XC championships

This was the year of XC racing for me with the payoff being a trip to Bethlehem PA for the US team championships. It was especially appealing to me because of the team aspect.  Back in the day the Central Mass Striders won the open championships a number of times.  I’d also raced for CMS on the master’s team a few years back in North Carolina.  This would be my first time on a senior XC team at the championships.  We had the same group (Dave La, Dan V, Martin T, John G, Paul Baz, and me) that had won the New England championships a month ago.  My hope was to finish in the top 25 in the 50-54 and a team finish in the top ten.

Dan and I met up with D-la and Greg P for the 5+ hour drive down to PA.  The drive went by reasonably quickly and we found ourselves at the race site as it opened for course previews.  We headed out and ran a very easy 7 miles (the course plus some extra).  I put on my Inov-8 racers and did some strides to get the cobwebs out.  I was feeling very sluggish from the drive and the lousy head-cold which made my head foggy.  Although I felt miserable I knew from racing many times when sick that as soon as the race started I’d be okay.

We met up with the rest of the CMS crew at the hotel and went to a good local Italian place for dinner.  Much merriment ensued.  Jim P and I drove to the host hotel for the late (late for me!) managers briefing.  There was some important info given out, such as how many runners were allowed on the line and box assignments.  We also found out that we needed to report to the line 30 minutes prior to the race to check in with the clerk.  They’d be ensuring that team singlets matched and that all runners had on a front and back number and the chip laced properly on their shoe.  The singlet rule (all team members top outer layer had to match) is kind of stupid but I get it, since it is a team championship.  I like the age numbers on the back, not that it really impacts how I race but it is good to see what age group is ahead of you.

I debated doing a short run in the morning.  I normally would with a late (11:30am) start but the head-cold had me feeling lousy so I opted to just relax.  There were an inordinate number of skinny folks gathered at the HIE free breakfast.  With a record of nearly 2,000 runners in town for the XC champs there was no shortage of people fueling up.  We drove over to the race site well in advance of the race and counted down the time to a warm-up.

We got out of the nice warm car and did a 2 mile loop for a short warm-up.  I changed into my racing gear and shoes and then zipped over to the line, a few minutes after the 11:00 check in.  There were a few tense moments wondering where Dan was but we finally got checked in and then were released to do whatever we needed to do in the 20 minutes until the start.  I added another 1.5 and some strides and felt pretty good, now I just wanted the damn race to start so the nerves would end.

Nearly 600 runners from age 40 to over 85 took off in a sprint.  The start was wide and really the entire course was wide so there was no panic about not being able to move.  Martin shot out as expected and I found Dan right beside me in the early going.  I could see Jim and Joe a little ahead so it looked like I was where I should be.  There certainly were a lot of people to work with.  I had a very steady race, slowly gaining on guys in front of me and only getting passed by a few (notably a slow starting Mark Reeder of GLRR who ran an excellent race).  After the mile (5:44) I only gave ground to two or three guys and they were guys I passed on an uphill who then went by on the down.  My kick wasn’t what I would have hoped for and the group of four guys I was with 1km to go all beat me to the line.

I was happy with my time (36:36.9) and place (127 out of 588) and especially happy with cracking the top 25.  I finished 22^nd in the 50-54.  Our team had a great run taking 8^th in a field of 24.  The masters also did well finishing 7^th in a field of 34 teams.  Paul Baz had the best individual finish of the day taking 4^th in the 60-64.

Splits: 5:44   5:49 (11:33)   6:12 (17:45)   5:44 (23:30)   6:07 (29:37)   6:01 (35:37)   58.9 (36:36.9) 

	50+
Pl	Names	Age	Team	Time
30	Devlin, Jeff	50	Downingtown R Club	33:57.2
48	Barbee, Kenneth	50	Greater Philadelphia TC	34:24.7
53	Magill, Peter	53	Cal Coast Track Club	34:33.3
127	Dunham, Dave	50	Central Mass Striders	36:36.9
148	Verrington, Daniel	52	Central Mass Striders	37:03.2
176	Tighe, Martin	56	Central Mass Striders	37:37.3
250	Gillis, John	50	Central Mass Striders	39:13.7
289	Bazanchuk, Paul	60	Central Mass Striders	40:22.7
409	Lapierre, David	50	Central Mass Striders	44:18.1
	40+
34	Putnam, Greg	45	Central Mass Striders	34:05.9
66	Callaghan, Todd	45	Central Mass Striders	34:57.1
74	Bernier, Alan	40	Central Mass Striders	35:11.7
78	Shairs, Joe	46	Central Mass Striders	35:18.9
95	Pawlicki, James	40	Central Mass Striders	35:43.0