5th Annual ECTA Thanks for the Trails 5K – South Hamilton

The ECTA Thanks for the Trails 5K is hosted, Friday, the day after Thanksgiving at 10AM in Hamilton. This event was formerly Gabe’s Run and ECTA took it over five years ago. I did a light warm up and got on the line. The plan was to be competitive with the terrain and keep heart rate elevated but not convince Garmin that I raced twice in 24 hours. Garmin was telling me to take a rest day. No rest for the wicked!

Patton Park and the Tank

I let several runner jump out ahead at the start line. It was single file quickly as we rounded the fields and into the woods. I got through the mile in 7:37 and the miles slowed thereafter as there was a decent sized hill in the middle of the second mile. That hill crashed back down into the opening filed and mile two split was 8:06. The hill in the middle of the closing mile was shorter but steeper. The back side of the hill allowed me to stretch the legs and head back to the finish. 

I lost one place on the return. GPS recorded 3.23 so a touch long for a 5K.  26^th place overall, 4^th in an odd age group of M46-55 and an unofficial time of 25:37 or 8:15 pace per mile. My average heart rate was 161 bpm. I connected with Larissa Bifano for a short cool down a minute after my finish. After checking the results I grabbed a cider donut and a cup of soup before heading out for the day. Splits were as follows: 7:37, 8:06 (hill in the middle), 8:17 (hill in the middle) and 6:58 for last .23 miles. Results

Greater Boston Track Club XC Invitational 5K

Cross Country race season kicked off with the Greater Boston Track Club XC Invitational 5K at the Great Brook Ski Touring Center in Carlisle, MA this past Sunday. CMS had just enough runners, five, at the start line in the masters 5k that started at 9:30AM. A field of 52 runners set off on the three loop course. The first loop was around the corn field as runners get into position and visibility of who is within 30 seconds ahead. There were plenty of spectators around yelling for the old guys!

Loop two was a mix of the woods and back around the corn field and the spectators. The runners in front of me were thinning out and opportunity to move past someone was getting harder as we all locked into our paces among peers. We headed back into the woods after 11 minutes into the race for the longest and toughest loop with some hills. I had some back and forth with GLRR, Peter LaGoy. He passed me with 400m to go and I could not close the 2 second gap at the end.

I finished 32^nd with a time of 21:37.9 and was the 5^th man for the Central Mass Striders masters team. We placed 3^rd out of four scoring teams (each team needs five to finish). CMS was only 1 point behind 2^nd place Tracksmith Boston Hares and 2 points ahead of Greater Lowell (GLRR) who had the top runner in the field. I ran a cool down with the team for another 5K unrelated to the course so I got a daily total of over 9 miles for the day. 

I hope to attend three out of the next four USATF New England Cross Country Grand Prix races which will conclude in November. Aside from that I am lined up for the 18^th Annual Run for the Trails in Hamilton this weekend and thinking about the Ravenswood Trail Race in the middle of October.

CMS finishers 

4 Arthur Besse 17:32

5 Ian Ridgway 17:37

18 Dan Verrington 19:41

20 Dave Dunham 19:58

32 James Pawlicki 21:37

Individual Results 

Team Results 

2022 USATF NE XC GP Schedule 

Sun Sep 11 - GBTC XC Invitational,Carlisle MA
Sat Oct 1 - Brown Bear Invitational, Attleboro MA
Sun Oct 9 - Wayland XC Festival, Wayland MA
Sun Nov 6 - USATF-NE XC Championships, Boston MA
Sat Nov 19 - Rachel's Run, Tyngsboro MA

 

Trav’s Trail 3 mile Cross Country Newburyport, MA Maudslay State Park

It was nice to get back to this fun 3 mile cross country race at Maudslay State Park. This was the 20^th Anniversary of Travis Landreth’s unfortunate passing. My last decade or so blog archives shows that I have done the race in 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. I have at least 3 coffee mugs from the event, coveted age group prizes.

That last effort in 2018 was an 18:18 time worth 12^th place. I ran a one mile warm up with Rich Tabbut going down to the bridge and back about 20 minutes before the start time. It was sunny and humid. Fortunately 90% of the course is in the shade. I kept the trainers on and got out to the wide start line. 

With my right achilles a bit tender, I eased out with a 7:16 mile, positioned a few slots behind Mimi Fallon and Edmund Connor. Mile two was a bit quicker, 7:06, as Ed and I would go back and forth hitting the bridge with less than a half mile to go. I got past him on the way up the hill and crossed the finish line with a time of 20:49, 6:57 pace, 17^th place, 7^th in the 40-49 age group. GPS measured out to be 2.92 miles. CMS's Greg Putnam would place 3rd overall and top senior, just getting under 17 minutes. 

After a few bottles of water and a banana, I headed out for a cool down with Tim Morin as we caught up on his running and upcoming plans for the summer.

