Long overdue race results from February, March and April

Race Results that I have been long overdue to capture on the blog:

StretchLAB Super Sunday 4 Miler - Bedford, NH 2/11/24. This was a USATF New England Championship Race. I missed my goal for a 7 minute pace, running a 28:25 overall net time or 7:07. 426^th place. Gun time was 28:47. Course had a slight change for the better in the middle from the ’23 version. Splits: 6:59, 6:52, 7:14, 7:15

https://results.raceroster.com/v2/en-US/results/feu2urjjeskf44qz/results

Hibernian 5K – Lynn, MA 2/24/24 – Race #1 for the day. I forgot my watch but in the end, everyone said the distance wound up at 3 miles. I liked the counter-clockwise direction for the first time, really no elevation until after 2 miles where the course raised up to Boston Street. Good flat and fast finish but I was spent for the last half mile. Rich Lally pulled away from me as I settled for 21^st place and official time of 21:25, 6:54/mile.             

https://my.racewire.com/results/37784

Hamantasch Run 5K – Arlington, MA 2/24/24 – Race #2 for the day. Comp entry as Kristen was the race photographer. I think this was my first race in Arlington. The course seemed to go down for mile one after starting in front of the town hall, flat second mile and then effort to get back up to the finish over the last 700m or so. 23^rd out of 142. 25:22 was the time good for 8:10 pace. Splits: 8:17, 7:59, 8:03 and 7:33 for the last 10^th. Cool bright blue beanie for each entry.

https://results.raceroster.com/v2/en-US/results/pq2fwxj2nq7fhh9k/results

Frank Nealon Boston Tune-Up 15K – Upton, MA 3/20/24 – Our Tri-Valley Front Runners hosting another solid event out of Upton for the USATF New England 15K Road Championship. I wanted to run a faster pace than the Great Stew Chase effort in February. Mission accomplished on this rolling course. An average of 161 on the beats per minute (heart rate) says it all. Gun time: 1:13:58, Chip Time: 1:13:39. 376^th out of 614 overall.

Splits were: 739, 739, 802, 733, 751, 753, 800, 812, 803 and 7:15 for the last point four. 7:54 pace per mile. Felt pretty good about the effort!

https://www.athlinks.com/event/51543/results/Event/1069936/Course/2430334/Results

April Fools 4 Mile – Salisbury, MA April 6, 2024 - This flat and fast out and back four mile is hosted by our Winner’s Circle Running Club friends. I ran my PR of 21:59 (5:15/mi) twenty years ago – with Joe Shairs right on my heels! Light rain started as the field took off. I felt a tweak of the right hamstring in mile 1 so that kept my attention for the rest of the way. Still hit 162 BPM average. 30^th place. 30:21 chip (7:36/mi pace), 30:24 gun time. Splits were 7:37, 7:41, 7:46 and 7:51.

https://runsignup.com/Race/Results/139499?customResultsPageId=66785

The Great Stew Chase 15K

Race Director Roget Perham brought the The Great Stew Chase 15K out of the Knights of Columbus back for the first time since 2020. I missed that one but ran 59 and a half minutes in 2019. It was good to be back. A reported 150 were registered for the 10AM start. The weather was great too being in the high 40's and dry pavement. I used the event as a long run but wanted some discomfort without wrecking myself. The weekly mileage and anaerobic work just has not been there to support any oxygen debt. I was really undecided on a time but planned on feeling it out one mile at a time. In the end, I wound up averaging 8:16's and this is how I got there breaking each 5K down.

The opening 5K had splits around 7:56, a bit quicker than I wanted but adjusted for the middle of the race. I kept my place after 1.5 miles as it thinned out. The next 5K introduced the hills in Centennial Park, Peabody, so I was cool with backing off, averaged around 8:30's. Two folks caught me on the big hill approaching the turn around before Rt. 1. The last 5K, got back to 8:10's but it felt like I was pushing harder. I had a few folks coming back on the rolling hills before reaching Rt. 129. I managed to catch three people with a mile to go and closed in with a 7:33-ish paced last half mile. 1:16:59 overall time, 8:16 pace average per mile. We'll take it. I collected myself and headed into the KofC dining room for a bowl of Stew and Cookies to reward my humble effort. 

Results: https://results.raceroster.com/v2/en-US/results/fbn5gx3hqtykruuu/results?subEvent&fbclid=IwAR1kRf1dPPaNpVlmOioJ7r4BGT6xM3h1qYzy_l6ctyWiFLlQTfldwTlWhzU#tab_awards

Frank Nealon Boston Tune-Up 15K

Hit the road for an easy one hour drive to Upton, MA for the 4th of the USATF New England Road Race Grand Prix races - Frank Nealon Boston Tune-Up 15K. Since the series got underway in August, a 5 mile, 10 mile, and 10K have been hosted in short order before the end of September. I failed to make a presence at any. This race was a chance to do a CMS team race on the roads. This is also, potentially may be the last race of the shortened Grand Prix, Covid-19 recovery year of 2021. A recent runner survey seems to have some interest with a 5K road championship to be held in November. That may align well for me as I have run more 5K's this year than I have in the last decade. 

