Thomas Chamberas 6K XC race

Narrow start at the Thomas Chamberas 6K XC race in Carlisle.
Photo by KrissyK

Trailing Jason Cakouros before 1 mile

This race kicks off the USATF New England Cross Country Grand Prix for 2013. I was scheduled to race in the trails in Beverly but I also wanted to field a CMS team in Carlisle. So I donated the entry fee for the Beverly Commons trail race and sacrificed North Shore Trail Series points (I was leading the series) for the team event. Dan Vassallo picked up Krissy and I and we were at the 6K race 35 minutes later. Upon arrival, we found CMS mates Arthur Besse (nice Corvette by the way), Michael Quintal, and Dan Verrington. Thankfully we had five guys otherwise we would not have scored as a team. We warmed up on the course along with Dave Menard (BAA) and Steve Dowsett (Whirlaway) which was the usual course, however, with a new narrow start and different finish. I did not mind the narrow start but the long winded Michael P. Mahone speech was a stretch.
Maybe five minutes long while the race is on the starting line is too much. It was concluded with the star spangled banner and cheers from two hundred plus runners and spectators. I started in row two and got a clear start with a few light handed pushes on my back on the up hill start around the corn field. Dust kicked up as it usually does. The race went out fast as one has to jockey for position as single track a mile in awaited. I ran behind Jason Cakouros (HFC Striders) for the first mile or so. The single track and tight s-turns were fun and the pace was good. Once we got to open up on wider trails I tried to battle with some GBTC guys. I came out of the lolli-pop loop chasing down top master Justin Renz (HFC Striders) with whom I have not been able to beat this year so I was motivated to go for it today. I passed him with less than 800 meters to go and held him off crossing the line in 19:52 and 29th place. The team finished 4th overall with the bare minimum to score (five). I cooled down the team and reflected on how our races went. It was awesome to hear Arthur Besse have so much fun out there as he experiences these races for the first time. My Garmin measured 3.35 miles and calculated 5:56 pace.....

Photos by KrissyK

Thomas Chamberas 6K XC Race

Carlisle,MA August 24, 2013

Place  Name             No. S Ag City          St Div Team  Time   Pace

29  JAMES PAWLICKI 10 M 38 BEVERLY   MA   5 CMS   19:52  5:20

Bedford Memorial 12K

It has been a few days since the race. I was not too sure what to expect as I have had very few races and no speed work other than a hard effort at the Danvers 5K races here and there. I rolled through the 1st mile around 5:14 and two miles in 10:37. From there I had some consistent, albeit slower, mile splits averaging 5:33 until 6-7 where I ran the slowest (5:41) for the day. I had a nice battle with former teammate at GBTC several years ago, Ethan Crain (former All American at MIT). However, I was wiped out by the time I reached the last uphill leading to the track and he rolled on. I told him to use his mile speed from his MIT days. He did. But so did Scott Anderson and Ted Breen. You can see their arms in the photo (taken by Kristen Wainwright) above, bookending me. It was on this track where the race finished, that I got called out and the weakness was apparent that I lacked speed sessions. I wound up in 36th place with a 40:13 (5:32 pace/mile).

On that note, I was thankful for the downhills where I could stretch my stride and recover from the hills. Overall, this is a fair course and look forward to getting back here next year if it is in for the Grand Prix. Next up for me is the Mt. Wachusett race and then the Rhody 5K which is race number four in the USATF-NE Grand Prix Road Race series.