Assault on Mt. Hood

1st place as part of team CMS at Mt Hood

Melrose has an emerald gem – Mt. Hood Golf Course. The event hosted the ninth annual and always challenging 3.5 mile cross country race. The course changes over the years but there is no way around not having to climb up and down the hills. On this particular Saturday, patches of snow cover and ice scattered the greens and cart paths. Overall, footing was safe and the course was laid out to avoid any danger of wiping out on your rear end. It was a cold and cloudy day. CMS had four representing – Nate Jenkins, Greg Putnam, Dan Verrington, and I. Three score for a team in the end and Greg put the word out that he was interested in getting the team prize a week earlier. The start bolted out and single file was the rule. I was in 10^th place after 400m. I passed the one mile marker in 5:47 a few steps behind a guy (Patrick Ward per results). The race took a massive hill on that was worthy of the mountain series. I let out a few expletives approaching it in fun. I kept on the heels in front of me and surges continued dependent on terrain and footing. We dropped into mile three where you could see everyone in front and or peek behind to size up what is needed to finish strong or whimper in. I got past Patrick and tried to reel in Andreas Heilmann but I ran out of space at the end which has a generous decline on the road to the finish line. I finished ninth overall. It took me 19:42 to cover the distance. My Garmin measured 3.37 miles (5:52 / mile). The team took the win and we each got an awesome Nutcracker which is pretty cool to put on display at home. The team gathered inside for pasta, salad, chowder and laughs.

Hustling into the finish

Full Results

Race information 

An idea of the course

Mill Cities Relay

Jim, Larissa, Elizabeth, and Megan at the finish

The Mill Cities Relay is always a fun event. 27 miles, 5 legs, 2 states, one river and a cold December day sums it up. A post race party at the finish in Lawrence via the Claddagh Pub caps off the day. This was my third year in a row running with SRR and the open coed team. Our team consisted of fast company: Alex White, Elizabeth Jackson, Larissa Park, and Megan Hyland. We secured a team name of SRR - Alex’s Bulk Organic Produce. If you want some organic veggies at a discount and delivered, just let him know. Larissa picked Brett Rickenbach (Winner’s Circle Coed) and I up and got to the Norman Crisp school in Nashua about 55 minutes before the 8:00 start. This gave me ample time to do all the pre-race stuff and safely get to the start line next to SRR’s Greg Picklesimer and Mike Quintal who ended up finishing 1 and 2 for leg one. Larissa drove off to get ready for leg 2. I settled into 10^th place or so about 400m into my 5.4 mile leg. Mike and Greg were up front and the pack was single file. I trailed or led a single file pack about 50m behind James Sullivan from GLRR. I got onto his heels after 3 miles and he would proceed to surge each time. Ryan Hayes from the Shamrock Running Club went ahead of us after 4 miles with a hard surge. I noted passing 5 miles in 27:58 and was pleased with that. I managed to pass Ryan 800m before our entry into the parking lot exchange zone and get a stride behind James before handing off to Larissa around 30:01. I think our team was in 8^th or 9^th place at the time. I collected Brett who also ran leg one and had to find Larissa’s car so we could drive to the next exchange zone for her finish. She picked up some places on her leg which had a few hills and plenty of narrow road. We got into the Greater Lowell High School about five minutes ahead of her exchange with Megan Hyland who was to hand off to Alex White for the long leg along the Merrimac River. Larissa, Brett, and I drove to the last exchange zone to see Elizabeth Jackson take off once Alex came in. She ran the final leg to the pub in Lawrence to a winning coed division time of 2:35:08 and 5^th team overall. Gate City and Whirlaway had coed teams finish 6^th and 7^th overall in the relay for a competitive race in our division. I had a great time hanging out with mates and members of all clubs inside the Claddagh. Huge thanks go out to Brian Cullinane and Brendan Kearney for putting the teams together. Brian would set a marathon PR the same day at the California International Marathon. Furthermore, John Gorvin was relentless for his communication and awareness of the event leading up to race day. In the end, SRR finished 2^nd overall to GCS in the club championship which is quite the accomplishment among so many competitive teams. Full Results

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

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

Ravenswood Trail Race - Gloucester

The Ravenswood 4.1 mile Trail Race was the next event in the North Shore Trail Series. I ran a short and easy warm up with John Gillis and Todd Callaghan. It was nice to see these guys. Matt Curran joined us on the way back to the start. We got some race instruction from director, Jenn Brooks and the 160+ runners were off. Getting a good position here is key off the start. I got in behind Todd on the narrow trail with Dave Long in tow. Dave ripped by on a downhill a few minutes in to catch Todd on our first turn down into Magnolia swamp. I had Erich O'Neil hot on my heels through the swamp. He wanted to pass a few times after we came up and out of the swamp but I fought each move. With all of the single track on this course, I wanted to retain my own line of sight and dictate my pace - picking it up and or backing off when I wanted to. 

I had fairly good trail legs on the Ledge Hill trail where Krissy waited behind the Nikon D60 lense at the vista. Erich was a few strides behind. I pushed the pace and lost his presence. I pressed as hard as possible. Todd and Dave were long gone no doubt battling each other. I peeked at the Garmin after the 3 mile marker which was the traditional scarecrow - 21:18. Not much excitement from there to the finish but ran hard to the line for a third place finish with a time of 28:40. My Garmin measured 4.34 miles. Todd picked up the win in 27:05, almost 25 seconds quicker than his previous best a few years back. Dave took a digger, proud of the bloody cut on his left elbow. He finished with a solid 27:29. Erich was right behind me in 29:26 and Matt Curran at age 56 was fifth in 30:10. I cooled down with John, Todd, and Dave for 1.8 miles through the Magnolia swamp talking about our races. They were still hungry for more miles so we did another loop but finished up at the Magnolia Soccer fields. There was a wide assortment of sweets, coffee, and cider awaiting us even though we arrived late. The highlight at this race are the raffles given away by Jenn. Krissy had my bib number when 127 was called and picked up a trustees of reservations membership for the family. 