Around mile 9

Photo by Barbara McManus

I ran this race about 3 years ago so was well versed in the rolling nature and quiet roads. I checked in with my CMS teammates, handing out fist bumps before the national anthem. I was anxious. My longest race all year was a 10K in and around seven and a half minute pace. I set off at the start with no serious expectations other than running comfortably hard. And that I did. Most miles were under 8 minute pace and reached the finish line with an overall pace of 7:53. Chip Time was 1:13:27. That placed me 27th out of 37 in the 40-49 age group and or 128th out of 216 runners. Splits below. CMS Open and Masters Men's Teams were 4th and 2nd.

Full Individual 15K Results

742, 749, 803, 749, 759, 749, 805, 752, 731, 704 pace for the last 0.4 miles

Following the race, I got a chance to scout out a 1989 San Marino Yello Chrysler Conquest TSI for sale. It was an automatic and the owner owns four, all automatics. It was not registered so could only test drive it around the Storage Facility. It needs some work and would be a fun project. If anyone knows of a Conquest TSI or Mitsubishi Starion ESI for sale, please let me know. 

Frank Nealon Boston Tune-up 15K

Dennis Floyd, Nakri Dao, and I arrived in Upton for the Frank Nealon Boston Tune-up 15K which was the 2nd race in the USATF New England Road Race Grand Prix. Parking was easy as was picking up the bib number inside the gym. I caught up with my CMS teammates before heading out for a 15 minute warm up. Onto the starting line, about four rows back with my CMS mates. The weather was nice for late March, sunny and almost 50 degrees.

The course rolled early and often. I opened up with a pair of 5:45's. The 3rd mile had the most climb and I registered a 6:09. I mentally was breaking the race down into thirds. Mile 4 had the most net drop (-41ft) and I returned a sub six. Mile 5 was level but recall a hill that I could see from a half mile away. I was sort of keeping Josh Perks close on the down hills. Mile six gave me a 6:00 split.

Two thirds of the race distance was in the rear view mirror. Dave Dunham came by and went by easily. I was hurting. I begged Tim Van Orden to jump back into the race and "jog" with me. He was done, walking off calf pain. I had a pair of 6:17's for miles 7 and 8. Tough ones for me. I regrouped a little bit in the last mile when Joe O'Leary came up on me. I heard his cough and I peeked back and said that I recognized that cough. He laughed and told me to bring us home to the finish.

I gave it all I had. Despite that I lost two spots in the last half mile including one to Bradford Klinedinst, within my age group which put me into 11th for the day. Overall, 93rd place with a time of 56:38 – 6:04 per mile pace. I felt pretty good with the effort. I would not have changed my approach. I really liked the course and the rolling terrain. The CMS teams did very well with 2nd open, 2nd masters, and 3rd senior team. I am looking forward to resting up this week and looking for more races which could include Doyles 5 mile and the Merrimack River Trail Race.

My coach, Joe O'Leary catching me in the last mile
Photo by Rodney Hemingway

GMAA Labor Day 15K

August 31, 2014 - South Burlington, VT
The Green Mountain Athletic Association hosted a rolling 15K USATF New England Championship today. Very light rain and humidity did not damper the effort. I jumped out to a 5:48 mile - a little slower than my goal of 5:40. The miles rolled by and a few hills thinned out the crowd ahead of me. I managed to catch up to Joe Shairs and Morgan Kennedy at the same time - before 4 miles. I did not bother looking at my splits but was motoring good with Morgan. I hit a wall climbing on the bike path and he got away. He battled Daniel Button (GLRR) for a bit. I kept them in sight and navigated behind, finally catching them on a downhill stretch over a highway. I was doing good on the downhills but was losing a step climbing so I had to focus on the down and uphill finish stretch. I passed Daniel on the down hill heading back to the school and got beside Morgan who encouraged me to go for it. I kept the little bit of momentum and struggled up the last of the hill into the school driveway. I held them off but got passed just before the line by Adron Pitman. I was satisfied with the effort even though I know I had a garbage mile in the middle somewhere where the hills took the wind out of me and the legs. 47th place, 53:46.8 (3:35/kilometer). CMS finished 2nd overall in the open and masters divisions which was awesome. I got a cool down in with Joe and Al before having some post race goodies in the school. An early checkout at the hotel had Krissy and I bailing sooner than I wanted to. We cleaned up and spent the rest of the day in downtown having brunch with ol' friend Derek and chilling out in the park overlooking Lake Champlain. The umbrellas were mandatory.

GMAA 15K road race photos by KrissyK

2014 GMAA Labor Day 15K overall results