Tuesday, September 18, 2018

USATF NE 5km road champs (Providence Downtown race)


I was on "vacation" this week so I was out of sorts.  My mind was much more on the 5 weeks until the Baystate marathon than it was on the 5km championships.  I was hoping to do something quicker this week but instead did a marathon pace tempo run mid-week.  My hip was really bothering me after that but I was more concerned about my lack of speed (I've only broken 18 once this year) than I was about the hip.

I picked up teammates Danny V and D-la and the 95 mile drive went by pretty quickly.  We arrived 90 minutes before the race and found parking pretty much the same area we parked last year.  Vermonter Tim V-O pulled in behind us and we all headed over to number pick-up together.  It was getting warm and the humidity was high.  The fog was burning off and it was going to be another shitty muggy day, this summer does not want to end.  Luckily this was a 5k so a little heat and humidity just meant a bit of discomfort...well a bit MORE.  We gathered a couple of more teammates and roped in CSU long-timer Terry McNatt and headed out for a course preview.

It was nice to get in a little time to chat while warming up and checking out how everyone was doing.  TiVO ran a 16:40 last week and was looking for a sub-16:30.  My goal was to get under 17:50 and I was hoping that if all went well I might even sneak under 17:40.  I'd run a 17:32 last year but my times this year (with the exception of the 10m and 10k) have been significantly slower.  Getting old sucks.  :-)

The course is pretty flat, the only hill is at the start (down) and the finish (up).  My hope was to run splits of 530/540/550.  As always I'd be looking around for my fellow senior runners and keying off of them.  After a mile with some strides I headed to the line and counted 5 rows (I'd finished 98th last year) and then looked around.  College teammate Jason Cakorous was a row back so I moved a bit further back and tucked in with him.  A BUNCH of 50+ runners were in that row.  Perfect!

Nearly 2000 shot off on the downhill start and there was some bumping and one or two scary moments (little kids starting at the front then STOPPING in the road).  After the first turn things settled down nicely.  I tried to relax and latch on to Scott Anderson (WRT).  I went by Jason and then he passed me back right after the mile (5:33).  Anderson pulled away and I tried to stay with Charlie Bemis (WRT) but could only stay with him through 1.5.  I could see teammate Dave Principe up ahead and kept trying to move up.  I hit 2 miles in 11:15 (5:42) and caught Anderson at 2.5.  I was dreading the final uphill and the kicks that everyone else would have.  Bemis was moving out of sight as was Cakorous but I closed to a few seconds on Principe at 3 miles (17:02-5:47).  I kicked for all I was worth but couldn't get him (or anyone else).

I ended up taking 11th in the 50+ and 7th in the 50-54.  Our team missed picking up another GP win by a scant 29 seconds to the Greater Sprinfield Harriers.  Tim Van Orden took the victory in the 50+ in 16:14 and Dave Lapierre set a 50+ PR (and maybe a 40+ one) running an excellent 18:11.

The next Grand Prix will be the 10k at Lone Gull (Gloucester) in 2 weeks.  That field is always stacked!  It is going to be hard to score one point (my goal in all GP races).

USATF Teams

Team - Greater Springfield Harriers Finish Position - 1

Team Score (times): 1:26:46.0

                                                                   O\'all      Cum.
   Place Bib No Name                     City                Gend  Place      Place      Time   Cum. Time
      1   2057  NAT LARSON              AMHERST  MA            M       2                16:15.5      16:15.5
      2   2058  MARK HIXON              SIMSBURY  CT           M       4                16:34.9      32:50.5
      3   2100  RON JACOBS              AMHERST  MA            M       6                17:20.8      50:11.3
      4   2056  ALEJANDRO HEUCK         AMHERST  MA            M      14                17:59.9    1:08:11.2
      5   2060  NICK HOPLEY             AMHERST  MA            M      21                18:34.7    1:26:46.0

Team - Central Mass Striders Finish Position - 2

Team Score (times): 1:28:15.2                                                                   O\'all Cum.


   Place Bib No Name                     City                Gend  Place      Place      Time   Cum. Time
      1   1161  TIM VAN ORDEN           BENNINGTON  VT         M       1                16:14.0      16:14.0
      2   1158  DAVID PRINCIPE          JOHNSTON  RI           M      10                17:35.0      33:49.1
      3   1160  DAVE DUNHAM             BRADFORD  MA           M      11                17:36.7      51:25.9
      4     67  DAVID LAPIERRE          CHELMSFORD  MA         M      18                18:11.1    1:09:37.0
      5   1225  DAN VERRINGTON          BRADFORD  MA           M      23                18:38.1    1:28:15.2


Team - Whirlaway Finish Position - 3

Team Score (times): 1:33:17.5

                                                                   O\'all      Cum.