Trav's Trail 3 mile May, 22, 2022 race results

Top 20 below

20TH ANNUAL TRAV'S TRAIL 3 MILE XC RACE ....NEWBURYPORT MA MAY 22, 2022 Place Name Age S City Time1 Pace ===== =================== === = =============== ======= ===== 1 RUBEN SANCA 35 M 15:52 5:18 2 JUSTIN MALONEY 43 M 16:40 5:34 3 Gregory Putnam 52 M Stoneham 16:53 5:38 4 NICK ROOSA 36 M 17:08 5:43 5 PAUL LAROSA 45 M 17:35 5:52 6 MARK LAROSA 43 M 17:51 5:57 7 KEVIN ALLIETTE 40 M Methuen 18:12 6:04 8 CHRIS KEALEY 54 M 18:29 6:10 9 Brett Ely 42 F Eugene 18:59 6:20 10 TIM MORIN 39 M 19:05 6:22 11 Beardo McBeardface 46 M 19:22 6:28 12 Joe Gross 47 M Newburyport 19:45 6:35 13 Paul Wertz 18 M 20:02 6:41 14 Kara Haas 51 F CHELMSFORD 20:04 6:42 15 Charlotte Furman 22 F Newburyport 20:09 6:43 16 Mike Haas 49 M Chelmsford 20:33 6:51 17 James Pawlicki 47 M Lynn 20:49 6:57 18 EDMUD CONNOR 61 M 20:53 6:58 19 Matt Contorchick 44 M 21:13 7:05 20 MIMI FALLON 57 F 21:21 7:07

Run to Fall 5K Trail Race

Sunday December 6, 2020

This race was postponed from November which I signed up for in order to have cross country tune up before the New England Cross Country Championships. Former CMS teammate Tim Cox and family have been hosting this rolling terrain cross country event for almost two decades at Coe-Brown Academy in Northwood, NH. About eight inches of snow had fallen the day before. Most of the snow was plowed along the trails with a 4 wheeler while even a few trees were reported to be cut down and out of the way. There were six heats of races during the day to keep everyone distanced out. I fell into heat # 3 which started at 1:15PM. I saw Dave Dunham and Dan Verrington cooling down from their 11AM race. I got schooled on what the course terrain and conditions were like. Dave lent me a pair of Kahtoolah Microspikes which helped a lot in getting traction on the course. The toughest part of the course was the opening and closing 150M where the snow was ankle deep but already beat down by the first two heats of runners.

I jumped out and settled into 2^nd place after a quarter mile. I got passed by 800m in by the eventual winner who would run 23:45. I moved up to second place and held that place until getting passed with 400 meters to go. I was gassed and maintained into the finish which was on the track buried by snow. I placed 3^rd in the heat and 23^rd overall with a time of 24:55 and 8:02 miles for the 5K distance. It was certainly a fun race even with the tricky footing. I benefitted with the Katoolah spikes. I am going to invest in a pair which is perfect for lightly packed snow. I headed out for another 3 miles on the course for a cooldown on the quiet course which waited another hour for the last two heats/races for the day.

Mine Falls Trail Running Festival

Fall and cross country racing in New England is my favorite of all disciplines within the year. Being a crazy year with the "crona" and tight grouping/event restrictions in the state of Massachusetts, racing has been a huge void since mid-March. That has left us with virtual races. I just can't get fired up for the virtual races. I did a few Lynn Woods virtual races in May/June and a 1 mile in April. Otherwise, not a fan of virtual racing. 

New Hampshire seems to be ahead of the curve with getting events off the ground in recent months - even with some restrictions such as staggered start, small waves of runners, limited numbers of racers, et cetera. If you are looking for a centralized site or app to find a race, good luck, I don't know of any. Enter social media....read that CMS teammate Dave Dunham was targeting an Ultra Distance race in Mine Falls in Nashua, NH slated for early October. I never ran in Mine Falls and was very curious about the venue and running in a real race. There were various race distances offered as part of the Mine Falls Running Festival hosted by Sub5racing. Being that they had hosted a non-virtual set of races late in the summer and very reasonable COVID Common Sense requirements was a plus in my book. I booked the 5K and was looking forward to my first paid entry and race since January. 

I met up with Dave Dunham and Dan Verrington for a warmup over the 5K course which started from the Pine Street extension of the park. The single track trails were very runnable. A few small bumps, would not even call them hills along the way. Most of the 5K course was fire road width. There was a set of 20 long steps to stumble down with 300m to go but that was the only hazard on the course. 

About 60+ gathered at the start line at 9AM. Everyone was masked and spaced out evenly based on their comfort level. No one wanted to line up on the start line. I found that funny. I stood about 3 rows back, excited to run my first race since January. As we started, I focused on getting some room and settling into something around 7 minute pace. I took my mask off in a hurry so I could breath. Soon, a single track path had me caught behind some folks and I struggled to pick a spot to go around them. I respected the tight quarter to pass with 6ft surrounding so I waited for some room after what felt like several long minutes.

Mile one was around 7:22 and seemed content as I was working for that. Mile 2 was around 7:44, slower with the bumpy part of the course. After two miles, the course had a generous flat section along a canal. The guy in front of me laid some "gapplebees" like I was standing still. It was lonely out there but no complaints. A youngster past me after I managed to not trip down the steps at the end. From there, it was a flat 300 meters to the finish. A tiny participant trophy awaited me in my black CMS shirt, sweating out the almost 25 minute effort over 3.34 miles (note longer than 5K). Low 7:20 pace hurt a bit but so happy to get a race and heart rate up.

Mine Falls Running Festival results, October 11, 2020 Nashua, NH

6th place James Pawlicki 24:49.0 Gun Time

Dan would run 22:34 for 3rd place while the winner, Ian Post ran 20:16. Dave changed his race down to the 16 mile (8 and 16 milers started together) and would take the win. I unofficially joined the Dunham Running Club for the team competition. Still not sure how the team did or how the scoring worked out. But I scored the best gift of all with Dave sneaking a DRC patch and sticker into my race bag.

