Miles Over the Moon 4 mile

Krissy and I headed over to the Miles Over the Moon 4 mile in Salem. This is a Friday night race with a 7:30PM start. I wanted to chill out and save some legs for Sunday’s road mile. Splits were as follows: 8:51, 9:01, 9:21, 9:17. It was controlled throughout the course but still had the heart rate climb each mile to a high of 160 bpm average for the last mile. 

I ran some miles with friend, Al Amore Jr up until a half mile to go. I saw my first Salem State College XC/Track Coach, Steven Zcarnecki on Osgood Street. I gave him a hug as he jumped out when I acknowledged him. Great to see him. Popsicle’s awaited the runners at the finish line. Krissy’s must have handed out hundreds and even mine, grape flavor! 

Full results

Place	Name	Group	Place/Group	Chip Pace	Chip Time	Gun Time
177	James Pawlicki	Male 50-59	16/29	9:15 min/mile	37:04	37:20

 

4 Leaf Rover 4 mile

Race 2 out of 3 for the Wild Rover Series was hosted in Lawrence out of the Lawrence Elks. The 4 Leaf Rover (4 mile) was also part of the New England Runner Pub Series so there was extra competition within all age groups and the overall results showed that.

I had a tough week of training coming into the race with a sore knee and a single 2.8 mile run. The weather was in the mid 20’s but sunny. My warm up was from the Elks parking lot over to the start line .3 miles away. I started next to Stephen Martin as I did last week about 12 rows back from the line. I got out to a 8:37 flat first mile within the industrial park. The knee was not an issue. I was settled in upon approach of the residential neighborhood but preparing mentally for the climb starting at 1.25 miles.

The course profile showed that the last climb and high point would be around 2.6 miles. Mile 2 was paced out at 9:07. Everett McBride went by me with two water towers on the horizon at about 2.4 miles. He did a snowshoe race the day before. I remember those snowshoe days well but would not beat up the body too bad. 

Once beyond those two water towers, we were greeted with a decent down hill into mile three where I clocked an 8:56. It was nice to open the stride. The last mile was all flat taking us back into the industrial park. 

I got my best cadence there picking up the pace for the fastest mile of the day toward the finish line with an 8:18. I passed a few people but not before something in the knee got my attention forcing me to jump in pain on the approach of the finish line. I had to back off and regroup for the last 25 yards to the finish line.

I finished in 153^rd place, 13^th in the 5 yr age group, chip time of 34:52, gun time of 35:03. The pace for the 4 miles (8:44) was similar to the 3 mile last week. Krissy ran great, running 47:06. 

The final race of the series is next, adding 1 mile for the Irish Clover 5 mile in Dracut.

Wild Rover Series 2025

4 Leaf Rover 4 mile results March 2, 2025 

Miles Over the Moon – 4 miles – Salem, MA

Almost three months since my last road race. This Friday night steamer had an earlier start at 7:30PM offering more day light for the safety of the runners and drivers. I got my masters PR here running 5:30’s even for a solid 22 minute effort in 2016. I remember the finish being in the corner of the Salem Common. As for 2024, I had a goal to see if I could squeak under 8:00 but was not to be. The legs felt like junk since running in Lynn Woods earlier in the week. 

Splits of 7:38, 8:23, 8:26 and 8:00 got me to the finish line with an average heart rate of 168! It was nice to see one of my college coaches with Steve Czarnecki outside his Osgood Street home cheering the race. Also, props to the Notch Crew yelling support on Bridge Street. It for sure put a smile on this guy’s face.

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

Primary Bank Super Sunday 4 Miler, USATF New England Grand Prix #1

Primary Bank Super Sunday 4 Miler - Bedford, NH

USATF Road Race Grand Prix Race # 1

Overall Place 313^th

17^th 45-49 age group

27:56.3 official time

Joe Shairs took the wheel, leaving two inches of snow and falling from the North Shore and we arrived at the Bedford New Hampshire High School lot within an hour. We drove past a few spin outs on Rt 93 so we were not sure what to expect for road conditions in Bedford. I was not looking forward to running on snow. We were pleasantly surprised as it was not snowing in Bedford. I ran a few miles for a warm up and got to the start line packing in next to Brett Rickenbach around the 7 minute mile crowd. Temps were in the mid 20’s so I was dressed in tights, thicker long sleeve, hat and gloves. I wore the New Balance Rebel and traction was not an issue as I was on pavement all the way. The town of Bedford did a good job there. 

