Frozen Shamrock 3 mile - Wild Rover Series

The first of three consecutive road races kicked off the Wild Rover Series. This was the 3 mile hosted in Haverhill via Maria's Restaurant in downtown. Race directors Dave Labrode and Dave Camire confirmed late in the week that they had 520 runners already signed up so this was going to be a popular race and series. I came into the race well rested with just a 8:31 paced test on Wednesday’s Notch 5K. The left knee was sore ever since but three days of rest helped out. I ran a very short warm up with David Harper from CMS. Nice to catch up with him as he is running so well in his late 50's (he would go on to be the top senior on the day running low 6 minute miles). 

I piled into the start line next to Stephen Martin about 20 rows from the start line. Good clean start and before I knew it a mile had passed by. I was settled into the pace of the day which felt sustainable. Then we took a left away from the river and up a hill and around a cemetary. The hill was long and I had to back off a bit. I lost some places from there on out despite getting back to the flat section at mile two taking us back to downtown and the finish line. I regrouped a bit but gained very few places. 

I finished 9th out of 32 within the 50-54 age group, chip time 26:14 (26:23 gun time), 153rd overall. The 8:45 pace in the end was slower than my shake out four days earlier but there was much more elevation here in Haverhill. Rumor has it that the next two races in the series have just as much for hills but the distances jump to 4 and 5 miles. Meanwhile, Krissy ran her first race in a few years. She ran great, covering the distance in 34 minutes!

Classy 3 Mile Fun Run

I walked over to Rolley’s Tavern to sign up for this 3 mile road race that sends all proceeds to support the Lynn Classical Girls Track Team. I caught up with Stephen Martin (race director) and Bill Mullen (all things Lynn Woods Running) as we joked about the night’s snow that put about four inches of white stuff on the city. By late morning, the main roads were down to wet pavement. 

I ran a mile and a half warm up with Nakri Dao before lining up on Broadway Street for the start. It was sunny and around 37 degrees. I jumped into 5^th place early on. By the time I reached the mile, Nakri went by followed by Joe O'Leary a minute later. They would put nothing but road between them and I. I got clipped at the very end of the 3 mile course by one more runner. I finished up in 8^th place with a time of 21:20. My mile splits were 6:36, 7:07, 7:19 for the GPS measured 3:04 miles (7:00 / mile average). I grabbed my gear after the race and ended up running home to take care of the days errands.

2020 Classy 3 Mile Fun Run results

Nakri and I before the race
Photo by Mike Fitzgerald

With Stephen Martin and Bill Mullen

Boston Scientific 3 mile - Quincy

I signed Krissy and I up for my companies 3 mile race in Quincy. I am the technical race director and helped the committee with the event the last two years. The Boston Scientific Family Summer Funfest is open to employees and family.  We were expecting over 140 to attend the event which had a little bit of everything for everyone. The race was just an additional attraction. We had 30 runners sign up for the 3 mile and 20 kids for the ¼ mile sprint on the picturesque Boston Scientific campus on the edge of the Neponset River. We had awesome weather, mid 60’s and sun when we arrived at 8:30. Krissy and I helped mark off the 1 mile loop (the race is 3 loops) with spray chalk arrows on the pavement and cones set up in strategic areas.

I grabbed the microphone for the loud speaker at 10:15, made some announcements while Krissy helped out with registration. We got the kids sprint off at 10:40 (10 minutes late) but it was a blast to call it and watch it at the same time. I put the microphone down, threw a singlet on, and made my way down to the starting line for the 3 mile race at 10:55 (10 minutes late). New England Timing got us off and on our way. I jumped up front with Yerry Garita and Ethan White. Yerry won this race last year in 20:42. The one mile loop would be done three times. Each loop contains about 1/3 of a mile of trail and gravel. The loose gravel got harder and harder to run on as the laps went by.

On the mic
Photo by John Picard

The three of us stayed together for the first two laps with co-workers cheering us on. We passed the mile in 6:18 and mile two in 6:33. Our pack broke up a bit in the last half mile with Ethan taking command into the trail. He was pushing the pace pretty good. It would be difficult to pass anyone on the trail along the Neponset River but it could be done with some authority. I had nothing left at the end of the trail and Ethan took a one second lead and stretched it out on the final 150m on the pavement to the finish line. I ran 19:09 (6:15/mile) to his 19:04 (6:17/mile). Yerry was right behind me in 19:39 (6:27/mile).

Ethan taking the win with me in tow
Photo by John Picard

I went back upstairs to the patio and MC’d the rest of the race and event getting folks fired up for the Dunk Tank, kids ready for the Silly Willy magic show. Pizza and an Ice Cream Truck showed up at 11:45. I called out some raffle prize winners and the recapped the overall winners of the race. It was a good time and great to see many smiles on the faces.

                       Boston Scientific 3 Mile Run

                   TIMING/RESULTS BY NEW ENGLAND TIMING

Place       Name                    Sex Sex/Tot  Time  Pace    

===== ===== ======================= === ======== ===== =====

    1    30 Ethan White             M     1/16   19:04  6:15

    2    18 Jim Pawlicki            M     2/16   19:09  6:17

    3     1 Yerry Garita            M     3/16   19:39  6:27

    4     6 Paul Cardoos            M     4/16   20:55  6:52

    5     9 Ed Duggan               M     5/16   21:08  6:56