Great Bay 5K 2023 Race Results
This is a fast 5K course in Stratham, NH. A course record on the men's side was set today with a 14:30 (Gun Time) 14:28 (Chip Time) for this 25th Anniversary of the race. 43 year old CMS teammate reached the line with a 15:33 chip time. Warm October temperatures in the 60's under partly cloudy skies set the picture. I got a 2 mile warm up before getting to the start line. About 800 were registered per race director, Bob Kennedy. I got out to a 7:08 first mile. I was hoping to be under seven minute pace. With the next mile slowing to a 7:16, I knew a sub 7 paced day was out of the question. The last mile provided another 7:16 and came to the finish line with a chip time of 22:22 (22:26 gun time). 89th place. 7:12 pace overall, 6th in the age group. I ran 20:01 last year with better fitness overall. Still, was nice to get out and race this one.
Zipped up Rt 128 to 127 to the Ravenswood Trail Race. Signed up and got a 10 minute warm up. Got the the narrow start line. New course as the swamp walk was not available but the distance was expected to be 4.4 miles per RD, Dave Geary. First mile was a 7:43. There was some elevation on this one and had to focus on steps and caution to not trip up. Next mile gave us the awesome lookout out toward the ocean. That was a slow mile with a 9:23 followed by a 8:25 where the first women went by. Three more men ran by in the next mile and a half (9:17 into mile 4). Finished 15th overall in 38 minutes flat (8:34 pace per GPS) for 4.44 miles. I was not in the 1st print of results so I went to the Ab-Mac timing truck and worked with Joe Abelon for the next half hour helping him determine and enter in about 20 missing entries/times. Thus, the delay in age group and corrected results.
Race number one of the USATF New England XC Grand Prix got underway with the OGTC 5K at Waters Farm in Sutton, MA. CMS had six masters runners on the starting line with me being the youngest. Dave Dunham drove us to the race and arrived with a good hour plus to pick up our number and warm up. This was a new venue and first time race being run so it was fun to see something new on the schedule. The course consisted of multiple loops on the farm with some repetitive hills.
I saw teammate Scott Grandfield about a half mile in getting up off the field, holding his hip. Poor guy got tripped up and the look on his face said it all. I kept on going, loop after loop, maybe passing a few after half way but that was all I had. I caught the last runner a few yards from the finish. 96th place, 24:09, 7:47 pace. Masters team finished 3rd out of 4 club teams. Results here.
https://d368g9lw5ileu7.cloudfront.net/races/results_5yh3d96mtof9dfkfzi2xvawmuhiy.txt
I ran a cool down with Dave Harper and Dave Dunham, leaving the farm and heading into the country side. It was a very pretty area, gave some perspective to the Blackstone Valley area of the state. Next up on the schedule is the GBTC XC 5K which at this point, can’t go but we shall see.
4 11 DAVE DUNHAM 21:33 5 18 JAMES PAWLICKI 24:09
This is a fun, low key 5K and 10K trail race at Vineyard Hill in South Hamilton. I did a warm up across the street on the Patton property that had some mix trail and road leading to a farm. I got on the starting line with a comfortable temperature but still humid. One loop, 5K, was what I signed up for. Others opted to run two loops for a 10K. The loop consists of rolling hills on single track and fire roads. There was some soft muddy sections and a little standing water due to previous rain in the area. It made for filthy and soaked shoes by the end of the race. I finished in 5th place (27 finishers) with a time of 25:27 (ran a low 24 last year). I had no sight of the runner ahead after 1 mile and did not get pressure on my heels to the finish. The best part of the race is most was in the shade. I did not cool down or stay for the awards (perhaps left an age group award behind) as I had a full day ahead to get on with. As you can see splits showed an opening mile in 8:32 followed by two low 8 minute miles.
Greenbelt's Vineyard Hill 5K Trail Run Results
I reached out to Eric to see what the plans were for the weekend. Already mid-morning on a Saturday, he convinced me to run the Lord Hobo 6.17K in Woburn. It started at 11AM. We arrived at Lord Hobo and the parking lot jockey told us to drive 1.6 miles away to the Cummings Center for registration and bus back. Complying with the directive, we arrived to a registration line of 100 people at 10:20AM. There was no time to wait, register and catch a bus to the start line over a mile and half away. We decided to bail on it and just go over to the event and run through the race.
We ran over to the start where we tried to park and register 45 minutes earlier. We bumped into Judy and Frank who managed to sign up and remain parked there. Frank said he was willing to sign Eric and I up. We had seven minutes before the start at 11AM. No one was in line at the registration inside Lord Hobo. We had our bibs in seconds. Furthermore, the start was going to be delayed by 15 minutes as there were too many runners still getting signed up and bussed over.
Everything seemed to be working out in our favor. We went back outside and kept to the shade listening to Nick "Fitzy" Stevens (radio host and sports personality) on the microphone giving the crowd some laughs. He was planning on running the race as well. The race went off with me starting a few rows from the line.
Within in the first miles I saw EJ Hrinowski. I yelled out for him and embarrassed him with some love. It's been a few laps around the sun since racing with him. He pulled away with a Thirsty Irish Runner. Mile one went by in 7:10. Mile two entertained a hill on Cross Street in Winchester slowing to a 7:40 mile. The course took a right onto Rt 38 and went down the retail section of Woburn before taking a right onto Green St which hosted a two stage hill helping me to a 7:59 mile.
0.8 miles to go with a few side street turns back to Lord Hobo.
| 40 | James | Pawlicki | 48 | M | 28:30.2 | 7:27 | 28:34.8 |
487 finishers for this one. I finished 40th overall with the 7:27 pace. Top three male and female got trophies. All others, a medal big enough to shield off swords. I grabbed a libation, water and race swag bag with a cotton race t-shirt. Eric finished as top 50+ with the 6:56 pace. In all, good time after a stressful process to drive around Woburn and almost get turned away and not race.