   Place Bib No Name                     City                Gend  Place      Place      Time   Cum. Time
      1   1958  CHARLIE BEMIS           DERRY  NH              M       8                17:27.1      17:27.1
      2   1957  SCOTT ANDERSON          FAIRHAVEN  MA          M      12                17:38.7      35:05.9
      3   1960  PAUL HAMMOND            LEXINGTON  MA          M      24                19:12.7      54:18.7
      4   1961  DOUGLAS MARTYN          NORTH ANDOVER  MA      M      26                19:18.0    1:13:36.7
      5   1959  KENNETH WARREN          WILMINGTON  MA         M      33                19:40.7    1:33:17.5


Team - Greater Lowell Road Runners Finish Position - 4

Team Score (times): 1:33:17.7

                                                                   O\'all      Cum.

   Place Bib No Name                     City                Gend  Place      Place      Time   Cum. Time
      1   1329  MARK REEDER             BRIGHTON  MA           M       9                17:30.9      17:30.9
      2   1290  DOUGLAS COOK            BILLERICA  MA          M      19                18:16.9      35:47.8
      3   1389  E J HRYNOWSKI           ARLINGTON  MA          M      22                18:35.7      54:23.5
      4   1145  JOHN BARBOUR            WEST ROXBURY  MA       M      30                19:23.7    1:13:47.3
      5   1859  WILLIAM DIXON           BRATTLEBORO  VT        M      32                19:30.4    1:33:17.7


Team - HFC Striders Finish Position - 5

Team Score (times): 1:34:57.2

                                                                  O\'all      Cum.

   Place Bib No Name                     City                Gend  Place      Place      Time   Cum. Time
      1    259  JOHN SULLIVAN           WEST ROXBURY  MA       M       5                17:20.0      17:20.0
      2   1737  JASON CAKOUROS          MILTON  MA             M       7                17:23.6      34:43.6
      3   2011  SCOTT GRANDFIELD        WARWICK  RI            M      13                17:52.8      52:36.5
      4   2106  CHRIS KELLY             WESTWOOD  MA           M      42                20:29.8    1:13:06.3
      5   1919  CHRIS DIEHL             DEDHAM  MA             M      53                21:50.8    1:34:57.2

Team - Cambridge Sports Union Finish Position - 6

Team Score (times): 1:49:01.9

                                                                  O\'all      Cum.
   Place Bib No Name                     City                Gend  Place      Place      Time   Cum. Time
      1   1285  KEVIN DELANEY           ARLINGTON  MA          M      15                18:03.8      18:03.8
      2   1320  TERRY MCNATT            NEEDHAM  MA            M      20                18:17.8      36:21.6
      3   1068  WILLIAM PINE            FITZWILLIAM  NH        M      46                21:04.4      57:26.1
      4   2094  STEPHEN BINDER          LINCOLN  MA            M      51                21:44.3    1:19:10.4
      5   1235  ROB RIORDAN             CAMBRIDGE  MA          M     154                29:51.5    1:49:01.9

Team - Tri-Valley Frontrunners Finish Position - 7

Team Score (times): 1:57:59.5

                                                                   O\'all      Cum.
   Place Bib No Name                     City                Gend  Place      Place      Time   Cum. Time
      1   1323  JIM HOWARD              HOPEDALE  MA           M      27                19:19.2      19:19.2
      2    949  ANTHONY LANDRY          MILFORD  MA            M      43                20:41.6      40:00.9
      3    152  JOHN MCCUE              BELLINGHAM  MA         M      74                24:18.4    1:04:19.3
      4   1232  LINCOLN MERRIHEW        SOUTHBOROUGH  MA       M      86                25:22.3    1:29:41.7
      5    137  MICHAEL TRIBER          DOUGLAS  MA            M     128                28:17.8    1:57:59.5


Team - New England 65 Plus Runners Club Finish Position - 8

Team Score (times): 2:33:52.2

                                                                   O\'all      Cum.
   Place Bib No Name                     City                Gend  Place      Place      Time   Cum. Time
      1   1011  STEPHEN VIEGAS          READING  MA            M      81                25:00.8      25:00.8
      2    318  RICHARD PAULSEN         WOBURN  MA             M     122                27:41.2      52:42.1
      3   1450  GERALD PORRICELLI       LINCOLN  RI            M     170                31:06.9    1:23:49.0
      4   1260  ROBERT SULLIVAN         BROOKLINE  MA          M     183                31:46.6    1:55:35.6
      5   1103  LARRY COLE              HARWICH  MA            M     235                38:16.6    2:33:52.2

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