Hopkinton 5k series

 Thanks to Tom Raffio for the free entry and Ellen Raffio for directing the Hopkinton Winter 5k Series!  I headed back up on Sunday (02/20/22) for the series finale.  I'd run 6:45 pace here two weeks ago and last weekend managed 6:30 pace for a flat 4 mile race.  Taking that into account I was hoping to run under 6:30's and thought I might have an outside shot at 6:20's.  It was cold (12 degrees) but sunny and there was only a slight breeze.  I got there a bit early and drove the course and was happy to see that the ice from 2 weeks ago was gone.  There was only a little bit that probably could be avoided during the 1/2 mile of unpaved road.

After picking up my number I headed out for a course preview warm-up.  On my way out I only saw one person warming up.  On the way back I saw two more.  That got me thinking that maybe I had a shot at a win?  I saw Michael Popham who had beaten me by a couple of seconds previously was warming up, but he was pushing a baby stroller.  Kara Haas stopped by to say "hi".  It was great to see her, she has such an amazingly positive attitude which is infectious.  I didn't see any of the NHTI XC runners so I was pretty sure they would be the main competition.

About 1/4 mile in.

I had number 37 in a field of 39 so pretty much everyone would be starting ahead of me.  That was kind of cool since I'd have folks to catch, but I wouldn't really know how I was doing until the turn.  I took it out reasonably hard but did not hear my watch beep at the 1/2 mile.  I checked at the mile and saw 6:28 and was a bit disappointed as the next mile would be tough.  I focused on tracking down Kara as Michael came back from the turn.  It did not look like either were too far ahead.  I missed the 2 mile mark as I had just caught Kara.  I'd later see that I ran 6:30 which is faster than I would have expected given the terrain and footing.  Then it was "game on" as I tried to close the gap on Michael.  I could not shake Kara and could hear her footsteps close behind me.  She gave a shout for me to "got get him" with a little over a 1/4 to go, but I seemed to never close the gap.  I had a solid last mile (6:12) and crossed the line in 19:54.6 (6:24's) which took 62 seconds off my time from 2 weeks ago.  No complaints, I gave a good hard effort and I'm seeing a little progress.

I hooked up with Kara and we had a lot of fun talking about a bunch of topics as we warmed down over the course again.  With both of us coming back from similar injuries we certainly had plenty in common to talk about.  We got back just as the awards ceremony was starting.  I picked up a series blanket and a nice scarf!