Trav’s Trail 3 mile Cross Country Newburyport, MA Maudslay State Park

It was nice to get back to this fun 3 mile cross country race at Maudslay State Park. This was the 20^th Anniversary of Travis Landreth’s unfortunate passing. My last decade or so blog archives shows that I have done the race in 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. I have at least 3 coffee mugs from the event, coveted age group prizes.

That last effort in 2018 was an 18:18 time worth 12^th place. I ran a one mile warm up with Rich Tabbut going down to the bridge and back about 20 minutes before the start time. It was sunny and humid. Fortunately 90% of the course is in the shade. I kept the trainers on and got out to the wide start line. 

With my right achilles a bit tender, I eased out with a 7:16 mile, positioned a few slots behind Mimi Fallon and Edmund Connor. Mile two was a bit quicker, 7:06, as Ed and I would go back and forth hitting the bridge with less than a half mile to go. I got past him on the way up the hill and crossed the finish line with a time of 20:49, 6:57 pace, 17^th place, 7^th in the 40-49 age group. GPS measured out to be 2.92 miles. CMS's Greg Putnam would place 3rd overall and top senior, just getting under 17 minutes. 

After a few bottles of water and a banana, I headed out for a cool down with Tim Morin as we caught up on his running and upcoming plans for the summer.

Trav's Trail 3 mile May, 22, 2022 race results

Top 20 below

20TH ANNUAL TRAV'S TRAIL 3 MILE XC RACE ....NEWBURYPORT MA MAY 22, 2022 Place Name Age S City Time1 Pace ===== =================== === = =============== ======= ===== 1 RUBEN SANCA 35 M 15:52 5:18 2 JUSTIN MALONEY 43 M 16:40 5:34 3 Gregory Putnam 52 M Stoneham 16:53 5:38 4 NICK ROOSA 36 M 17:08 5:43 5 PAUL LAROSA 45 M 17:35 5:52 6 MARK LAROSA 43 M 17:51 5:57 7 KEVIN ALLIETTE 40 M Methuen 18:12 6:04 8 CHRIS KEALEY 54 M 18:29 6:10 9 Brett Ely 42 F Eugene 18:59 6:20 10 TIM MORIN 39 M 19:05 6:22 11 Beardo McBeardface 46 M 19:22 6:28 12 Joe Gross 47 M Newburyport 19:45 6:35 13 Paul Wertz 18 M 20:02 6:41 14 Kara Haas 51 F CHELMSFORD 20:04 6:42 15 Charlotte Furman 22 F Newburyport 20:09 6:43 16 Mike Haas 49 M Chelmsford 20:33 6:51 17 James Pawlicki 47 M Lynn 20:49 6:57 18 EDMUD CONNOR 61 M 20:53 6:58 19 Matt Contorchick 44 M 21:13 7:05 20 MIMI FALLON 57 F 21:21 7:07

ECTA Spring For The Trails Half Marathon - Willowdale State Park - Ipswich, MA

My expectations were low but I wanted to enjoy the Willowdale State Park Trails of which I have not seen since doing this race in 2017 with a 3^rd place finish and time of 1:28:13 (GPS measured distance of 12.4 miles). I headed into this half marathon with the goal of trying to finish as competitive as possible with the limited trail running and only two long runs of seven miles each in the last month. It was nice to see Carol, who has been directing these ECTA (Essex County Trail Association) since the start 18 years ago. She always recognizes me and reminds me that Joe Shairs and I did her first race in Hamilton.

I caught up with Todd Callaghan, Dan Donato and Dave Long before the race – all three I considered to be front runners on the day. I ran less than a mile for a warm-up fifteen minutes before the 9AM start time. The temperatures were promising to get into the 80’s in the afternoon and the sun was bright. The race took off and I settled into a distanced second pack before diving into the single track and quick up and downs. We hit the highpoint of the course after a mile in around 185ft. 

The mile splits don’t mean too much with the constant varying terrain, rocks, roots, switch-backs, fire road to single track transitions. The best part of these trails I feel are the mix of single track and wider fire roads where you can see people ahead of you within 100 yards and then not see a soul but maybe hear them above or below you in the single track that can include switch backs. This is the type of course that requires strength and nimble feet. I started to lose the nimbleness after nine miles. More on that later.

I was feeling good about position, perhaps 10^th place 1/3^rd of the way in (4 miles) latching onto the lead woman who came back at me after missing a turn and maybe 30 seconds. We entered the water/GU gel stop shortly after six miles. I took a GU and full cup of water down carefully for a minute as did the lead woman and a male counterpart who waited for her. I beat them out of the water stop running silent and getting tired of the switch-backs encountered beyond 9 miles. I tripped at 10.5 miles and was lucky to get my hands out on the ground to brace what could have been a nasty fall into the earth. Neither the knees or elbows touched down.

This did shake me up though mentally knowing the legs were being stretched beyond the limits. Through 10 miles I had 2 miles in the 7’s (7 minute/mile pace), 5 miles in the 8’s (8 minute/mile pace) and just two in the 9’s (which included the break at the water stop). From 10 miles onward, I ran defensively through a 10:31, 10:38 and 10:10. All I could do was be calculated with the steps and remain defensive which is very defeating. I did not want to take another fall. 

I would be passed by the lead woman and her male counter part with less than a mile to go. I was cooked and just praying that the finish was coming well before 13.1 miles. Indeed, the finish approached at 12.5 miles per my GPS. Most others I heard from got the same distance. I crossed the line and leaned on my tired knees. The 12.5 miles felt like a marathon! I finished 10^th overall with a time of 1:53:13, 9.04 pace per mile for the 12.48 miles.

 

Spring For The Trails Half Marathon Results Willowdale StatePark May 14, 2022 or direct PDF here

Top 20 below

Place First Last Time Gender Age Bib 

1 Todd Callaghan 1:33:51 M 52 21 

2 Nathan Currie 1:34:19 M 29 150 

3 Ben  Schersten 1:36:21 M 43 142 

4 David Long 1:39:06 M 48 62 

5 Michael Peyron 1:43:15 M 46 90 

6 Dan Dorato 1:44:44 M 41 136 

7 Keith Schmitt 1:47:24 M 53 102 

8 David Mueller 1:52:11 M 26 76 

9 Amy Hollshwandner 1:52:33 F 27 54 

10 James Pawlicki 1:53:12 M 47 86 

11 Kayla Pelletier 1:53:54 F 34 88 

12 Steve Vanne 1:55:41 M 37 119 

13 Tom  Maddux 1:56:00 M 36 63 

14 Wes Lassen 1:57:14 M 44 60 

15 Kat O'Leary 1:57:59 F 36 82 

16 Toshiaki Namba 1:58:36 M 25 78 

17 R J Mroz 1:59:01 M 21 75 

18 Dan Healey 1:59:53 M 61 138 

19 Brad Woodley 2:00:45 M 48 128 

20 Sean  Bailey 2:03:23 M 39 10