Frost on the fairway 2.5 mile XC race

I picked the Gannon Golf course (Lynn MA) 5k XC race for this weekend since I'm still in cross-country running mode.  I'm running team nationals in Lexington KY in December.  The field at the race has been small in the past but the course would be challenging and Jim Pawlicki had mentioned he was trying to drum up some interest from our CMS teammates.

I was the 2nd to arrive at the golf course (the RD beat me) and it was very chilly 20s but sunny when I got there at 7:15am for the 8:30 start.  Since there was little activity I confirmed with the RD that the start was in fact at 830.  He noted that we might be held up "a few minutes" due to frost on the grass. 

Jim Pawlicki and I met up with GLRR's Shawn Conway and headed out for a warm-up on the course (on the cart paths, not on the grass).  It was a very hilly course and also very scenic.  I changed into racing flats and headed out for another mile.

It was just about 830 so I headed inside to check out how long the hold-up would be.  The RD had just finished explaining that it'd be "at least an hour".  I asked about just moving the race to nearby Lynn Woods and he was not interested.  I decided that I'd race at Lynn Woods whether I did it on my own or not.  I really didn't want to wait around, especially with the time being a major unknown.  I asked the 30 or so gathered if anyone was interested in heading to Lynn for a race over the 2.5 mile course.  A few guys said they were headed over to just go for a run.  Jim was game as was Shawn who was celebrating his 47th birthday.

We jogged the 1/4 mile to the "old" start (at the entrance to the park instead of the relay start, this would eliminate the out/back section on the dirt road).  With a "ready, set, go" we were off.  I went to the front to get a clear shot at the narrow opening at the gate (Shawn noted afterward that he thought I was just going to run under the gate).  Jim went by as we started to climb and Shawn went with him.  I lost a couple of seconds as I fell back sucking wind.  I hit the half-mile beep on my watch in 3:10.  Jim continued to lead and he was about 5 seconds up as I hit the mile in 6:10.

The next half-mile included the narrow Goat Path which has a 50' climb in less than a 1/4 mile.  I closed the gap on Shawn as he also closed on Jim.  We took the left onto Dungeon road in sync.  I made my move.  The long downhill back to the parking lot has a few little 30' bumps that really hurt especially when you are all out.  I couldn't hear Shawn but knew Jim was right on me.  There were a couple of spots where I thought I finally broke away but then I'd hear Jim back at my heels.  I hit the pavement first and went into my big finishing kick :-)  With 50 meters to go Jim went flying by and I couldn't answer.  Shawn rolled in a few seconds later.

We headed back to the golf course, changed and headed back to Lynn Woods for a tour of the two Towers.  We got back to the golf course and the race hadn't started yet.  Jim decided to jump in the race and I decided to hit the road (Jim went on to pick up his second win of the morning!).

Frost on the fairways - Lynn Woods 2.5m Lynn Woods, MA, November 18, 2017 Results Gannon race delayed so impromptu race on the CLASSIC Lynn Woods 2.5 mile course Place Time Name Age Team Age Graded 1 14:52 Jim Pawlicki 43 CMS 75.68 2 14:53 Dave Dunham 53 CMS 81.62 3 15:08 Shawn Conway 47 GLRR 76.89