I had no plans of racing any time soon BUT Tom
Raffio (NEDD CEO) offered me a free entry to the Hopkinton 5k series, and I was
looking forward to doing some running with people. It was only 2 degrees
when I showed up in Hopkinton and picked up my bib number. They were
staging the race in time-trial start format with runners going every 5
seconds. I was “unseeded”, so I had the last pre-registered number.
That sounded good to me, that way I could catch people during the race. I
headed out on the course for a warm-up. It was a mix of bare road and ice
or snow. The first and last tenth of a mile and from 1.3 to the turn of
the out & back course were both packed snow/ice. I ran without
traction devices during the warm-up and it seemed okay. After previewing
the course, I continued for another mile as I didn’t want to stop until it was
time for the race. I ran a little over 8 minute pace and from that
figured I could run around to a little under 7:30 pace. That’d be my
goal. I stayed in my full warm-up gear and heavier training shoes since
this wasn’t something I was thinking of as a RACE. Only 27 entrants,
maybe due to the cold weather? It was about 7 degrees and sunny when I
took off a couple of minutes past 9am. I counted 10 people I caught in
the first half-mile which I reached in a surprising 3:22. It felt comfortably
hard, not all out but a pace I thought I could maintain for the whole
way. I caught a few more as I hit the mile in 6:43. Soon after I saw Mike
Mott (NHTI) cranking on his way back and he offered some encouragement.
The road turned very slick as I caught Dave Audet right before the turn and the
top woman just after the turn. That rolling part of the course was slower
(6:53) but I hoped to rebound. I knew I was in third place at that point
but wasn’t sure how far ahead 2nd place was as he started over 2
minutes ahead of me. The last mile was covered in 6:34 and then the last tenth
was a bit slow as I was very cautious on the ice and snow. I was pleased
with hitting 6:44 pace which was way ahead of what I’d expected. I
definitely was tentative making sure my hip felt okay and that I didn’t fall
out there. I’m not sure when I’ll do something quicker again, I’m not on
any timetable and taking things one day at a time.
1 Michael Mott 19 Alton, NH M NHTI X/C 1 17:14.5
2 Michael Popham 40 Bedford, NH M 2 20:49.1
3 Dave Dunham 57 Bradford, MA M 31 20:56.2
4 Cathleen Brown 46 New Boston NHF The B Team 6 23:02.8
5 David Audet 56 Concord, NH M NMC 5 23:09.1
6 Joel Conolly 45 M 34 23:25.2
7 Ben Connolly 39 F 33 23:25.8
8 William McLann 59 Bow, NH M 32 23:30.1
9 Ellen Raffio 53 Bow, NH F Delta Dental 9 24:12.4
10 Max Goupil 11 Contoocook NHM Hopkinton Hawk4 24:21.4
11 David Depiano 39 Contoocook NHM NE Multisport 8 25:33.7
12 Bill Ducasse 46 Epsom, NH M 14 28:12.0
13 Kathy Denoncour 59 Concord, NH F 13 28:16.0
14 Tom Walton 73 Contoocook NHM 35 28:21.7
15 Deborah Mitchell 55 Milford, NH F 12 28:25.5
16 Holly 24 Loudon, NH F 37 28:29.8
17 Kristine Blanchette 54 Warner, NH F 15 29:35.5
18 Miranda Hardister 47 Concord, NH F 17 29:56.9
19 Donald Bergeron 68 Hampton, NH M 16 31:35.2
20 Erick Costello 43 Loudon, NH M 36 33:53.6
21 Deborah Nasheim 64 Warner, NH F 22 33:57.7
22 Bruce Johnstone 63 Weare, NH M 25 35:59.7
23 Colleen Connolly 60 Pittsfield, NH F NMC 20 36:22.9
24 William Peters 59 Manchester NH M 21 36:51.1
25 Tom Raffio 65 Bow, NH M Delta Dental 10 38:54.0
26 Anna Moskov 41 Contoocook NH F 26 39:10.1
27 Heather Dufield 47 Hopkinton NH F 27 39:19.6
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