Fudgcicle 5k (plus)

There was plenty of snow this weekend so snowshoe racing was an option, but my PTT and arthritic ankle said running on unstable surfaces might not be a good idea.  It was an easy decision to go back to Tewksbury for the final Fudgcicle race of the season (next week they have a relay).

I showed up an hour before the start expecting to warm-up with Danny V but he was a no-show.  I saw Dave Corbett (Mystic) heading out for a warm-up but I wasn't quite ready to head out.  I hadn't seen Dave since we had a good back/forth battle at Fudge 5 years ago.  I saw Justin Daglish (GLRR) right before the start, he had put 13 seconds on me in the last 1/2 mile 2 weeks ago.  My hope was to stay with those two.

Dave took it out pretty hard on the first slight downhill.  I tucked in behind Justin and hung on for the ride.  I hit the mile in 5:41 about 2 seconds behind Dave and right with Justin.  I like the stretch from 1 to 1.5 and pushed it.  We closed the gap on Dave and by 1.25 we were running in a pack with Dave leading the way.  Right after my watch beeped for 1.5 Dave put in a surge and gapped us.  I was doing my best to stay with Justin thinking "just get to 2 and see".  I hung with him through 2 in 11:22 (5:41) with Dave 3-5 seconds ahead.  I never seem to do all that well on the two little bumps from 2-2.5 but stuck with Justin until the turn onto Main street and 2.5 miles.  Justin then went into his kick and I drifted away on my own.  He tracked down Dave and passed him a little before the 3 mile mark and went on for his second win of the year.  I settled for 3rd place but my fastest time of the year.

I went out and did another loop for a warm-down and felt pretty beat.  I'm looking forward to some longer racing where you don't need to have the leg-turnover.  Not sure exactly where my fitness is but the Amherst 10 mile should give me a great indicator.


Place Name                No.  Div/Tot Ag Div    City       St                 Time   Pace    
===== =================== ==== ======= == ===== ========== ==
    1 Justin Daglish       847   1/16  39 M3039 CARLISLE   MA      17:42  5:42
    2 David Corbett       894   2/16  33 M3039 STONEHAM   MA   17:48  5:44
    3 Dave Dunham      803   1/29  52 M5059 HAVERHILL  MA    17:53  5:46
    4 Charlie Bemis       820   2/29  54 M5059 DERRY      NH         18:18  5:54
    5 Matt Theodoros    855   3/16  34 M3039 ANDOVER    MA     19:37  6:19
    6 Amy Bernard        821   1/17  39 F3039 HAMPSTEAD  NH    19:39  6:20
    7 Lucas Gondola     867   1/9   15 M0119 TEWKSBURY  MA   19:54  6:25
    8 Adam Horwitz      888   2/9   16 M0119 WINCHESTER MA   20:18  6:33
    9 Kathryn Cooney    890   1/6   23 F2029 SOUTH CHEL MA     20:26  6:35
   10 Dennis Donahue  896   4/16  39 M3039 LYNN       MA           20:29  6:36

Around 1.5 miles