Trophies!

Dan Verrington and I after the start

Limited Edition Dunham Running Club patch and sticker

Essex North Shore Homecoming 5K

My training has been limited with the knees. MRI results a few weeks ago showed a medial meniscus tear in my right knee. The left knee which had the meniscus tear cleaned up in July has been grumpy. I have been running three to four miles about four days per week for the past month. Pace is between 9 and 10 minutes per mile. It is not pretty but it feels good to get out.

Krissy signed us up for the Essex North Shore Homecoming 5K. Our former high school, North Shore Regional Vocational Technical Institute merged with Essex Agricultural in 2014. Nice to see a campus thriving with 1500 students and vibrant athletics. CMS teammate, Dan Verrington is the cross country coach. He graduated from Essex in the early 1980’s. I was looking forward to getting on a start line and seeing how the legs would feel. This was going to be a challenging course with the up and down elevation every mile. My goal was to break 8 minute pace. I spoke with Dan to find that the fastest mile of the 3 mile course was the last.

The race starts and finishes on the track which is at the lowest elevation of the course. I had a dozen of runners ahead of me coming off the start on the track. Big climb up the hill and around the athletic fields and farm land. I had a little bit of a back and forth with a runner heading through the first mile (7:32) which lead us into the 2^nd mile up the hills and across the high point at exactly mile 2. I caught three high school kids along the way back to the finish but had to deal with a lap around the track.

One of the kids I passed earlier came back with 100m to go. I pushed side by side with him for as long as I could handle. I let off the throttle at the end fearing that something would pop, break, or collapse. Our chip times would be equal in the end (22:57.3). I placed 6^th overall, 1^st age group. GPS got 3.01 miles. I felt pretty good about the effort. So good to be back in a race. Legs held up OK but the left knee was screaming after I got out of the car an hour later.

Assault on Mount Hood

Another trip to Melrose for the Assault on Mount Hood 3.5 mile cross country race. It was a cold but dry and sunny. A little wind did not matter much as we did not run in any one direction for more than two minutes. In AOMH fashion, not only was this a new course, but runners got to hang out at the Golf Club near the parking lot this year. That meant white table cloths instead of the flannel at the Fish and Game Club. Yours truly did not hang out after the race but rumor had it not much food or beer was swirling unless you opened up the wallet.

As for the race? I took a digger, epic fall onto pavement on a 90 degree left turn on mud which looked like dry dirt. I must have stepped on a banana peel. The fall was violent enough to stop my GPS watch at 0.6 miles. I was lucky not to take anyone else out. I did not break anything so I got up and got moving with the adrenaline flowing, thanking the CSU guys for ensuring that I was OK.

As usual, constant up and down nature makes this race so much fun. Krissy arrived before the start and took some video. I will try to link them up below. When the dust settled, I ran 22:54, 20^th place. I got a mini-nutcracker from the table so I have a memory of the race aside from some sore body parts the next day or two.

Scott Mindel is a beast, winning his 3rd Mount Hood race in a row.

2018 Assault on Mount Hood 3.5 mile cross country race results

Fourteenth Annual Assault on Mt. Hood XC Race

Saturday, December 8, 2018 Start time 12 noon

CMS runners below

    1  322 Scott Mindel    1/37   M3039 32 M Burlington     MA   19:20  5:32

    9  314 Gregory Putnum  2/64   M4049 49 M Stoneham       MA   20:44  5:56

   11  208 Joshua Perks    4/64   M4049 44 M Windham        NH   21:27  6:08

   12  194 Eric Narcisi    4/37   M3039 38 M North Andover  MA   21:34  6:10

   20  203 James Pawlicki  6/64   M4049 44 M Lynn           MA   21:54  6:16

   21  311 Jeff Goupil     6/37   M3039 31 M Arlington      MA   21:55  6:16

   22  247 Joe Shairs      1/58   M5059 50 M Peabody        MA   22:09  6:20

   37  148 David Lapierre  6/58   M5059 54 M Chelmsford     MA   24:15  6:56 

   60  320 John Pajer           10/58   M5059 56 M Leicester      MA   25:17  7:14

Thanks for the Trails xc 5K - Hamilton

After meeting Greg Rich last week at the Essex Turkey Trot, he offered an entry to this race that he could not use. Race director Erik Krathwohl granted the transfer on Wednesday so I was all set for the Thanks for the Trails 5K trail/cross country race hosted by ECTA - Essex County Trail Association.

Half way to go and no company

I was familiar with the course, running it once a long time ago as it was called Gabe's Run. It was a wet and muddy day then. Today, the opposite, dry, sunny, and frozen with temps around 18 degrees. Little to no wind which was perfect. I lined up at the start after a warm up with Matt Curran. Pretty much the same outfit and clothing as yesterday, 3 thin layers on top, shorts below - the minority with 98% wearing pants.

Staying ahead of the chatter group on the other side of Patton's tank 

I jumped out and settled into 4th place after 100 yards. The front of the race thinned out quick with positions declared. No battles, each man for themselves. I had chatter behind me, a group of guys that had Harvard jackets on after the race. The gent in front of me already had 10 seconds on me half way through the race. The chatter behind got quiet and then was back at me heading up Sully's Hill. It was tough sledding with loose leaves making the footing tricky and the incline forced the heart rate to spike. I crested with the group of guys just about on my heels but I did not let them pass. One of them said to the group, be careful of the footing as we headed down the hill back to the field, now we are in the last mile of the race.

