Great Bay 5K

Great Bay 5K results October 29, 2022

This is a fast point to point course. I got to the race late, 30 minutes before the start. Sadly was thinking about bailing as the right achilles has been hurting. Not wanting to lose another entry fee, put the NB flats on, warmed up and got on the line five rows back from the start. Weather was nice maybe around 40 degrees. Jumped into a 6:22 mile, going off far before the Garmin GPS mile which never picked up a single at the start. The 2nd mile was a bit slower but never saw a split. The folks I was tagging along with pulled away a bit. I tried to stay focused on the last mile that rolls a bit. Coming onto the finish line, was shocked to see 19's as I closed in. Crossed the line in 20:02 official time, 47th place. I was pumped as it was the fastest 5K since 2019 for me before the meniscus surgery. I was pretty close to breaking 20 minutes which was my 5K goal last year. 

With Dave and Krissy after the race in front of the Great Bay Discovery Center

Crossing the finish line

Striding into the finish

Photo by GSRS over the line

Next race: New England XC Championships, Masters 8K, Franklin Park

Brown Bear Invitational XC

October 1, 2022 - This was race #2 in the New England XC Grand Prix Cross Country series which has five races total. I was not thrilled with the 1pm start for the men’s combined 8K (all ages), I was looking forward to running a race at Highland Park in Attleboro which was purchased by the town and converted much of the former golf course into a cross country course for the local schools and community. The CMS limo arrived with Dunham behind the wheel and Verrington riding shot gun. Parking was tight as we were the last race of the day while the women were just getting started. 

The morning rain let up on our noon time arrival. After a warm up and picking up my bib number, team CMS got on the line that included five seniors and me the lone master. There were a few open clubs but mostly the collegiate running clubs. The course was four continuous loops that went through the start line area thus was very spectator friendly. It was surprisingly mud free and not saturated so footing was decent under my Adidas spikes. On the opening loop, I moved past teammate, Brent Ashmore, getting into the 5^th place for the team.

Back and forth with Mark Reeder on the rolling terrain

Trailing Mark on the steepest and shortest hill that we saw three times

I had a little back and forth with a few but could feel a fade half way through the race. As the laps passed by, the race would thin out. Mark Reeder would move on by around 3 miles and I kept him close enough over the next 3K to reel him in on the final straight away. I ran 35:57.9 good for 180^th place out of 215 overall. I could see such a course lay host to a National USATF Cross Country race in the future if parking could accommodate. 

Brown Bear Invitational Men’s XC 2022 results

 

Boston Scientific 5K Marlborough

Boston Scientific 5K September 27, 2022 Marlborough, MAResults 

My company put on a 5K on a Tuesday afternoon in Marlborough. It has been three years since the last time the race was hosted (June of 2019) where I ran mid-19’s. I bumped into a former Salem State Cross Country buddy, Tony Brancleone, who works for RaceWire as a Sales Representative. I have not seen Tony since his days at Saucony over seven years ago.  

I got in a mile warm up around the campus. The start was a nice slow descent which put me in around 12^th place 400 meters in. It flattened out for the first mile but dropped down into mile 2 along the Assabet River Rail Trail. 

Coming back up the Assabet Rail Trail

I picked up two places in the last 400 meters on the tough climb back to the campus finish. My finish time was 21:16, 11^th place, 4^th master. I jogged a short distance to grab a dry shirt followed by hanging out for the BBQ and ice cream. This was the perfect way to spend a lunch hour.  

Mile       Pace      Elevation

1              6:29        -40ft

2              6:40        -84ft

3              7:30        116ft

.10          6:26        8ft