I took some
time on Saturday afternoon to check out the snow conditions at Maudslay state
park. I was pleasantly surprised not
only by the depth of snow (and it being packed out) but the sheer number of
people enjoying the park on a particularly cold afternoon. I ran the Trav’s course and put out flagging
for the entire course except the first and last ½ mile. Since this was technically a “group run” I
didn’t want to be too obvious. Even with
flagging and taking pictures it only took 36 minutes to run the 3 miles. The race would be FAST.
Maudslay 5km
snowshoe race - On Sunday morning I headed back
to Newburyport and arrived at the park just before sunrise. I still had some course marking to do, but
first I headed out on the road for 2 miles to loosen up. A quick change to snowshoes and I headed back
out to add flagging and put out mile marks.
The snow was great and I did the loop in 32 minutes. I was back at the car with 30 minutes before
the start and was happy to see about a dozen runners in various states of
preparation for the race.
I switched in
to my racing snowshoes and headed out for another mile, then I gathered the gang
for the start. The Trav’s course has a
very fast start with the first half-mile all downhill (so the last ½ mile is
uphill). I was not ready to sprint out
and my legs felt a bit dead as the field took off. I found myself in 11th place right
away and slowly gained on a few of the guys.
I didn’t get past Melissa Donais until nearly ½ mile, she was
flying! I tried to work the uphill to
the mile and hit that in 8:40, wow that hurt.
I had hoped that by inviting 1,000 of my Facebook friends I’d get a
couple of people to run with me, I was wrong.
From ½ mile on I was completely alone out there. Paul LaRosa was the last person I could see
and by the mile I couldn’t see him up ahead.
I kept working as hard as I could and hit 2 miles in 8-flat (16:40). The last mile was tough but oddly it was my
fastest with a 7:55 and a total time of 24:35.
I got a bit over 3 miles on the Garmin and a few of the guys got 3.07 so
I’m calling it close enough to be 5km.
After a quick
group picture a bunch of the gang joined me for another lap of the course. Clearing the flagging from the course is
always the most dreaded part of directing a race and with a big group it can be
the highlight of the day. Thanks
guys!
|
Place
|
Name
|
|
City
|
St
|
Gend
|
Age
|
Time
|
Pace
|
Team
|
|
1
|
Scott
|
McGrath
|
Andover
|
MA
|
M
|
27
|
20:19
|
06:33
|
WRT
|
|
2
|
Mark
|
LaRosa
|
North Andover
|
MA
|
M
|
35
|
20:54
|
06:45
|
|
|
3
|
Steve
|
Dowsett
|
Newburyport
|
MA
|
M
|
25
|
21:09
|
06:49
|
WRT
|
|
4
|
James
|
Pawlicki
|
Lynn
|
MA
|
M
|
39
|
21:27
|
06:55
|
CMS
|
|
5
|
Gregory
|
Putnam
|
Stoneham
|
MA
|
M
|
44
|
22:00
|
07:06
|
CMS
|
|
6
|
Paul
|
LaRosa
|
Newburyport
|
MA
|
M
|
37
|
22:15
|
07:11
|
|
|
7
|
Dave
|
Dunham
|
Bradford
|
MA
|
M
|
49
|
24:35
|
07:56
|
CMS
|
|
8
|
Derek
|
Dorval
|
Kensington
|
NH
|
M
|
40
|
25:29
|
08:13
|
WCRC
|
|
9
|
Brett
|
Rickenbach
|
Danvers
|
MA
|
M
|
38
|
25:41
|
08:17
|
WCRC
|
|
10
|
Tim
|
Mallard
|
Brighton
|
MA
|
M
|
24
|
26:19
|
08:29
|
GCS
|
|
11
|
Melissa
|
Donais
|
North Andover
|
MA
|
F
|
29
|
26:45
|
08:38
|
CMS
|
|
12
|
Theresa
|
Ridgway
|
Newburyport
|
MA
|
F
|
44
|
30:21
|
09:47
|
Comp Racing
|
|
13
|
Eric
|
Narcisi
|
Charlestown
|
MA
|
M
|
34
|
32:36
|
10:31
|
WRT
|
|
14
|
Mariano
|
Santangelo
|
Derry
|
NH
|
M
|
44
|
33:02
|
10:39
|
acidotic Racing
|
|
15
|
George
|
Boudreau
|
Dudley
|
MA
|
M
|
44
|
49:41
|
16:02
|
CMS
|
|
16
|
Kristen
|
Kozlosky
|
Lynn
|
MA
|
F
|
39
|
55:00
|
17:45
|
Wicked
RC
|
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