Wild Turkey 5 mile - Salem

Nice, laid back atmosphere this morning for the Wild Turkey 5 mile in Salem. Race director Doug Bollen said more pre and less post entries this year for 1700 runners looking to get a run in before a Thanksgiving feast. I got in behind two time champ (sub-26 last year & PR), Caleb Evanter, at the start line. He was gone at the gun, took in his 3rd win with 26 flat. I had a good start, top ten early, moved up a few by mile one with Matt Veiga (good to see thy neighbor and CMS mountain stud) next to me. I yelled out the mile split to the group, 5:32. Garmin would summarize later it was only a 5:48? Oops. I must have looked at the "pace at the moment" field.

I followed Matt through Winter Island and lost his pace. He would hold the eventual 10 seconds he had on me through the Bloody Mary/Beer table behind the Salem Willows before 3 miles all the way to the finish line. He did the 50 mile Stonecat Trail race weeks ago. A guy passed me exiting the Salem Willows before Deadhorse Beach (the big hill awaited). He would pass Matt with 500m to go. I finished 7th overall, 1st age group - 30 seconds up on bud, Michael Paulin who nailed a 2:48 marathon PR a few weeks ago. I ran a cool down with Brett Rickenbach down to the Pickering Wharf area with Marblehead on the horizon. My official time was 28:54, 30 seconds slower than my 2015 effort. I will take it. GPS splits below for the 4.99 mile course. 2016 Wild Turkey 5 mile race results, Salem, MA

547
555
549
554
538

Half mile to go and smiling for Brad Gates

13th annual Wild Turkey 5 mile races. Guess how many shirts are cotton?

Wild Turkey 5 mile Salem

The gun went off sending over 1700 runners out for the Wild Turkey 5 mile road race away from the Salem Common and past the Hawthorne Hotel. I noted senior Jason Barnes and fellow master David Long just ahead of me. In between was Jordan Kinley pushing a baby jogger. I had to throw in a surge to pass him before two miles and got on the heels of David. Jason was pulling away. Reciprocating shout outs to those entering Winter Island while I was exiting went on for a few minutes. David and I had some back and forth through the neighborhood behind the Salem Willows. I got some separation in my favor in the parking lot of the Salem Willows. Any chance or miracle of catching Jason was looking bleak while he was reeling in CMS teammate Matt Veiga into mile four at the top of the hill beyond Dead Horse Beach. I kept my place, running scared, keeping baby joggers and other runners behind me as I approached the finish. I hit the line in 28:20 (5:40 per mile), good for 7th overall, 1st master. I ran 28:31 last year in cold conditions so to be a little quicker was good. CMS did well. Matt ran 28:03 (6th) and Nakri Dao placed 4th in the master category. William Jackson was chilling out while placing 39th. Congrats to Caleb Evanter (winner) and Dan Chruniak (just ran the Philadelphia Half on Sunday) for setting 5 mile PRs! Splits and results below.

534
528
542
545
538

Wild Turkey 5 mile race results November 26, 2015 Salem, MA

Winner, Caleb Evanter and I at the awards

Wild Turkey 5 Mile Run - Salem

Krissy and I before the start

"Cut your tangents you rookies," I yelled as we turned left around the Salem Common following the start of the race. Same course this year with the exception of the last 300m wrapping up the 5 mile loop just in front of the Knights of Columbus. I felt like junk from the gun - seeing the group I should have been with just ahead and pulling away after my 5:30 opening mile. I saw the leader, Villanova athlete - Justin Williamz ripping around Winter Island after mile 2 absolutely killing it. I plugged away and cheered the group running into Winter Island as I exited. I managed to catch a guy at 2.9 miles and another at 4 to move up two places. CMS t'mate Matt Viega was way ahead battling it out for 5th. I finished 7th overall with a time of 28:31 - well off my reasonable 27:45 expectation. I took the effort in stride. It was a stiff reminder that not all races go as planned and the body told me right away how it was going. I touched base with Justin who took the win to get the scoop on his affiliation to Lynn (as seen in other race results) and his progress at Villanova. His DMR team is one second off the World Record (Taxas and Leo Manzano hold it) and his team is chasing that in 2015. Yes, world record! The Lynn affiliation relates to his girlfriend. Proud to see Krissy finish the race as she had doubts after some knee pain recently. Another turkey day race in the books. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Lynne's Kids 5K

Krissy and I were too lazy to get up for the 8:00am Wild Turkey Race in Salem. Thus, we waited for the home town race at 9:30am. It is billed as a 5K with a mid-17 winner last Thanksgiving. I ran over to Rolly's Tavern and Krissy had our race numbers. I pinned it on to my SRR long sleeve shirt and walked over to the start with Dennis Floyd. I jumped into the lead with Dennis and a youngster on my heels. I did not hear anyone behind me at 1 mile (sorry no split). A lady got out of her car and walked over saying I had a good lead. My tail wind turned into a cross wind after another 400m. Then I hit the head wind into mile two. I slowed down considerably. I looked to my right to see my house across Flax Pond. The police car poked along leading my way past the geese on Magnolia Ave. A blast of the sirens got them hustling across the street. More head wind down Euclid Ave. I crossed the finish line in 17:23 for the win. Dennis was a minute behind me for 2nd. I ran the same course, maybe 40 yards shorter in January in 16:11. GPS measured 3.06 miles. Krissy ran 3 seconds slower than her January race so I lost more fitness than her, right? I hung out at Rolly's and ran into ol' friends: Jay Euzikonis and Sara Garofalo. I picked up a gift certificate for the Old Tyme Restaurant which will be put to good use. I hope to find the photos taken by a young lady during and after the race. If you are her, please drop me a line. Lynne's Kids 5K 2013 race results

