This was the first time I’ve run the Ollie race, I’d planned on running it last year but ended up sidelined with a stress fracture. This year I got the fracture out of the way early enough that I’d be able to run, but not as competitively as I’d like. Ollie was the fifth race in the seven race USATF grand prix series and I’ve never done all seven races. It is going to be tough this year! I’ve only been running for three weeks after missing six weeks with the stress fracture. I knew I could get through Ollie and the upcoming Lone Gull 10km, but it is going to be a big challenge to complete the Baystate marathon with only four more weeks to train. I hope to have worked up to a 10 mile “long run” by then.
So, race day looked promising with none of the heat that had slowed the field last year. It started to rain heavily as we drove down 93 and only got worse. We (Dan and Kevin T) scored the prime parking spot, within 100m of the registration area, the last open parking meter on the block. The masses huddled under the pavilion to stay out of the rain and some even warmed-up inside. The CMS gang headed out for a warm-up and Justin showed style plunging through the first puddle he encountered. That really is the best way to deal with getting wet; just barrel into the first puddle and you won’t have to worry about it any more.
I bailed out after a mile and headed back alone. Michael Wade gave me some good natured ribbing about “where’s your team”, but I knew with my low mileage I couldn’t afford to put in more miles that I might need during the race. My shoes weighed a ton and the Loco Banditos felt very light when I changed into them for the race.
My plan was to hopefully run around 6’s. I had nothing to gauge my fitness, so I was a bit worried about the first mile. I kept moving around to keep my plantar fascia from really seizing up, and then made my way to the start line. No one seemed to want to get on the left side of the line (we’d make a right hand turn 100m into the race) so I had no trouble getting two or three rows back on that side.
The first half mile was just a battle to stay on my feet, after which I settled in. I couldn’t really tell how fast I was going but MQ was only a few strides in front of me which seemed about right. Jim P was also right in front of me which was a bit worrisome (he went out slowly). I hit the mile in 5:58 and felt good so I picked it up a bit and started reeling people in. There were certainly a lot of people to go after and plenty of people to run with. I passed a lot of people who must have gone out too hard and hit 2-miles in 12:07 (6:09). I was a little surprised that it was a slower mile but chalked that up to being “new” to this. I caught Jon Waldron who I’d race “back in the day” and kept working forward. Jon stayed with me as we went into the turn. I counted all the people heading back out and figured I was right around 100th place. I knew it’d be a fight to make PAGE 2 of the results!
The third mile made no sense at all; I hit 16:32 (4:25) and realized something was wrong but didn’t really care as I was racing. I could see Dave Oliver up ahead and wanted to catch him. We’d had some close races last year. Four miles was passed in 22:42 (6:10) and I was definitely feeling tired, the miles (and lack of training) was catching up to me. Jon began to pull away as Dave began to come back. The first and last ¾ of a mile were the same so it was easy to tell how much was left. I caught Dave with ½ mile to go but could not gap him. I think he was much more interested in Offenbacher (another 50+ runner) who was right there. I had no kick left in my legs and crossed the line in 28:36 to take 19th in the 40+ and 99th overall. All in all it wasn’t a bad first effort, unfortunately it wasn’t the advertised 5-mile distance. Apparently the turn was set up wrong and the entire field ran approximately 4.91 miles.
I’m still not sure about the distance they think it was, something just doesn’t make sense. It calculates out to 5:50 pace for me, but only my final mile was close to that. For it to be correct I guess that ALL of the mile markers had to be misplaced. What are the odds of that happening? It is a shame when something like this happens at a New England championship, but these things do happen and no one got an advantage by the race being short.
Congratulations to Justin for a great race. He now leads the Grand Prix!
I did a slow 2-mile warmdown with double-j and Todd C then headed home then immediately got in the car for a 500 mile drive to PA. More on that later, next up the Lone Gull 10km this weekend.