I was 6:36 at the mile behind Brett and CMS teammate Paul Bazanchuk. I would lose ground to them in mile 2 with a 6:51 split and then really fell back with a 7:02 and 7:17 mile. My right calf was giving me the business the whole race and mailed it in over the last half of the race. Still, I was glad to get into my first race of the year and see so many familiar faces and teams again. This being the first USATF New England Grand Prix race of 2022, the competition was deep. The CMS men would finish as follows as a teams placed well in four age groups.

Open team 4^th out of 18 teams

Masters (40+) team 2^nd out of 13 teams

Seniors (50+) 1^st out of 10 teams

Veterans (60+) 4^th out of 8 teams

Frosty Four Miler, Salem

Nakri drove Krissy and I over to the Tavern in the Square in Salem for another round of the Frosty Four Mile road race for the first race of the New Year. The race entry fee goes to a good cause (scholarships for graduating high school seniors).  Like last year, I found myself with John Page at mile 1 getting compliments from his mother and sweet heart, Jill. Second place runner, Dave Long was a few yards up on us and did not look to be slowing down as he entered and exited the Salem Willows. 

John pulled away from me, seemingly trying to catch Dave. The previous day’s 3K reminded my legs up and over the Deadhorse Beadh hill that it was going to be tough to catch anyone. All three of us carried our 10 seconds apart gap from each other into the wind over the last few miles to the finish line in that order 2^nd, 3^rd, & 4th. I ran 23:29 for 4^th place and 2^nd master runner behind Dave. It was good to see my dad in attendance, cheering the race and I on at the start and finish. Results

TR Ramsdell and I after at the awards

Miles Over the Moon 4 mile - Salem

Krissy and I post-race

I won a free entry to the Miles Over the Moon 4 mile race courtesy of the North Shore Road Race Guide a few weeks ago. The race is unique with a  Friday night, 8:00PM start. I picked up my number, ran a warm up with Bradley Gates and Chris Nolin, showing them as much of the 1^st and last mile that I studied prior. The race opened up with a loop around the Salem Common on the road (not inside the common via the path). Four guys were immediately out quick wasting no time taking charge. Once the dust settled, I went by three runners within the first mile and was now in 4^th place cranking through a 5:19 mile on Derby Street. I noticed ahead that Jordan Kinley was dropping off the lead pack now down to 2 that included Dan Chruniak. I would maintain my place heading behind the Salem Willows and out of it hitting mile 2 with a 5:39 split. The hill at Deadhorse beach is a beast and provided me with a 5:44 split now heading back to the Salem Commons. A few turns later, I was on the Salem Common for a full lap around it on the stone dust path. I knew I would be close to 5:30 pace so I tried to stay with that stride while the legs tired. I saw the clock at 21:39 and I made a sprint to break 22 minutes. I would end up with a 22:00 bib time and 22:01 gun time. 4^th place, 1^st master runner. I was happy with the effort and it has been a while since I was in the 5:30’s for a race distance beyond 5K. My GPS measured out 3.93 so that calculated out to 5:36 pace per mile. I ran a 4 mile race in Salem (Frosty 4) over pretty much the same course on January 1 with a 5:50 pace per mile. A little progress since then! Full results of the Miles Over the Moon event. I ran a cool down with Dan (won with 5:00/mile average), 2^nd place runner Jon Lindenauer (new to the area from Hudson Valley who ran 5:03/mile pace), and Chris Nolin who was the 4^th place master over to the Pickering Wharf and more of Derby Street before the darkness fell on the evening.

Finish line in the Salem Commons
photo via video, KrissyK