I bolted down and out onto the fields, getting rid of the chatter behind. I charged the field, starting my kick early so as to not having to deal with a battle down the stretch. I crossed over the field we started on (also played some High School baseball there at Patton Park as well) and into the finish line with a time of 18:47 and 4th place. GPS locked my distance down for 3 miles. Splits were

Finishing under 19 minutes for the 3 miles

I had my CMS windbreaker and pants right there at the North Shore Timing van. I collected Matt Curran and Team Gloucester guys for a 2 mile trot. Awards were quickly getting way by the time I got into a dry top. My age group win scored me an ECTA beer glass. After the awards were over, I traded it in for a left over ECTA fleece hat. Fitting with the cold temps.

Roger Perham photo link below. All others above by Krissy.

https://rogerperhamspictures.shutterfly.com/running

Manchester Invitational Open xc 5K

The Manchester Invitational Open Cross Country race at Derryfield Park in Manchester, NH was not on my schedule. Once I heard that Dave Dunham was going, I found the perfect scenario for kicking off my weekend: an early Saturday morning race that does not impede with the weekend responsibilities. I put the word out to Shawn Conway and Brett Rickenbach who both like xc races and they confirmed they would go too. Shawn, Dave, and I arrived at the nearly empty parking lot at 7:00. We grabbed our bib numbers and previewed the hilly but popular central New Hampshire High School cross country high course. The constant up and down on the course makes it interesting. I recall Ben True has a course record in the low fifteens for the 3 mile course.

My black and white Invo8 flats, modern day CMS singlet lined up in a starting line box with Brett, Dave, and Shawn. We had a wide field and things do not settle into single file for at least beyond the mile. I was in the top 15 or so in the opening half mile. I moved up a few places heading into the mile marker where splits were being taken electronically (never made it into the results). I think I was around 6 minutes with Mark Laprade two places up from there. He ran the Berlin Marathon the Sunday before in 3 hours. I caught up to his heels in the next 300M and then climbed up the biggest hill on the course – Weston Observatory. I mentioned that he looked pretty good for the marathon legs. He laughed. We ran down and out of the woods to the pavement (beyond mile 2). I got ahead of him there and wheeled down to the field setting me up to get within 8 seconds of the top master, Michael Holmes, a recent 2:57 Boston Marathon finisher.

I would get no closer to him on the way to the finish which the last 2 minutes of the race seem to take forever. I would finish in 5^th place, in 18:31 (I ran 17:48 three years ago). The winner, Everett Hackett, smoked the course in 15:20. I met him at the end of my warmup. He coaches a high school xc team from Hartford, CT that was running later in the morning.  Dave, Brett, and Shawn were right behind me finishing 9, 10, and 11^th.  Shawn, Dave, and I went on cool down making our way down to the McIntyre Ski Area which is adjacent to Derryfield Park.

5              James Pawlicki   2^ND M40-49 43   LYNN MA Central Mass Striders 18:31.3

9              Dave Dunham    1^st M50-59 54     BRADFORD, MA Central Mass Striders 18:49.2

10           Brett Rickenbach 4^th M40-49 43 AUBURN, NH                                                     18:59.4

11           Shawn Conway 5^th M40-49 47    WAKEFIELD, MA Greater Lowell Road Runners 19:06.6    

Results: http://www.millenniumrunning.com/results-manchester-invitational-open-race-2018/28367#/race/fohgqM//

Trav's Trail Run

I headed up to Trav’s Trail Run 3 mile trail race with Krissy and the gang at Maudslay State Park. It featured a newly paved parking lot. I warmed up a bit on the course after I could not convince Junyong Pak or Greg Putnam to do the full race course. I got on the line and bolted down the hill at the start getting in behind some young folk into the single track 800m in. I went back and forth with the lead female, Elizabeth Suda, before passing my GPS mile in 6:07. I passed maybe three more runners in the 2^nd mile (6:13). 

I was trying to close the gap that Chris Kealy had on me (maybe 10 seconds).  I pushed down the hill to the bridge and got on his heels as we both started the long climb up to the finish line. I was lucky to have some left in the tank and barely got ahead of Chris who is a really fast master runner. I finished 11^th with a time of 17:28. The time is my slowest in 5 races (4 straight years racing this one) but only 14 seconds or so slower than last year.  CMS had a nice showing up front. Nate Jenkins and Greg Putnam, like last year, took first and 2^nd overall. I ran a cool down with Steve Dowsett and Junyong on a great loop out to the Merrimack River and back for the fun awards. I picked up a coffee mug and New Balance gift card. Full results

USATF New England Cross Country Championships

I was looking forward to the USATF New England XC Championships for the master’s race which is a 8K distance. As Joe Shairs and I drove to Franklin Park, we chatted about the CMS men lining up for more team competition up north in Manchester, NH via Manchester City Marathon. I was anxious and excited for them - wishing to a degree that I was up there being a part of that. While waiting for our race, we were getting updates from Sasha Mindel who was getting a play by play about her husband, Scott Mindel, racing for CMS, leading the marathon in the early miles with Dan Vassallo just a few strides back. Just pure awesome. It pumped me up for my race.