1 23:53 4:52 Joseph Koech TEAM RUN
2 23:53 4:52 Patrick Mellea
3 23:54 4:52 Justin Fyffe CMS
4 24:00 4:54 Mathew Kiplagat WEST CHESTER TRACK CLUB
5 24:02 4:54 Mark Miller BAA
29 25:21 5:10 Patrick Rich CMS
31 25:22 5:10 Kevin Tilton CMS
34 25:27 5:11 Jim Johnson CMS
43 25:48 5:16 Andy McCarron CMS
47 25:58 5:18 Alan Bernier CMS
50 26:06 5:19 Matt Clark CMS
70 27:06 5:32 Dan Verrington CMS
76 27:24 5:35 Jim Pawlicki CMS
80 27:58 5:42 David Quintal CMS
99 28:36 5:50 Dave Dunham CMS
So, race day looked promising with none of the heat that had slowed the field last year. It started to rain heavily as we drove down 93 and only got worse. We (Dan and Kevin T) scored the prime parking spot, within 100m of the registration area, the last open parking meter on the block. The masses huddled under the pavilion to stay out of the rain and some even warmed-up inside. The CMS gang headed out for a warm-up and Justin showed style plunging through the first puddle he encountered. That really is the best way to deal with getting wet; just barrel into the first puddle and you won’t have to worry about it any more.
I bailed out after a mile and headed back alone. Michael Wade gave me some good natured ribbing about “where’s your team”, but I knew with my low mileage I couldn’t afford to put in more miles that I might need during the race. My shoes weighed a ton and the Loco Banditos felt very light when I changed into them for the race.
My plan was to hopefully run around 6’s. I had nothing to gauge my fitness, so I was a bit worried about the first mile. I kept moving around to keep my plantar fascia from really seizing up, and then made my way to the start line. No one seemed to want to get on the left side of the line (we’d make a right hand turn 100m into the race) so I had no trouble getting two or three rows back on that side.
The first half mile was just a battle to stay on my feet, after which I settled in. I couldn’t really tell how fast I was going but MQ was only a few strides in front of me which seemed about right. Jim P was also right in front of me which was a bit worrisome (he went out slowly). I hit the mile in 5:58 and felt good so I picked it up a bit and started reeling people in. There were certainly a lot of people to go after and plenty of people to run with. I passed a lot of people who must have gone out too hard and hit 2-miles in 12:07 (6:09). I was a little surprised that it was a slower mile but chalked that up to being “new” to this. I caught Jon Waldron who I’d race “back in the day” and kept working forward. Jon stayed with me as we went into the turn. I counted all the people heading back out and figured I was right around 100th place. I knew it’d be a fight to make PAGE 2 of the results!
The third mile made no sense at all; I hit 16:32 (4:25) and realized something was wrong but didn’t really care as I was racing. I could see Dave Oliver up ahead and wanted to catch him. We’d had some close races last year. Four miles was passed in 22:42 (6:10) and I was definitely feeling tired, the miles (and lack of training) was catching up to me. Jon began to pull away as Dave began to come back. The first and last ¾ of a mile were the same so it was easy to tell how much was left. I caught Dave with ½ mile to go but could not gap him. I think he was much more interested in Offenbacher (another 50+ runner) who was right there. I had no kick left in my legs and crossed the line in 28:36 to take 19th in the 40+ and 99th overall. All in all it wasn’t a bad first effort, unfortunately it wasn’t the advertised 5-mile distance. Apparently the turn was set up wrong and the entire field ran approximately 4.91 miles.
I’m still not sure about the distance they think it was, something just doesn’t make sense. It calculates out to 5:50 pace for me, but only my final mile was close to that. For it to be correct I guess that ALL of the mile markers had to be misplaced. What are the odds of that happening? It is a shame when something like this happens at a New England championship, but these things do happen and no one got an advantage by the race being short.
Congratulations to Justin for a great race. He now leads the Grand Prix!
I did a slow 2-mile warmdown with double-j and Todd C then headed home then immediately got in the car for a 500 mile drive to PA. More on that later, next up the Lone Gull 10km this weekend.
1 23:53 4:52 Joseph Koech TEAM RUN
2 23:53 4:52 Patrick Mellea
3 23:54 4:52 Justin Fyffe CMS
4 24:00 4:54 Mathew Kiplagat WEST CHESTER TRACK CLUB
5 24:02 4:54 Mark Miller BAA
29 25:21 5:10 Patrick Rich CMS
31 25:22 5:10 Kevin Tilton CMS
34 25:27 5:11 Jim Johnson CMS
43 25:48 5:16 Andy McCarron CMS
47 25:58 5:18 Alan Bernier CMS
50 26:06 5:19 Matt Clark CMS
70 27:06 5:32 Dan Verrington CMS
76 27:24 5:35 Jim Pawlicki CMS
80 27:58 5:42 David Quintal CMS
99 28:36 5:50 Dave Dunham CMS
2 comments:
Nice race , DD. Let's look ahead to the Lone Gull.
im most likely out for gull...i've got the flu...sucks bigtime.
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