With over three decades of running, I can’t recall ever running the Codfish Bowl XC race at Franklin Park. It is primarily a collegiate race. This year was the 57th Annual so it is older than me. It wound up on the 2025 USATF New England Cross Country Grand Prix schedule. Fortunately, Notch Run Club was kept the momentum of rounding up some Seniors based on the credit of interest with having seven men (six 50+) get to the starting line for the 8K men’s race consisting of open and masters. Donnie, Shawn and Krissy arrived with the Notch Tent. They set it up behind the start line while I chased down the team packet from registration.
With the ongoing construction with White Stadium, the new 8K
course consisted of running a 3K and 2K loops adding up the 8K in the end. The 3K
loop: combined Wilderness plus Bear Cage Hill. The weather was sunny, dry with
temperatures in the upper 60’s for the 12:40 start. Our team lined up among at
least a dozen colleges and hand full of USATF running clubs.
I jumped out to a 7:10 mile behind a GLRR runner with whom I
planned on focusing on. I managed to pass him before mile 2 which a 7:32 mile
was clocked. Now the race was on the way to Bear Cage Hill for the second time,
passing mile three on the pavement next to the stadium, 7:44. On top of the
hill, I asked another GLRR runner, a stride ahead, what he had for a distance
thus far. He replied 3.3 miles which is about what I had. I wanted to ensure we
were both on the same page and not lost on the new course which at this point
runners were everywhere. Mile 4 went by out on the Wilderness loop and brought
a 7:54 mile, the slowest thus far.
I rallied a bit with a 7:11 while trying to gain on college
guys and keep the GLRR guys at bay. The
7:31 average pace was faster than my 10K last weekend in Salem. I would say is
progress. I covered a GPS distance of 4.97 miles. Gun time was 37:19, 222nd
place out of 241 runners. Overall, it is my quickest pace of any race this
year, not counting a 7:11 mile in Hopkinton a few months ago.
Splits: 710, 732, 744, 754, 711
2025 Codfish Bowl Cross Country Men’s Results
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