Bedford Rotary 12k

The Bedford Rotary 12k has always been a great fitness test and this year I would be testing myself for the 10^th time over this unusual distance (7.45 miles).  I was hoping to take a shot at my masters PR (41:45) as this would probably be my last chance at a 12k since it is a rarely run distance.

I met up with Nacho Hernando before the race and we ran out and back over the last 1.5 miles of course for a warm-up.  Nacho has outkicked me in each of the three races we’ve met up in; I was hoping the longer distance would work in my favor.  The field would not be as strong as the last couple of years due to Bedford not being part of the USATF NE grand prix.  The last couple of times I’d just cracked the top 40.  This year I was expecting to be much closer to the front of the pack.  I felt pretty good warming up and switched into racing flats and went out for another mile with some strides.

There was a decent turnout of New Hampshire teams since the race was part of the NH grand prix.  Ethan Crain was back after not racing in about 6 months, once he shakes off the rust he’ll be one of the top masters in New England.  Eric Ashe from the BAA took off at the start and ran his own race, putting about 20 seconds a mile on the chase group.  I can’t say what the other guys were thinking but I was running my own race hoping to get a good time and maybe sneak out a second place finish.

At the mile (5:30) Nacho, Kevin McMahon and I were running in a group.  The split was just a little behind what I’d hoped for but it felt pretty quick.  Both of the guys were putting in surges at various times and I’d drop back a second or two behind them and then regroup.  Not much changed as we hit 2 miles in 10:56 (5:26) and 3 in 16:42 (5:46).  My goal was to hit 3 in 16:40 so I was close to what I’d hoped for.

Nacho made a move on the hill leading up to 4 miles which we hit in 22:25 (5:43) which put me right on pace to tie my PR.  He gapped me a bit on the climb but I also pulled ahead of McMahon.  I regrouped and pulled even with Nacho and we continued to break away.  We passed 5 miles in 28:05 (5:40), which was 5 seconds too slow, but I felt like I was all-out.  During the next mile I was able to get in front of Nacho a couple of times but he always got back.  We hit 6 miles in 33:40 (5:35), we’d picked it up but it was still another mile that was 5 seconds too slow.  I knew I’d need to get 10 seconds on Nacho in the 7^th mile in order to hold off his finishing kick.  I also knew that I was hanging on for dear life.  We hit 7 stride for stride in 39:25 (5:45) and any chance of a PR was gone.  Nacho made his move with 400 to go and torched me by 8 seconds during the final stretch on the track.

I was able to just duck under 42 minutes with a 41:59 and third place overall, missing my masters PR by 14 seconds.  I gave all I had on this day and it just wasn’t quite enough to get the result I’d hoped for.  I did get to double-dip, picking up $25 for third place and another $50 for top master.   Time to switch gears and hit the Mountain running series!

    1   39:04   5:15 Eric Ashe              24M  Brighton MA      BAA           

    2   41:51   5:37 Nacho Hernando   19M  Manchester NH      NHTI

    3   41:59   5:38 Dave Dunham       49M  Bradford MA         CMS/GCS

    4   42:25   5:42 Kevin McMahon     20M  Derry NH                  

    5   42:37   5:43 Ethan Crain           40M  Nashua NH           GCS 

    6   42:38   5:43 Jotham Burnett      33M  Canaan NH          UVRC

    7   42:48   5:45 Anthony Walsh       29M Boston MA            GBTC

    8   42:59   5:46 Bo Wang               26M  Boston MA                 

    9   43:12   5:48 Jon Korhonen         30M Somerville MA             

   10  45:05   6:03 Patrick Connelly      49M Chester NH            GDTC