Concord NH 4Km race

I didn’t decide until late in the week to head up to Concord NH for this unusual distance (4 kilometer) race.  Dan had already entered but I was still feeling sore from Cranmore.  On Thursday I decided I’d better go if for no other reason than my lack of fast running over the last few weeks.  I really want to run well at the Chelmsford 2 mile on the fourth so this would be a chance to get my legs turning over.  Mountain racing makes you strong but it really doesn’t help with speed.

Dan and I headed up and were the first ones to arrive, Mike A was still setting up signs on where to go for registration.  We scored the best parking spot (shaded) which was nice; it was already pretty warm and humid at 8am.  We ran the course as a warm-up and I was disappointed that they had not put out Kilometer marks or even mile marks.  A short fast race is hard enough it doesn’t need to be harder by not knowing splits.  Dan and I were both looking for the same pace (3:20 per Kilometer) and he had run a low 17 5k a couple of days before, so it looked like we’d have a good battle. 

We checked out the course as a warm-up and added on a bit to get 3 miles.  I switched into racing flats and headed out for another mile with strides.  I felt pretty decent considering the mileage I’d been putting in (110 for the week).  Dan pointed out Rich Smith before the race and we also saw a couple of younger guys doing strides so there would definitely be company out there.

I took it out pretty hard, mostly because I wanted to have plenty of room to navigate the three 90 degree and one 180 degree turns in the first 500m of the race.  That was also all on grass so it would be a bit tricky.  Tristan Amaral also went out hard and he hammered by me right before the 180, but he took a big spill on the grass and I was back in the lead as we hit the pavement.  Rich Smith and Alex Brown moved by me and we were joined by Amaral.  I tucked in behind them, it felt fast and it was hot without any shade on this part of the course.  I heard Dan breathing down on us and he came shuffling by at around the mile.  That woke me up a bit and I reacted by upping the tempo.  We were almost done the road portion of the course and I wanted to get back in the lead for some of the tight turns that we’d navigate over the next Kilometer.

I moved to the front of the pack and took us around the field through 2k (no splits).  Rich Smith took over soon after and I just concentrated on staying with him as I heard the chase group fall back.  Rich seemed very smooth, just kind of floating away in front of me.  I tried to make a move on the final few turns (my lower center of gravity made it easier for me to navigate the turns).  I closed a bit and even thought I had a shot at him with ¼ mile to go, but he took a peek over his shoulder and put in a kick for the win.

I was 18 seconds shy of my goal time (13:20) but felt that the effort was good.  Hopefully I’ll be able to run faster over the straight Chelmsford course.  Dan ended up in third place running 13:50 and placing first in the 50+ age group.  We went out and did the course again as a warm-down and added on some extra mileage to get a 10 mile day…which was by far my shortest day of the week J

Place Div/Tot  Name                 Ag 

S City            St
 Time    Pace  

===== ======== ==================== == = =============== == ======= ===== 

    1   1/13   RICH SMITH           42 M ENFIELD         NH   13:36  5:29 

    2   2/13   DAVE DUNHAM          48 M BRADFORD        MA   13:38  5:29 

    3   1/6    DAN VERRINGTON       50 M BRADFORD        MA   13:50  5:34 

    4   1/3    TRISTAN AMARAL       18 M WARNER          NH   13:50  5:34 

    5   1/6    ALEX BROWN           24 M LITCHFIELD      NH   13:58  5:37 

    6   3/13   JIM BOULE            45 M CAMPTON         NH   14:56  6:01 

    7   1/5    JONATHAN RING        33 M WESTFORD        MA   15:16  6:09 

    8   2/5    MICHAEL DAY          32 M MERRIMACK       NH   15:18  6:10 

    9   2/6    DOUGLAS INGERSOLL    53 M CONCORD         NH   15:29  6:14 

   10   1/9    WARREN BARTLETT      14 M LOUDON          NH   15:35  6:16