US masters 10km road championships
I had big goals going into this race, maybe too big? I felt I was in pretty good shape going into this race and I tapered for the week leading up to the race. It seemed like I did very little running at all, logging a mere 81 miles. I was definitely excited about this race, knowing that the best masters runners in New England would turn out. I didn’t really have a place goal but I definitely had a time goal. I ran 34:28 at James Joyce two years ago and my current road times indicated I should be faster. Anything short of a masters PR (34:27) would be disappointing. I thought 34:10-34:15 was realistic and that if the stars aligned I might have a shot at breaking 34.
Tim Van Orden joined me and we arrived at the race 90 minutes before the start. We needed extra time to track down our CMS teammates; there was a new rule that required us all to wear the same singlet. Thanks to Jim Pawlicki we had some matching tops from a few years back. It was a who’s who of New England racing, everywhere you turned you saw another fast guy (or gal). We met up with Greg Putnam and “the silver fox” Mike Quintal and headed out for a three mile warm-up. Whenever possible, I warm-up out/back over the last 1.5 of the course in order to get a clear picture of the final stretch of the race will be like. It definitely helps when you are tired to have a good idea of how much ground is left to cover. We had a funny moment with about ¾ of a mile to go when Jason Porter showed up on a motorcycle and asked us where the start was. He sure was cutting it close!
After the warm-up I switched into racing flats and headed out with TiVO for another mile with some strides. Then we headed to the line. I found a spot on the line and after a rousing rendition of the national anthem we were off. The separate start for us meant that the masters would have an easy time racing against each other, this was also helped by color coded numbers on each competitors back with you age category on it (a big “45” on my back). It felt like we were moving pretty quickly during the first mile and I struggled a bit to find my pace. I found myself just inside the top 25 when I rolled through the mile in 5:12. Yikes, that is why it felt fast. I had run 5:18 two years ago and my goal was 5:20 on this day. I guess the slight downhill and the 15mph tail-wind may have pushed us along.
I eased a bit during the second mile and found myself losing ground on the big pack in front of me but not losing any places. Someone called 21st or 22nd before the two mile mark. I hit 2 in 10:46 (5:34 split) which was about 9 seconds slower than I’d hoped. I upped the tempo a bit and aimed for the big group in front of me. They seemed to string out a bit during the third mile and I found myself passing a bunch of guys before hitting three miles in 16:16 (5:30 split). That was pretty much spot-on the time I’d hoped for. It seemed like only one guy (Brian Pilcher age 56, who ran a 32:58 last year!) went with me. By 5k I found myself alone with Joe Noonan (Green Mountain AA) six to eight seconds ahead of me.
I set myself to go after Joe and hit four miles in 21:54 (5:38 split) which was about 8 seconds behind what I wanted. I was still thinking PR but also thought that sub-34 was now gone. The fourth mile had some rollers so I was hoping to knock it down to 5:30 for the fifth mile. I gained a second or two on Joe and could see Francis Burdett and Greg Putnam about 20 seconds ahead. Someone called out 11th place and I was thinking that top ten would be great, but was more interested in my time. I hit 5 miles in 27:35 (5:41 split) which was 11 seconds behind schedule. I felt I had run a solid mile and the guys in front of me were coming back (ever so slightly). The wind and the 70 degree temps were definitely a factor for me. I still was thinking “5:30 for the final mile and I’ll PR” and I was also trying to slide into the top 10. The last mile uphill (slightly) and into the wind, took both of those out of the picture. I ran 5:42 for the last mile (6m in 33:17) and kicked with all I had but could not get closer than two seconds from 10th place.
The effort was there, but the time was not. Looking at the field there certainly wasn’t anyone in front of me who I think I should beat and there were guys behind me who I can normally beat me…so I guess it was a good race. To top things off CMS won the Gold! This was a shocker as we haven’t been the top team at any of the New England championships. I guess it was just a good day for us (and a lot of teams may have still been feeling the heavy legs from running the Boston Marathon).
1 32:48 5:17 Kevin Collins 42 Liverpool NY Syracuse
2 33:08 5:20 Kent Lemme 46 Pittsfield
3 33:27 5:23 Christopher Magill 40 Cumberland
4 33:37 5:25 Gregory Picklesimer 46 Newton MA
5 33:50 5:27 Mark Hixson 48 Simsbury
6 33:55 5:28 Joseph Navas 42 N Eastham MA WRT
7 34:12 5:31 Greg Putnam 43 Stoneham
8 34:15 5:31 Francis Burdett 48 Worcester
9 34:25 5:33 Erik Nedeau 41 Belchertown MA NBB
10 34:27 5:33 Joe Noonan 45 Burlington
11 34:29 5:33 Dave Dunham 49 Bradford MA CMS
12 34:36 5:35 Brian Pilcher 56 Ross CA Tamalpa
13 34:51 5:37 Michael Cooney 51 Chelmsford
14 34:55 5:38 Wayne
15 34:57 5:38 Jason Porter 43 Bedford
16 35:03 5:39 John Noland 50 Kingston
17 35:03 5:39 Justin Renz 41 Milton
18 35:08 5:40 Pete Bottomley 51 Cape Eliz. ME Dirigo
19 35:21 5:42 Jason Cakouros 47 Milton
20 35:32 5:43 Kevin Delaney 44 Arlington
21 35:33 5:44 Joseph O'Leary 45 Medford
22 35:41 5:45 Mark Reeder 53 Brighton MA GLRR
23 35:44 5:45 Tim Van Orden 44 Bennington
24 35:44 5:45 Paul Doe 53 Derry NH WRT
25 35:49 5:46 Norm Larson 57 Burlington
MEN'S 40+ TEAM RESULTS
1. 1:43:41 CENTRAL MASS STRIDERS ( 34:34)
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1 34:12 Greg Putnam Stoneham
2 34:30 Dave Dunham Bradford MA CENTRAL MASS STRIDERS
3 34:59 Jason Porter Bedford
4 ( 35:44) Tim Van Orden Bennington
5 ( 39:50) Scott Deslongchamps Putnam CT CENTRAL MASS STRIDERS
2. 1:44:41 BOSTON
3. 1:47:08 WHIRLAWAY RACING TEAM (35:43)
4. 1:47:33 GREEN MOUNTAIN
5. 1:49:03 HFC STRIDERS (36:21)
6. 1:49:40 GREATER SPRINGFIELD
7. 1:52:11 SOMERVILLE
8. 1:53:30 GREATER BOSTON
9. 2:02:50 CAMBRIDGE SPORTS UNION (40:57)
10. 2:17:42 SOMERVILLE ROAD
11. 2:49:59 CAPE COD ATHLETIC CLUB (56:40)
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