "virtual" opportunity. It gave me some incentive or motivation to run hard. Made me think real hard on where a local track is and or at least one that had a fence short enough for me to clear.

Since then, been pretty blah, but went back to run a lap or two but got wigged out by a crowd of fitness seekers, walkers, dogs, crowding the oval. Bye, bye. Back to the isolated side walk and trails of solitude.

Lynn Woods is allowing runners to do a Virtual run anytime between May 4 and May 17. Run the 2.5 mile Goat Path or the Gate to Gate 5.0 mile run, solo. Start and finish at the Steel Gate on Great Woods Road. This is where the old Wednesday evening races used to start and finish.

I ran the 2.49 mile Goat Path run last week and broke 20 minutes, was glad to get under 7 minute pace but needed a lot of downhill in the last mile plus to accomplish the sub 7's average. Put a smile on my face. Trying to hustle the trails took my mind off the knee. The knee felt decent until slowing to 9's.

I may give it another rip in the next week. Here's to the virtual. For now, that is all. We. Have.

Classy 3 Mile Fun Run

I walked over to Rolley’s Tavern to sign up for this 3 mile road race that sends all proceeds to support the Lynn Classical Girls Track Team. I caught up with Stephen Martin (race director) and Bill Mullen (all things Lynn Woods Running) as we joked about the night’s snow that put about four inches of white stuff on the city. By late morning, the main roads were down to wet pavement. 

I ran a mile and a half warm up with Nakri Dao before lining up on Broadway Street for the start. It was sunny and around 37 degrees. I jumped into 5^th place early on. By the time I reached the mile, Nakri went by followed by Joe O'Leary a minute later. They would put nothing but road between them and I. I got clipped at the very end of the 3 mile course by one more runner. I finished up in 8^th place with a time of 21:20. My mile splits were 6:36, 7:07, 7:19 for the GPS measured 3:04 miles (7:00 / mile average). I grabbed my gear after the race and ended up running home to take care of the days errands.

2020 Classy 3 Mile Fun Run results

Nakri and I before the race
Photo by Mike Fitzgerald

With Stephen Martin and Bill Mullen

Wicked Frosty Four

10AM start for this one in Salem that goes out to the Salem Willows and back. Mile 1 went by in 7:07 and fell to a 7:22. Took my eye off the ball there while the knee did not feel so great. Now heading back toward the finish for the next two miles, did not regroup against folks that passed me earlier in the Willows. 7:56 and 7:39 for the last two miles losing at least ten finishing spots from 2 to 3 miles. 30:22 finish time. The good news for the day was having Dave Dunham in action. Finished not too far behind me after he started at the back of the race. Here is to good health for 2020. 

2020 Wicked Frosty Four photos by KrissyK 2020 Wicked Frosty Four Photos