Rachel’s Run USATF NE XC GP #5 – Tyngsboro

November 19, 2022 – Rachel’s Run 5K hosted by the Greater Lowell Road Runners was the last of the five cross country races in the USATF New England Cross Country Grand Prix Series. I got to all in the series this fall except #3 hosted in Wayland. This course is a tough one with Abrams Hill. The 5K course is the same 1.5 mile loop done twice. The hill is in the middle of the loop. I warmed up with Todd Callaghan and Nate Jenkins – making his masters debut for CMS. I counted nine CMS guys on the 10:45AM start line made up of three masters and six seniors. 

I was wearing a new pair of New Balance waffle racers which felt awesome. I got out and settled into the back end of the field toward the Notre Dame Academy. Krissy got some race footage as the race stretched out one the trail next to the pond 600m into the distance. Rachel’s Run opening lap video by Kristen

Mark Reeder and John Barbour would pass by me before the mile. I kept them close after Abrams Hill and back out through the end of the first loop but they would open up a gap. I managed to close the gap a bit on Mark after the 2^nd pass of Abrams, getting to within 11 seconds at the finish line where I crossed the finish in 22:21 (7:13) and or 62^nd out of 81 men. 

I had fun and did not feel I left much out on the course. I rounded the guys together for a team photo or two (thank you Krissy!) A half hour later, headed out for a cool down with Iain, Dave H., Nate and Kara. I got into some warm clothes and headed over to Maxamillions down the street for pizza hosted by USATF New England. My splits were 717, 658, 730 (6:04 pace for the last 10^th of a mile). CMS masters and seniors would place 1^st as a team. 

Next up: Wild Turkey 5 Mile in Salem on Thanksgiving Day!

Rachel’s Run 2022 Race Results 

USATF New England Masters Cross Country Championship Franklin Park

Oof! That is how I felt after 2.5 miles into the 8K masters xc race today. A warm and windy day was welcomed but I would have preferred cooler temps. I warmed up with Bill Newsham for 2 miles. My opening two miles were decent but I was already 20 seconds behind Mark Reeder who I have been matched well within in recent months. In the end, 36:22, 66^th place in the preliminary results. Maybe only 33 runners behind me but no one younger. It was nice to be with the team and have my dad on hand as we got there early and set up the Central Mass Striders tent 2 hours before the 10AM 40+ race. I had to leave early so not sure how the open guys did. Masters-wise, looks like CMS was 3^rd overall and 50+ may have won it! Masters results and video link next to each finisher: Results

 

Photo by Rodney Hemingway

Photo by Rodney Hemingway

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

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//