Trav's Trail Run

I was looking forward to the 3 mile trail run in MaudslayState Park in Newburyport. The weather was sunny and humid, a departure from the cool weather the day before. It was nice to see Nate Jenkins at the race hanging out as he recovers from hip surgery. Stay positive my friend! I went off on a nice warm up on the course with Dave and Greg giving us a chance to catch up on trailing, racing, and life.

The race went out fast, the benefit of an immediate downhill. It thins out after a half mile as the rolling hills and shade embark on the runners. Chris Kealy, now 50 years young, wheeled by me ¾ of a mile in and Dave Dunham went by after the mile. I felt flat and proceeded on autopilot mode. I had Connor Welch in sight on the last hill but I was hurting just as bad as him. My time was 18:18, 12^th place. I was 11^th last year with a time of 17:28. CMS teammate Greg Putnam took the last envelope, placing 3^rd in 16:26. My goal was to finish within a minute of him.

Dave finished 14 seconds behind Chris Kealy in the battle of the Seniors (17:38 to 17:52). I had a refreshing slow cool down with Chris who was educating me on his Flag Day race coming up in June and some coaching that he has been doing. The awards got delayed so they decided to have the raffle first. Krissy score some New Balance socks right off the bat. I managed to score a New Balance backpack, courtesy of an age group placing.

2018 Trav’s Trail Run Race Results

Trav’s Trail Run

The rain held off for Trav’s Trail Run (3 mile) cross country / trail race at Maudslay State Park in Newburyport. The course is an up and down affair in a course that sees single track, fire roads, and fields. This is a scenic course and a gem for age group prizes as the goal was to get a coveted ‘Stina' mug. The race went out fast as Nate Jenkins and Greg Putnam (representing CMS) took no prisoners. They would go on to place 1-2 overall. I would go on to place 9^th overall. The results missed Chris Kealy who was a few places ahead of me. I ran 17:16 about 30 ticks slower than last year. I felt the effort was good with a little “off throttle” in the middle of the race. Chris Kealy and Paul Larosa went by me before the mile and my legs were fading. Jochen Steinbrecher who was on my heels at the mile, would be held off by yours truly by 11 seconds at the end where I was gassed. I kept my place and position which was established at the mile. With Greg Putnam placing in the top 3 overall, that allowed me to sneak into the 3^rd place 40+, master age group to get a mug and New Balance bag.

After 600m into the race
Photo by Joe Armstrong

50m before the finish "mid-air"
Photo by Joe Armstrong

Prizes for 3rd place
Photo by Krissy Kozlosky