Yes, back to cross country. I was thrilled to have a few extra CMS master runners (Alan Bernier, Steve Brightman, and Martin Tighe) in our race beyond what we had at the Franklin Park 5K two weeks ago.  I jumped out at the start and followed Steve for a short while before having to settle in. I had good position within the race among folks that I usually finish near. Mile 1 went by in 5:28 (per GPS). Up and over Bear Cage Hill and a Wilderness Loop brought me through the 5K right at what I ran two weeks ago in 18:13. 

The wheels came off in the 2^nd Wilderness Loop and I felt my cadence back down from Ron Lombardi (GSH) who motored on pretty good. Steve Brightman got into the mix while I was being hunted by Senior’s John Sullivan and Wayne Levy in the last mile. Their presence kept me racing scared to the finish two seconds behind Steve. My time was 29:07, 8^th runner for CMS, placing 36 overall out of 107 runners in the race. My goal was 28:45. The team finished 2^nd to a strong BAA squad. Results and awesome photos by Scott Mason of all three races (men's open, women's open/masters, and men's masters).

Splits

5:28

5:43

5:59

6:00

5:52

Within an hour after our race we would get random updates for the marathon. Dan would go on to win the race with Scott finishing 2^nd. Eric Narcisi rounded out the scoring helping the CMS open team to a first place finish. Our masters team, 2/3 of them Seniors (Ed Sheldon & Dave Dunham), would finish 2^nd and also go on to win the Senior team division. 

Striding out with Ron Lombardi and Steve Brighman before 3 miles
Photo by Scott Mason

My apologies - Mayors Cup - Franklin Park Open 5K

This was my second year tour of the 5K within the Mayor's Cup races at Franklin Park. This is, after all, the New England Masters Grand Prix race (my 1^st GP XC race this year after 3 passed already). I used to joke that the 5K was the Junior Varsity race at Mayor’s Cup while I was still capable of bringing up the rear in the 8K. Times have changed. I apologize. This is where my slowing stride belongs. My last race in the big boy race, Men’s Championship 8K, was when I turned 40 in 2014. I managed a respectable 27:58 to help the team score with just five guys.

Joe and I arrived just before the ladies 6K. We got our numbers and parked our gear 50 yards away from our traditional spot so as to take advantage of the sun and warmth. The temps were warmer than expected although the wind was slicing into our grill at the start and anytime we had raced toward the wilderness loop. A two mile warm up with the team found the course to be surprisingly dry after Saturday’s rain. This was to my benefit as I left my racing shoes at home (realized this about 15 minutes into the drive to Franklin Park). The training shoes had to do and I worried no more.

I stood next to Dan Verrington at the start with Tim Van Orden, Gregory Putnam, Todd Callaghan, Joe Shairs, and Arthur Besse in our non-existent cross country starting box. Our seven bolted across the field among the three hundred strong seeking a cross country battle under sunny skies and foliage falling with the wind. I held the far right line, a step behind Arthur Besse. I ran up next to former GBTC teammate John Blouin after a half mile – still crowded. I signaled to cut in front to get on the heels of BAA’s Christopher Lawrence which John allowed. I heard a mile split of 5:32. I moved on dodging the only mud bath charged up (more like crawled up) Bear Cage Hill. Arthur, 5^th man for our team, started to gap me on the exit of the hill. His workout on this course weeks prior proved to pay off.

Now facing the wind, heading toward mile two, I considered ordering a hot dog and coke from a vendor. However, I could not find enough money. Onward. Arthur Besse was wheeling and dealing a can of whoop ass on me and his company through shade and shelter within the Wilderness loop. I had a battle with a young pup exiting the loop out to the field. I was drained but managed to hold him off.

I expected a group to blow past me on the final stretch but it never came. I reached the line in 18:14 and 26^th place, 6^th CMS runner. Arthur buried me in the last mile, passed two BAA runners with his 17:51. As slow as I felt and ran in the last mile, no one passed me and beat me to the finish line. Despite the awesome effort from the five CMS gents ahead of me, the team fell 3 points shy (30 to 33) to the BAA. I waited until today to lookup what I ran last year, 17:36. If only I could have run that time yesterday…..

Full Results: 2016 Boston Mayor's Cup Cross Country Races

Crossing the finish line in the 5K at Franklin Park
Photo credit to Granite State Race Services

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

               

USATF Club Cross Country Nationals

Goofing off before the race

I put the word out to the Central Mass Striders racing team several months ago hoping to get interest in the USATF Club Cross Country Nationals race in Bethlehem, PA - Lehigh University. I was thrilled to get a masters and a senior team. We had  eleven in total willing to make the road trip which is about five and a half hours away. USATF New England offered a bus for which I took advantage of. I met up with Martin Tighe, Joe Shairs, Todd Callaghan, and John Gillis for a 7:00 departure in Woburn. The bus had 16 athletes from CMS, Greater Lowell Road Runners, Whirlaway, and Liberty. We dashed over to Westwood to pick up the rest of our passengers that made up Greater Boston Track Club, Hurtin for Certain, and a few more GLRR members. We were also joined by Bob Fitzgerald of New England Runner. I sat with Martin and among the CMS guys in the middle of the bus. We talked with everyone around us and had some great conversation catching up with Mark Reeder, Paul Hammond, and John Barbour. Otherwise, I listened to my iPod or closed my eyes for some light rest. We got to the host hotel around 2:00, allowed people to check in, and folks like myself to change into running clothes. We gathered back onto the bus and drove over to the xc course to preview it. We met up with the rest of the CMS crew breifly - Dave Dunham, Paul Bazanchuk, Dave Lapierre, and Dan Verrington as they were just about to leave. I saw about six miles of the course. The course layout was easy to figure out based on the map I saw earlier in the week. It was wide open fields and paths around the stadium and corn fields. It was a two loop course that was perfect for spectators and easy on the runners aside from a few hills that were not steep as much as they were long enough to slow it down. However, we thought the course was going to be fast. There was some mud at 1.1K and a little here and there at turns but overall the footing was good. I brought spikes and flats. I went with the flats for race day.

