VFW 5K

It was tough for this guy to find a Memorial Day weekend race. So many websites to scour, very few opportunities. Dave Dunham tipped me off on this one in Manchester, NH and put on by Millennium Running and sponsor Northeast Delta Dental. 100% of the intake goes straight to the vets in Contocook, NH. 

Rain held off for this Sunday morning start. Dave and I warmed up on the course. Pretty flat being most on a former railway. Safe out and back on the bike path with a river and few roads to cross. I had bib #6 based on seed time of 21 minutes. Lined up on cone #6 as one runner at a time started every 5 seconds. Runner 7 caught me a quarter mile in. I passed him after we crossed the Merrimack River a half mile in. 6:34 passed upon mile 1. 

The leaders already turned back and were coming at me. Dave trailed by a stride. I had nothing to yell other than "yup" confirming the battle Dave knew he signed up for with Mark Laprade who would hold on for the win. I soon turned around on the trail (about 10:25 on the watch) and opened the stride a bit to shake foot steps shadowing me. Mile 2 was around 6:39. The runner ahead was no where in sight so it was me and my thoughts. I ran another 6:39 and finished up 5th and 20:39. Pretty happy with it. 

http://m.raceresults360.com/#/race/LsL5vf/5k/results/ALL

Set off with a 3 mile cool down with Dave and Jim Angell (3rd). We got back to the post race awards and got a blanket for the age group win. Only fitting for a cool May weather day that required the heat to be turned up when getting home. Thank you to Krissy for the company and photos.

Covid Comeback 5K - Georgetown

I was late for the race. My mental clock off by an hour on this morning. Runners going by as I drove into the Black Swan Country Club. Great! As soon as I had the key out of the ignition, Krissy ran to get my bib number and pins. I removed my cargo shorts and pinned the number on, and walked over to the start line taking off with the clock now at eight minutes. I think the race had three waves that started taking off at 9:00. 

I was rather calm as I took off. I knew I could rely on the chip time so I did not stress. After breathing hard after a minute of running, figured pace was right. I caught the back end of the 3rd wave less than a half mile in on the warm sunny day. Mile one passed by 6:52. Mile two dropped down with a big drop so that mile dropped to 6:31 but what goes down must come up. I took a turn and saw a string of runners walking up. I chugged up very slowly. Tough climb that was sure to impact the overall pace. After recovering, I continued to pass some runners but less frequent than the 2nd mile. The last mile was 7:33. I rolled into the finish line with a watch time of 21:51 and 3.13 measured via GPS. Official time was 21:47, 7:02/mile pace. No time to reflect what could have been if I started with the race. 

Covid Comeback 5K 2021 Results

Dave Dunham (13th at age 57) offered to take me out for a 4 mile cooldown of which included a visit to the Baldpate Fire Tower. I could not pass it up. We were able to squeeze through the locked gate to access the tower. Got to admit, not really being afraid of heights, every flight of steps up got my attention. It helped to look straight ahead and up. Going down was easier. Good views at the top made it worth it. 

Canterbury Shaker Village Cross Country 5K

The first 2021 race of the Concord Area Race Series was hosted with the Canterbury Shaker Village XC 5K. This was my first time to this neat little village about 15 minutes north of Concord. After running the course as a warm-up, it was clear the terrain would not disappoint with elevation changes. 

Each runner went off every 10 seconds after lining up per your seed time. I was the 34th runner to go from the start line with an introduction from the announcer. The first mile drops down pretty good with a mix of grass and trail. Mile 1 was just under 7 minute pace. Mile 2 had us climbing up and down on the property. I was pretty flat getting passed by Christin Doneski who did encourage me to hang in the last mile and climb.

My legs had other thoughts. I was wiped out and was just looking to finish up. I passed one runner with about 500m to go to offset one runner passing me around the mile. 

I finished 28th overall with the 22:44 time and 3rd in my age group. In summary, tough course with every second earned the hard way. I was the fourth runner on the 2nd place, Duct Tape and Spit team behind Scott Clark, Dave Dunham and Doug Deangelis. 

https://www.gsrs.com/results/4225 

Cinco de Miles 5K

Lined up for another race, Cinco de Miles 5K in Bedford, NH. I met up with Dave Dunham and ran the course as a warm-up. The course had a few hills. I started about six minutes after the first pair of runners. I passed a few runners early but settled down after a 6:30 mile next to Hannah Munson. Mile 2 was paced around 6:40. I was dropped by the company I had with Hannah around 2.3 miles. The course flattened out for the final half mile but I had no zip. 6:50 for the last mile for a 20:50 5K time. 7th in the age group and 59th overall.

I ran the course again with Dave to mark off a productive day for some extra miles.