Ripping past the vista at the Ravenswood Trail Race
Photo by KrissyK

Ravenswood 4.1 mile trail race results Sunday October 20, 2013

Photos by KrissyK

Stone Tower 15K Trail Race

3rd place - Stone Tower 15K
Photos by KrissyK

Sean McDonough dominated this race from the start taking the win in 59:03 at the Stone Tower 15K trail race in Lynn Woods Reservation. This was another stop in the North Shore Trail Series. I battled David Long (59:28) back and forth but he stood tall in the last third of the race. He was crushing the down hills all day. I would close the gap on the flats and climbs. I ran out of gas in the end. Otherwise, this was an awesome course in Lynn Woods from Race Director Liam Brady. I think it was the same as last year. He said it is 9-ish, referring to it being a touch short of 15 kilometers.We got the best of the Lynn Woods landmarks with our entry fee: Dungeon Rock steps, Steel Tower, and Stone Tower three times from different trails. I was a puddle on the last climb up it in the last mile. I can't wait to see the pictures that Mike Fitzgerald got there - no doubt with my head down crawling past each time. I will see Sean and David next week at Ravenswood for a 4.1 mile jaunt. 

Stone Tower 15K Lynn Woods

Lynn, MA, October 13, 2013

3 JAMES PAWLICKI  M  39   LYNN  MA 1:00:40  6:31

Stone Tower 15K and 5K photos by KrissyK

Stone Tower 15K race results

Rockin Mad 5K Challenge

I got a taste of an OCR (obstacle course race) via the Rockin Mad 5K Challenge in Lynn Woods. I jumped into the elite heat with friend Brett Rickenbach. He has plenty of experience at these and has hit up several with friend Junyong Pak over the past two years. We started at the gate and headed straight up to Stone Tower under a very light rain/mist mix in the mid-50’s. I jumped into third behind Brett and leader, Ron Cooper. We hit the first challenge, a wall, which was easy enough to jump up and climb over (we would approach at least three more of these in the race). Then we hit some hay bales to jump over half way up to Stone Tower. Then we had a jump down (6ft) off a wall to the left of Stone Tower. There was no volunteer there to turn athletes back onto the course so I yelled for one to come over and stand there. Brett took the lead a few steps into the single track. I was watching my step carefully behind Ron through the slippery rocks while protecting my plantar fascia in my right foot. Brett gained at least a 10 second lead. We opened up into the fire road and to a camouflaged tarp on top of a tarp. I turned my hat around backwards. We had to get under and crawl through. I was a few steps behind them. My back got soaked. They put a few seconds on me as they got to their feet. Minutes later we came upon a ravine chaser where we go off trail down into a steep ravine and climb back out. It was a hand over fist climb over mossy roots. No biggie but I lost ground. A minute later, another wall to climb and I could barely see Brett on the straight away. 

We got a chance to run past a water stop and a left hand turn down goat hill – my first time ever having a chance to race down it. At the bottom of it was a horizontal cargo rope. I asked the volunteer what we had to do as it was not obvious to go under or jump up on top. She said to jump up and roll across it so I did. No biggie. I felt a slight tweak in the left groin for a few seconds after jumping down off of it. I could see Brett trailing Ron by a few seconds as we headed into the last mile. I had another wall to climb up and over, stone wall around, another off trail ravine in and out, and one more wall before descending into the field before the finish where two obstacles remained. As I ran along the dam, I looked over and could see Brett and Ron tied crawling through the barbed wire crawl (second to last obstacle challenge). I was jealous of the battle they had. They were 100 feet from the finish line. 

I turned right and down into the barbed wire crawl. I decided to roll through it. I got dizzy in the process. Getting up and out was hilarious. A few steps ahead was the last obstacle/challenge: a choice of a 10 foot wall climb or a 40 degree rope pull up a 20 foot ramp. I asked the volunteers which one did the first two (Brett and Ron) handle as if to prove that I can do what they did. In reality, I wanted to do the rope pull. The volunteers said that each one picked one. So I went after the rope pull and did it without slipping. The rope and the ramp was doused with baby shampoo earlier so it was not so easy for others. This was comical to watch later after I finished, trust me. I climbed down and wrapped up my first OCR in 23:14 for a respectable 3^rd. After talking with Brett and others, they said this was a light course in terms of challenges and obstacles (maybe 11 in total aside from the technical running). I did an easy cool down with Brett, James Mscisz, and Marc Ford. I got dried off and into some warm clothes and waited for Krissy and the Armstrong family who were running in the team wave. I got some breakfast: quiche, pumpkin bread, and sausages. Krissy, Joe, and Sandy came in and battled through the last two obstacles giving me a chance to take photos. It was fun to see them work as a team to help each other up the last challenge where they picked the slippery ramp. It was just too slippery for the ladies who opted for the 10 burpees shall one skip or not be able to complete a challenge. Joe tacked the ramp like a champ. In all, this was fun and low key event. It was and is a perfect start for a first timer or beginner. 

Rockin Mad 5K Challenge results - Lynn Woods - October 6, 2013