Warming up past mile 1

The bus driver was awesome to drop the CMS guys at our hotel which was only 2 miles away from the course and 16 miles from the host hotel. We checked in, showered, and headed off in the two cars that the Senior team had and over to Bella for a nice Italian dinner down the street. We dropped everyone off back at the hotel while Dave Dunham and I headed north to the host hotel to pick up our race number packets and attend the suggested technical meeting for our team. This was the first race I had entered that required back bibs indicating the age group. This is a good idea so you know the age group of the men ahead of you in the race. As soon as I found the starting line box assignment, we left. The Senior team had box 53 and our masters team had box 69 making Rob Gronkowski of the Patriots proud.

The team had breakfast in our hotel. It was cool to see other teams huddled around tables in their team gear. I was the last one to attend breakfast - grabbing some oatmeal, coffee, and yogurt. We got into the cars and headed over to the race at 9:30. Our race started at 11:30. There was plenty of parking when we arrived. Just as we got out of our cars, I saw Al Bernier arrive. We had exactly five 40+ men to make up our masters team. We had five 50+ guys and Paul Bazanchuk (60) but scoring down into the Senior team. We put our racing bags down on a tarp behind the starting line and camped out. Some teams went all out with tents on the other side of the stadium a half mile away. I did my own warm up after we got checked in 30 minutes before our start. The USATF official (clerk) was ensuring we and all other teams had the same style singlet, numbers pinned front and back, and chip secured onto our racing shoes. We were only allowed to have four men in the front box at the starting line so I took the box behind Greg, Todd, Al, and Joe. A field of almost 600 masters runners were soon taking off for the massive start. The course narrowed in about 500 meters away and I kept an eye on Joe and Al who were a few seconds ahead. I went to the right of the muddy spot at 1.1K. Most people went left or through the middle where it looked the slowest. I was next to Martin through mile one, going up an incline. I mentioned our 5:38 mile that I saw on my Garmin. Mark Reeder pulled beside at mile two and I tried my best to stay with him but lost him after mile 2 going down a hill past the stadium. The course was such that you could look ahead and see 400 meters at a time so I could make out my CMS guys ahead. Al seemed to be reeling in Joe and I could see Todd ahead of him. I battled tough in that first full loop and knew lap two was going to be tough with the same hills. The effort got hard in the 2nd loop. I couldn't wait to reach the last hill and open up over the last 2K. Well it looked like every guy around me was thinking the same thing. They were so strong and it did not matter what age. I think I only had one or two guys pass me in that stretch but will say that no one was willing to give an inch. This was cross country nationals. I ran as hard as possible up into inclined finish - scoring as our 5th man. I placed 95th with a time of 35:42.  

photo by Michael Scott

We all changed into some warm clothing and watched the next few races that started each hour. I settled for watching the women's open race and taking a few pictures instead of warming down. I also got my luggage from Paul's truck and into the Bus as we changed our plans and booked rooms at the host hotel. This eased our logistics for the rest of the weekend. Some guys left to head back to New England while the bus crew hung out and watched the rest of the races. The men's open race was particularly awesome to watch as the lead pack was huge for 2/3's of the race only to thin out at the end. It was so exciting to also see the women's race develop as I was rooting for the BAA ladies to take the team title which they did. The races were over and it was time to clean up and enjoy the rest of the events (happy hour, food, awards, et cetera) the race event had planned at the host hotel. Joe, Al, Martin, John, and I caught up with competitors and friends.

photo by Jill Forsythe

We got up early the following morning for a run. We met up with Kevin O'Neal from the BAA before heading back for the rest of his teammates. I took them through some quiet roads behind the hotel long enough until the CMS crew had to get back for breakfast and take our bus back to Boston. It was a great weekend and glad that we had the guys on board to pull this off. I was proud of the guys as I saw unofficial team results showing that we placed 9th as of Saturday night at the host hotel. Our Senior team finished 11th per those same team results, however, we were told the results may change because some age groups needed to be sorted out.