Wild Turkey 5 Mile - Salem

This 5 mile road race is just a ten minute drive from the house in Salem. It has become a tradition on Thanksgiving morning. I picked up my number at New England Running Company last night to ease the congestion as the race was expecting over 1600 runners - a record amount. Krissy and I left at 7am for the 8am start. Upon parking, I saw SRR's Jennifer Rapaport and Diona Fulton so I touched base and offered to show the first and last miles which we did for the warmup. I got back to the car at 7:45. It was in the low 40's with partial sun and some wind from the north. Racing gear consisted of my blue CMS Polar Beverages singlet, fleece DION Snowshoe hat, Dungeon Racing gloves, Craft shorts, Feetures! socks, and Scott racing flats. I ran a few more minutes around the Salem Common and saw my dad at Washington Square ready to watch. I got on the starting line next to my 'ol Salem State teamate, John Bowser and Mark Flaherty who ran at Westfield State. We have been running on Sundays together over the past month in Lynn Woods along with Dennis Floyd and Jay Euzikonis of whom was representing a Brooks table of footwear and also racing today.

Just ahead of Nick after exiting Winter Island

Caleb Evanter (GBTC) shot right out with Max Kulbauch (Philadelphia, PA) who has won this race in the past. I chased down a turkey costume and a cook within 200m. Caleb has been running very well this year. I yelled ahead to David Corbett (Mystic Runners) who did not hear me. I pulled along side and shook his hand for an awesome effort at the Manchester City Marathon a few weeks ago (2:46). He missed his PR by 50 seconds on a tough course. Then a gent flew passed as we ran by Pickering Wharf in home made sandles. It turned out to be Nick Sousa (I did not figure this out until after the finish) with whom I never met before but have seen him tear up the North Shore Racing scene over the past 2 years whenever I see racing results. We went through the mile with 5:22. I recorded the split but did not look or acknowledge it at all, just opened the first mile on feel and instinct. We were in 3rd and 4th place with some head wind toward the long straight away before turning right into Winter Island. I passed Krissy who yelled for me. I had a stride or two on Nick but he did not shake as we toured the park, rounded some cones and exited. I recorded mile 2 with a 10:56 split (5:34) again not looking at my watch or acknowledging how fast I was going. At this point we are running against the race and I got several more cheers. Nick looked over at me and said, "popular guy, eh?" Humble as always, I apoligized!

Striding into the finish line

We got into the neighborhood behind the Salem Willows and we went back and forth, not separating anymore than a stride. I had a step on Nick through mile three, 16:34 (5:37). This time, I looked at my watch to gauge if I was anywhere near the 5:30 pace (27:30) that I hoped to nail today. I felt that I was putting a few seconds on Nick through the Willows (slight tail wind) but he was back on my heels through Deadhorse Beach which exits the Salem Willows. We had a climb and he was back with me beyond the top. I noticed a spectator on the right having a cigarette. We passed mile 4 in 22:15 (5:41) but felt decent to finish this thing up and thought ahead, picturing what would be if it came down to a kick in the closing 200m. I was not too confident as I started to wear down at the Bentley School and I could tell Nick was ready to take charge of this battle. We crossed the last intersection, passing an officer for traffic control. Nick gave me words of encouragement, "let's go, we have 800m to go." I sucked it up and stayed on his heels. Again, he gave words of encouragement with 400m to and I could see our last left hand turn to the finish. He gapped me by two seconds with confidence and I could not match it. He was strong all the way to the line and I was spent. It was a good fight, one of which we ran 98% of the race within a stride or two of eachother. I collected myself after the finish line shute and saw my Salem State college coach, Steve Czarnecki, who was watching his Bishop Fenwick athletes in. He commented to me "not bad for an old guy." I agreed. Nick swung back and handed me a water. To this point, I was embarassed to not know his name and only asked if he was local? He mentioned Salem, and I figured it was Nick Souza as soon as he said that he ran a low 26 time last year on this course.  I took the 4th place and 27:40.2 with pride. Not bad for an old guy......

Wild Turkey 5 Mile

Salem, MA, November 22, 2012

1 CALEB EVANTER MARBLEHEAD MA 34 25 M 1 Top Fin  26:12.8 5:14/M

2 MAX KAULBACH PHILADELPHIA PA 914 23 M 1 20-24    26:43.8 5:21/M

3 NICK SOUSA SALEM MA 1630 29 M 1 25-29                 27:38.3 5:32/M

4 JAMES PAWLICKI LYNN MA 1130 38 M 1 35-39            27:40.2 5:32/M

5 BRYAN MENDES PEABODY MA 352 17 M 1 15-19           28:28.2 5:42/M

Complete results

Photos by KrissyK

Two strides behind Nick at the line