An Ras Mor 5k

 USATF NE 5km championship

 I got my MRI results back on Monday morning and was able to get out of the boot.  The TA ligament was intact, however the Deltoid ligament was strained and I had some tenosynovitis in a few ligaments in the ankle.  I got a new ankle brace and started taking some stronger anti-inflammatory drugs along with icing and ultrasound.  I ran a creaky slow 5 miles on Monday, a little less creaky and a little quicker 5 on Tuesday and then on Wednesday I felt pretty good running right around 7:00 pace for 5 miles.  CMS team manager Jim Pawlicki had already entered me in the 5k, so on Thursday I decided I’d go to support the team.  My plan was to run through and make sure we had a full senior (age 50-59) team.  By Saturday I was feeling good enough to truly test my ankle and felt that I might be able to manage a sub 18 5k.

Sunday morning featured pouring rain and upper 30’s for temperatures, not exactly ideal for a 5km race.  Dan Verrington and I headed out to Cambridge extra early to make sure we’d be able to find some parking.  I hate city races!  It was rainy and cold but there wasn’t much wind and once you got moving it wasn’t too bad out there.  A bunch of the CMS gang gathered and I brought the course map with me as we hit the course for a warm-up.  Good thing I brought the map, there were no course markings and it wasn’t the easiest to find our way around.  The good thing about the rain was that there weren’t a lot of pedestrians so we were able to run safely on the sidewalk.  The course seemed pretty decent with it going gently uphill for the first mile then a little downhill and basically flat after that. 

I was feeling pretty good after the warm-up, may ankle didn’t hurt all that much and I switched into racing flats (which were a bit tight with the ankle brace).  I added another half-mile of running with a couple of pick-ups.  Man, it felt weird.  I really haven’t done any speed and this was awfully early in the year to be bashing out a 5k.  I got to the line with 3 minutes to spare and set myself up in the 5^th row.  That’d be about 100^th place which seemed about right (based on previous USATF NE 5k results).

The gun went off and there was a little hesitation as people tentatively headed out on the slick road.  It took me a couple of seconds to cross the line but I had clear running right away as everyone headed left for the first turn.  I settled into a comfortable pace right away.  Teammate Tim Van Orden was testing his fitness and we ended up striding along up Mass Ave. together.  Al Bernier rolled on by with a hearty “Cayuga” shout which cracked me up.  Around ½ mile in Dan caught up after his typical slower start.  I zeroed in on him and the three of us continued chugging along together.  Soon after teammate Jason Porter flew by, I thought he must have missed the start!

We reached the mile mark in 5:38, although the gal at the mile mark shouted out 5:16.  A few people without watches may have been unpleasantly surprised by how much they “slowed” in the second mile.  I felt really good at the mile and tried to pick up the pace.  I slowly reeled in a couple of fast starters and was pleased that no one was passing me. 

I hit 2 miles in 11:12 (5:34) and tried to maintain momentum.  I felt good but my legs just wouldn’t turn over any faster.  I checked my watch and it was 3 minutes since the 2 mile mark.  That meant a half mile to go, so I tried to up the tempo.  About that time people started cheering for “Terry”.  I knew it had to be Terry McNatt (longtime CSU runner) and he always has a strong kick.  Sure enough, right at the 3 mile mark (16:48/5:36) he went flying by.  I did my best to go with him and he dragged me along to a 32.8 for the last .1.  My chip time of 17:20.8 sits as my Senior PR, but I hope to take big chunks off of that over the coming months and years.

The CMS 50+ team scored its first points since 2010 taking fifth place.  I’m looking forward to us fielding teams at the remaining Grand Prix races!

50+ finishers

1	Mark Reeder	16:34	5:20	16:32	54	BRIGHTON	MA	GLRR
2	Robert Cipriano	16:36	5:21	16:34	54	BELMONT	MA	SRR
3	Dave Dunham	17:23	5:36	17:20	50	BRADFORD	MA	CMS
4	Mike Cooney	17:33	5:39	17:31	52	CHELMSFORD	MA	WRT
5	Martin Tighe	17:44	5:43	17:42	55	PROVIDENCE	RI	CMS
6	Paul Doe	17:48	5:44	17:43	54	DERRY	NH	WRT
7	Charlie Bemis	17:50	5:45	17:49	51	DERRY	NH	GCS
8	Dan Verrington	17:52	5:45	17:48	51	BRADFORD	MA	CMS
9	E J Hrynowski	18:03	5:49	17:58	51	ARLINGTON	MA	GLRR
10	Wolfgang Ketterle	18:09	5:51	18:05	56	BELMONT	MA	SRR
36	David Lapierre	21:15	6:51	21:11	50	CHELMSFORD	MA	CMS
48	Stephen Laska	23:16	7:30	23:08	52	HOLDEN	MA	CMS
52	Frank Ruggierio	24:21	7:50	24:09	55	LUNENBURG	MA	CMS

CMS finishers

7	Nate Jenkins	15:17	33	M3039	NORTH ANDOVER	MA
22	Morgan Kennedy	15:43	26	M2029	GRAFTON	MA
31	Scott Leslie	15:58	32	M3039	RUTLAND	MA
39	Greg Putnam	16:11	44	M4049	STONEHAM	MA
46	Colby Chrusciel	16:21	21	M2029	TEMPLETON	MA
50	Alan Bernier	16:25	39	M3039	BRAINTREE	MA
66	Joe Shairs	16:52	45	M4049	PEABODY	MA
69	Tim Mahoney	16:52	34	M3039	HOLYOKE	MA
71	Jason Porter	16:48	44	M4049	BEDFORD	NH
72	James Pawlicki	16:56	39	M3039	LYNN	MA
83	Arthur Besse	17:15	41	M4049	TEMPLETON	MA
86	Dave Dunham	17:20	50	M5059	BRADFORD	MA
91	Derek Dorval	17:28	40	M4049	KENSINGTON	NH
98	Tim Van Orden	17:35	45	M4049	BENNINGTON	VT
103	Martin Tighe	17:42	55	M5059	PROVIDENCE	RI
106	Aaron Baldwin	17:44	24	M2029	S HAMILTON	MA
111	Dan Verrington	17:48	51	M5059	BRADFORD	MA
170	Dave Mingori	19:11	46	M4049	CHELMSFORD	MA
275	David Lapierre	21:11	50	M5059	CHELMSFORD	MA
374	Stephen Laska	23:08	52	M5059	HOLDEN	MA
409	Frank Ruggierio	24:09	55	M5059	LUNENBURG	MA