USATF NE 10 mile championship

I dropped my mileage down a bit this week in anticipation of a hard race at the Amherst 10 mile.  The predictions of a major storm and the shift to a 1:00 pm start time had me wondering about how much I really wanted to do this race.  USATF really needs to come up with some sort of a plan to address the possible delay or postponement of a championship race.  I’ve filled out the sanction form and you have to come up with a lengthy plan for medical coverage, so why not a plan for possible inclement weather?

Anyway, I headed out on Saturday to be sure to get to the race.  On Sunday morn I went out on the Manhan bike path for an easy three miles to loosen up.  Then it was a matter of killing 5 hours until the race.  I met up with the CMS crew, which was definitely thinned out due to travel concerns.  The conditions were not bad in Amherst but this is a NEW ENGLAND championship so it gets people from all over.  We’d be lucky if we had five guys on the master’s squad.  We headed out on the course and I bailed after a mile and headed back, I only wanted to get in two miles for a warm-up.  There would be plenty of time to get rolling during the race.

I lined up a couple of rows from the line and got a clean start, by the first turn I’d found Wayne Levy (BAA) and tucked in behind him.  Wayne was the top 45+ runner last year and I was hoping to keep him in sight. I could see teammates Joe Shairs and Jason Porter up ahead.  At the mile Joe and Jason were at least 5 seconds ahead and I was a few seconds slower than I’d hoped to be (5:43).  I found myself in between groups and it was a bit breezy so when Kevin Alliette (WRT) flew by I went with him.  A 5:16 mostly downhill mile got me back up behind Jason and Joe.  During the next mostly uphill mile I even got a step or two ahead and hit 3 miles in 16:59 (6:00).  Jason and I got passed by the “Pocatello Kid” (that is what his singlet had on it) and as we hit the section of dirt road by the reservoir he asked “is this the dirt road section”.  I was working too hard to answer but looked at Jason who just shrugged; it was a very strange question.  Anyway, I felt pretty tired from 4-6 part of that may have been the crappy footing (slush and mud) and part may have been from the heavy snow we got for about 10 minutes.  I lost ground on Jason and was struggling to keep rolling.  The sixth mile was a 5:43 and I was caught by Joe.  We worked together, but I just kept thinking “stay with him for one more mile”.  Our 7^th mile was 5:29 and we were losing ground.  What can you do?  I was all-out.  I never felt comfortable; it always felt like I was pressing.  The next two miles were 5:49 and 5:40 and Kevin Alliette went blowing by.  I tried to go with him and maybe break away from Joe but really didn’t have the turnover.  Joe and I we still locked in step and I tried to work the climb but just couldn’t get around him.  He had a good kick taking me by a couple of seconds in the last 400 meters.

I was pleased with the effort, but the time was about a minute slower than I’d hoped for and 35 seconds slower than last year.  Jason had a sold run taking fourth in the 40+ and Joe and I went four and five.  Martin Tighe (6^th in the 50+ in 1:01:59) was our fourth man and Arthur Besse closed out our team scoring in 1:03:19.  We finished four minutes behind Whirlaway but solidly in second place.  Hopefully we can keep it rolling at New Bedford in three weeks!

40+ Finishers

24         0:55:42 Joseph Navas      42         M4049   WRT

33         0:56:46 Binney Mitchell    44         M4049   GMAA

37         0:57:12 Erik Nedeau        41         M4049   NBB

39         0:57:17 Jason Porter       43         M4049   CMS

46         0:57:49 Joe Shairs           44         M4049   CMS

47         0:57:51 Dave Dunham     48         M4049   CMS

50         0:58:21 Todd Callaghan   43         M4049   GCS

51         0:58:24 Joe Noonan        44         M4049   GMAA

54         0:58:35 Scott Anderson   48         M4049   WRT

65         0:59:20 Wayne Levy       47         M4049   BAA

69         0:59:37 Brian Allen          41         M4049   WRT

74         1:00:10 Michael Cooney   51         M5059   WRT

75         1:00:11 Paul Doe                        53         M5059   WRT

79         1:00:19 Reno Stirrat        58         M5059   WRT

83         1:00:27 Douglas Martyn   52         M5059   WRT

86         1:00:40 Titus Mutinda      47         M4049   TEAM RUN

91         1:01:00 Alejandro Heuck  48         M4049   GSH

93         1:01:09 Mike Girouard      43         M4049   GLRR

101       1:01:56 Bob Lynch          50         M5059   EORC

103       1:01:59 Martin Tighe       54         M5059   CMS

104       1:02:05 Matt Czaplinski     46         M4049   CSU

105       1:02:09 Peter Fratini        47         M4049   GSH

107       1:02:09 John Noland       50         M5059   WRT

110       1:02:25 Chrstopher Gould            47         M4049   GSH

112       1:02:30 Paul Hammond    53         M5059   WRT

116       1:02:49 Jon Waldron       55         M5059   CSU

117       1:03:08 Kevin Delaney     44         M4049   CSU

118       1:03:11 Christopher Smith            47         M4049   SRR

120       1:03:19 Arthur Besse       40         M4049   CMS