I wasn’t sure if racing on the fourth of July would be a very good idea. I got a PRP injection in my knee 10 days before and had only started back to running a few days previous. Tom H had kindly given me a comp entry and a chance to run my 14th time at the Carson Memorial was too hard to pass up. My knee was still feeling tender but wasn’t too bad once running. I got in a 3 mile run at 5:15 to try to loosen up a bit. I arrived a little early for the 9:30 am start and got to see a lot of familiar faces. My 1999 Sullivan Farms t-shirt was the oldest version I spotted. Dave La met me at the 1.5 mile mark to finish his warm-up from home and my warm-up from the start. It was funny hearing a couple of the guys at the water stop that I know say to each other after I passed “he is still out there doing it”. That was the best I felt on race morning! It was humid but temps were still only in the 70s, dry-mouth territory but not heat exhaustion weather. I switched into racing flats and did another mile with some strides. I wasn’t feeling terrible, just nervous, and worried about the start. I’d gotten knocked down 3 years ago and with the number of small kids who jump on the start line it is always a rough start. At least 50 Greater Lowell Road Runners gathered for a team picture (Dave and I are both also members) which broke up some of the tension. Then it was onto the first fake start line, the second, and finally the real start line. The post-pandemic years (the race was not held for 2 years) had fields around 1,200, this year there was a resurgence to over 1,800 finishers. That meant a crazy packed start.
I missed hitting my watch at the start as I was using my arms to establish some space as we took off. I did not realize I missed it until we passed the ½ mile mark and it did not beep. I started it then, but missing the first ½ mile was a stupid mistake. I thought I got out well but was feeling sluggish through what should be a quick ½ mile. Doing the math working with the splits I had, and my finishing time had me going through in 3-flat. That was a at least 5 seconds slower than hoped for. Having just finished a 5k in under 6-minute pace I was hoping to run in the low 11:40’s. I don’t think missing that first split change how I raced. I went as hard as I could and just never felt smooth. I got a few shouts along the way (Joe at the water stop, Petey near 1 mile, and my parents with ¼ mile to go) which was nice. I passed people from ¼ to about 1.5 and only lost a couple of spots in the last ½ to some strong kickers. It took all I had to struggle into the finish before the clock rolled to 12 minutes.
I had just enough time to grab a water as D-la finished. We ended up taking 1st and 2nd in the 60+ with race director Bob Sullivan taking 3rd. I grabbed my hidden running shoes that I’d placed behind a tree the previous weekend and had a nice warm-down run back to the start with Jen H. It was nice getting to catch up and especially nice to have the race over and the worry done. My time was a disappointment but I’ll enjoy my prize for winning the age group ($20 gift certificate to Sullivan Farms ice cream).
Place Name Div/Tot Guntime Pace Div Age Sex City St
1 Alex Corbett 1 9:14 4:37 M1929 27 M Worcester MA
2 John Mieszczanski 2 9:25 4:43 M1929 23 M Chelmsford MA
3 Bryce Anderson 3 9:59 5:00 M1929 20 M Harrisburg NC
28 Cali Coffin 1 11:14 5:37 F1929 21 F Nashua NH
Top 10 60+
53 Dave Dunham 1 11:59 6:00 M6069 60 M Bradford MA 60
77 David Lapierre 2 12:42 6:21 M6069 60 M Chelmsford MA 705
95 Bob Sullivan 3 13:02 6:31 M6069 60 M Chelmsford MA 33
126 Thomas Noyes 4 13:43 6:52 M6069 61 M McCormick SC 208
136 Ken Goodin 5 13:49 6:55 M6069 69 M Lowell MA 1433
152 Keith O'Brien 6 14:02 7:01 M6069 60 M 1641
155 Glenn Ackley 7 14:05 7:03 M6069 63 M Chelmsford MA 135
162 Peter Wasylak 8 14:12 7:06 M6069 68 M Dunstable MA 14
212 Steve Sears 9 14:46 7:23 M6069 64 M Westford MA 480
221 Gerald Fredrickson 10 14:54 7:27 M6069 62 M Westford MA 1065
I missed hitting my watch at the start as I was using my arms to establish some space as we took off. I did not realize I missed it until we passed the ½ mile mark and it did not beep. I started it then, but missing the first ½ mile was a stupid mistake. I thought I got out well but was feeling sluggish through what should be a quick ½ mile. Doing the math working with the splits I had, and my finishing time had me going through in 3-flat. That was a at least 5 seconds slower than hoped for. Having just finished a 5k in under 6-minute pace I was hoping to run in the low 11:40’s. I don’t think missing that first split change how I raced. I went as hard as I could and just never felt smooth. I got a few shouts along the way (Joe at the water stop, Petey near 1 mile, and my parents with ¼ mile to go) which was nice. I passed people from ¼ to about 1.5 and only lost a couple of spots in the last ½ to some strong kickers. It took all I had to struggle into the finish before the clock rolled to 12 minutes.
I had just enough time to grab a water as D-la finished. We ended up taking 1st and 2nd in the 60+ with race director Bob Sullivan taking 3rd. I grabbed my hidden running shoes that I’d placed behind a tree the previous weekend and had a nice warm-down run back to the start with Jen H. It was nice getting to catch up and especially nice to have the race over and the worry done. My time was a disappointment but I’ll enjoy my prize for winning the age group ($20 gift certificate to Sullivan Farms ice cream).
Place Name Div/Tot Guntime Pace Div Age Sex City St
1 Alex Corbett 1 9:14 4:37 M1929 27 M Worcester MA
2 John Mieszczanski 2 9:25 4:43 M1929 23 M Chelmsford MA
3 Bryce Anderson 3 9:59 5:00 M1929 20 M Harrisburg NC
28 Cali Coffin 1 11:14 5:37 F1929 21 F Nashua NH
Top 10 60+
53 Dave Dunham 1 11:59 6:00 M6069 60 M Bradford MA 60
77 David Lapierre 2 12:42 6:21 M6069 60 M Chelmsford MA 705
95 Bob Sullivan 3 13:02 6:31 M6069 60 M Chelmsford MA 33
126 Thomas Noyes 4 13:43 6:52 M6069 61 M McCormick SC 208
136 Ken Goodin 5 13:49 6:55 M6069 69 M Lowell MA 1433
152 Keith O'Brien 6 14:02 7:01 M6069 60 M 1641
155 Glenn Ackley 7 14:05 7:03 M6069 63 M Chelmsford MA 135
162 Peter Wasylak 8 14:12 7:06 M6069 68 M Dunstable MA 14
212 Steve Sears 9 14:46 7:23 M6069 64 M Westford MA 480
221 Gerald Fredrickson 10 14:54 7:27 M6069 62 M Westford MA 1065
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