Unofficial Masters Results

Race photos by Jill Forsythe

Race photos by Michael Scott

By the numbers

539

536

555

533

556

548

119 (0.25) 

35:47

USATF New England XC Championships

I had a blast today. Joe drove Todd and I into Franklin Park. Dave Dunham did the team a solid by setting up a tent so we could crash and keep our stuff together. He had an assortment of CMS singlets over the past 20 years hanging over the front side of it. I was excited to be racing the masters 8K - same course as Mayor's Cup from two weeks ago. My first mile split was identical to then - just under 5:20 and a step away from Todd. He pulled away and ran down several runners over the next few miles. I had to back off a touch up Bear Cage hill but I was trailing good company in Mark Reeder (GLRR) and Wayne Levy (BAA). It was this company that I kept for the rest of the race, only getting past Wayne up Bear Cage in the last mile. I finished 22nd overall, 3rd CMS runner, with a time of 28:17.51. This was 20 seconds slower than two weeks ago. I will chalk that up to marathon legs from Sunday. However, the execution was good and did my best out there. The CMS masters team finished 3rd overall behind the BAA and Greater Springfield. The Seniors team took first place. I am looking forward to racing with these guys at USATF Club XC Nationals in December.  

Masters 8K results

Paul Bazanchuk, Erik Vandendries, Dave Mingori, Joe Shairs, John Gillis, Todd Callaghan, Jim Pawlicki, Greg Putnam, Martin Tighe, Dave Dunham, Dan Verrington

Mayor's Cup 8K cross country race

Photo by Joe O'Leary

Todd and I got to Franklin Park finding parking what seemed like a mile away. It was certainly a packed house. I headed out for a warm up with Ryan Collins and found Todd to cover 2 plus miles to check on the course which was dry if not for a few stretches of mud. Overall, the course was in great shape. The race went out fast as usual. I hooked up with Todd after 200 meters. The course mile came around in 5:20 (GPS showed 5:14). I lost some space as Todd pulled away up Bear Cage Hill. The quick pace caught up with me after two miles. Bernat Olle passed by and my legs were just flat. I looked ahead in the wilderness loop and saw Todd gaining on Ryan. I came around for the 5K around 17:30 and into the wilderness loop again trying to keep it together. Runners around me were suffering but occasionally I would latch onto someone for a bit. I came around to mile 4 around 22:40 (5:40 pace) and had a WMDP guy to work with for the last mile. We went back and forth into Bear Cage and I encouraged him to give it a go talking him through the top telling him to open it up. He was hurting so I proceeded with my own advice knowing that I had to hustle to break 28 minutes which was my goal. I counted that finish line clock all the way down the home stretch from 27:30. Official results had me at 27:58 so that made for a happy guy and a clear head for the ride home. I was the 4th CMS runner behind Greg Putnam, Todd Callaghan, and Ryan Collins. Dave Dunham capped off the scoring for us as the all critical 5th man. I headed out for a cool down with the team, Bernat, Jon Longo (training for the Philadelphia Marathon), and Kieran Condon (training for the New York City Marathon).

Mayor's Cup Cross Country Race Results

GBTC XC Festival - Wellesley

The Greater Boston Track Club was hosting the first race of the USATF New England Cross Country Grand Prix at Elm Park in Wellesley. They hosted an 8K two years ago. Today was cut down to a 5K which I approve of as a fine start to the cross country season. The open race (39 masters had a race 30 minutes before us) got started about twenty minutes late. I did a 3 mile warm up with Rodney Hemingway and Dennis Floyd on the course and had to hang around for a while. Michael P. Mahone did the Star Spangled Banner just after Tom Derderian busted out the Harmonica for some Dixie. The race went out fast as it should. 300m into the race narrowed onto a trail along the Charles River. I was way back with a 5:28 mile according to Garmin. The second mile had the only hill up onto a soccer field. I passed a few runners before mile 2 (5:34) before heading into the shaded roots along the Charles River for a loop. I slowed in here and I knew it. Time was running out and I was just watching my steps along the roots. I got to the finish line in 30th place (out of 56 runners) and a time of 17:18. I did a 4.25 mile cool down with a big group out to Wellesley College (Boston Marathon Course) and back via Pond Street. Next on the racing schedule is the Lone Gull 10K.

2014 Greater Boston Track Club Cross Country Festival results

Kupenda 5 mile cross country

Photo by David Dunham

This was a new course laid out by Patrick Rich within the trails behind Gordon College in Wenham. I took the lead about 800m from EJN on a trail that I love - chipped wood footing in the shade. I pressed hard on the terrain and built a lead. David Dunham was on hand taking photos and filling me in on the lead which was helpful. I faded on the 2nd big loop but the lead was good as I could not see anyone behind me. I chased a few snakes off trail on the closing loop to find the finish in 29:10...would have placed me 11th in the Pop Crowell Cross Country Invitational held in October of 2013. I cooled down with the gang - Robert Molnar, David Dunahm, Jenn Brooks, Matt Curran, and Dan Verrington who placed 3rd, just behind David Long. I am glad I went. It was a rare win but was pleased with the effort. My right achilles is bugging me as of yesterday afternoon so I will be keeping an eye on that heading into the Ribfest this weekend.

Kupenda 5 Mile Cross Country Race

Wenham, MA, June 7, 2014

1 JAMES PAWLICKI  29:15  5:51   

New England Cross Country Championships

Krissy, Nick, and I got to Franklin Park early enough to set up a tent for the team. I picked up the team packet and waited for our CMS runners to come one by one - trading bib numbers for signatures. The masters race went off first and was fun to watch and cheer on all of the runners and clubs competing. I ran a warm up with Tim and Ryan showing them the wilderness loop and Bear Cage Hill. I got changed into the racing gear and picked the INOV8 f-lite 195's. I got to the line, proud to have six guys on the line representing CMS: Nate Jenkins, Dan Vassallo, Sam Wood, and new-comers Tim Liponis and Ryan Collins from Worcester. I knew as soon as the race got going that I needed to let the massive field go ahead as I settled into the back. The 10K race ahead was going to be tough for me so I wanted to keep the pace reasonable. The mile passed in 5:28 for me and focused on catching Ryan who was ahead by 10 seconds. I rolled through 2 miles around 11:15. I passed Ryan in the next mile and rolled through the 5K around 18 minutes. I went back and forth with a few other guys from SISU and Western Mass passing through the 8K around 28 and a half. I wished I could have finished there. As a master (age 40 - 49) next year, I will be able to run in the masters event where they race 8K instead of 10K. I am looking forward to that. I did my best to compete in the last mile and was fortunate to have company of three or four to mix it up with. I rounded the last turn and got by a few guys and into the finish with a time of 35:39. I placed 82 out of 110 runners. The time might be my slowest for 10K at Franklin Park but I battled from start to finish here. My time is what it is. I did not really promote the goal but thought 35 minutes was possible if all went well. At any rate, I love cross country racing and was proud to be part of the teams out there competing. I got a lot of support from the crowd watching the race. That was huge and if you read this, thank you. I recall giving a shout out to Rodney Hemmingway from GBTC asking for some love out there in my last loop. He sprinted around the corner and snapped a photo of me 200 yards later. Hahaha! CMS placed 5th out of the nine teams (top five fastest times score for a team).  In all it was a good day. Krissy's photos are up. Full Results

The kick is unleashed into the finish at the USATF New England XC championships
Photo by KrissyK

2012 USATF New England XC Championships

1000m into the race
Photo by Tom Derderian

Stanley Park in Westfield, MA played host to the men's and women's open and masters New England Cross Country Championships. The open race was a rare 8K distance this year as it is usually a 10K. I prefer the 8K anyhow. I am no stranger to the Westfield course as I ran it several times in Division III competition with Salem State College - mostly by means of the MASCAC Championships that brought all of the state schools together. Since then, I have gone back several times each October to compete for the Salem State Alumni team in the James Early Invitational. The team did not compete last month due to missing the entry deadline. Thus this was a great opportunity help the Central Mass Striders fill a team and race. We were fortunate to have five men coming today so that we could score an open (all runners under the age of 40 years old) team. I picked up masters (40 years or older) Joe Shairs, Greg Putnam, and Greg Ward and we were in Westfield in just over 2 hours. I warmed up with three easy miles with the CMS masters team and Scott Mason who planned on taking photos of all races. I showed them and explained the course. To save time, we concentrated on the wilderness loop where I could show them mile 3 and 4. Soon the masters race went off at 11:00. I cheered them on and got my money's worth as they ran their asses off. All seven guys fought for each second. It paid off as they got the bronze - 3rd place out of nine teams. Once the women's race got started at 11:50, I got the open guys going for a warm up to precede our 12:30 start. Again, we previewed the wilderness loop. I got back to the field about 15 minutes before the start of the race. I settled into my Inov8 flats and was soon in our team box on the starting line, next to the five from Whirlaway. 11 teams were represented overall for the massive start.

Closing on the finish line
Photo by Tom Derderian

I got out and stayed composed through the mile which looped around the perimeter of Stanley Park in 5:14. We then dropped into the wilderness for a quick in and out back to the fields to pass mile two in 10:46.93 (5:32). That was the last mile split that I would record as the race dropped back into the wilderness loop that would get me through mile three. This is my "all business loop." I like to press in here and get into a groove. I was in a perfect pack (behind a single file). I matched strides but did not gain on Dan Princic. I got around Steve Dowsett with whom I have had a few battles with in 2012. I saw mile four on the ground. I had to regroup after the climb and rollers that got us back up to Stanley Park. I certainly lost precious seconds in that area. Steve led us out to the field and we kept pace around it. I was looking to let a kick fly but did not want to start too early. I got a step on him on the last turn when someone yelled that I had a chance at 27:30. That was my goal today and I opened up my stride over the last 100m to hit the line in 27:33 (76th out of 107 runners) for the 8K. I was very happy with the time - four seconds quicker than what I ran last October with the Salem State Alumni team. Steve had a good time and was just two seconds behind me. I walked through the finish line shute and gave the bottom of my bib tag to Steve Viatones. I pump fisted a few competitors that I knew, silent acknowledgement for well earned efforts. I walked back to the end of the finish line shute as I traditionally do to see my teammates in. Timothy Mallard, Tim Mahoney were close together. Then Sam Wood came across the line. Just one more to score it out as Thomas Brown wheeled in. The race was in the books. We cooled down out on that wilderness loop again (four times already). I was out there enjoying the company as we discussed our battles on the course. It meant a lot to me to have Central Mass score teams in the open and the masters divisions. My car pool packed the GTI and hit the road for a quick pizza on the way home.

Full Results
Scott Mason Photography

Looking ahead, I will be racing the Wild Turkey 5 mile road race on Thanksgiving Day - looking for another 27:30. I was thinking about the Gabe's Run the next day but I might be asking for a torn achilles. I will do a  leg for the Somerville Road Runners in the Mill Cities Relay and then put the flats back on for the Mount Hood golf course cross country race in December. If all goes well, I will get into a few BU mini meet events in late December and get into oxygen debt on the oval.

Navigating into the wilderness loop around 2.5 miles
Photo by Scott Mason