USATF NE 10 mile championship

USATF NE 10 mile championships - I was dreading the NH 10 “miler” (I hate that term, it is a 10 mile not an ‘er’) the heat and humidity of this summer have really ground me down.  Fortunately race morning was quite a bit drier than the previous few days (although it did get well into the 80’s during the race).  Dan Verrington and I carpooled early and got a good parking spot close to the start.  We gathered up some of our CMS teammates and did an easy 2 miles on the Rockingham Rail Trail.  It was warm but not brutal especially in the shade.  I had scouted the course so I knew what I was in for.  My plan was to stay as close to Dan as I could for as long as possible.  I was hoping to run around 6:00 pace which would be faster than my pace at the 5 mile championships 2 weeks ago.

 

Over 1,200 lined up at the start on the shores of Lake Massebesic.  The course had very few turns but three of them were in the first ¼ mile of the race.  I was very careful during that part but did manage to clip teammate Jim Pawlicki’s heels.  Dan rolled by soon after and I focused on him.  It seemed very easy.  My watched beeped at the ½ mile and a 3:11 split confirmed it was easy, too slow!  Dan upped the tempo and I hung on.  We hit the mile in 6:11 which given the first ½ mile right where I wanted to be.  Dan forged ahead a bit on the first hill at about 1.5 miles.  The nearly 6% grade was a solid kick in the guts for a quarter mile.  I made back some ground on the backside of the hill as we pulled into 2 miles in 12:19 (6:08).  My mantra was “stay with Dan until the big hill at 4”.  My third mile (5:58) would be the fastest of the day and Dan was still pretty close.  We headed up Mine Hill and Dan began to pull away, a 6:12 mile put me about 5-10 seconds behind him depending on whether we were climbing or descending.

 

  I hoped to keep the damage to a minimum on the climbs and then reel him back in on the downs.  A 6:30 fifth mile got me to the half-way point in 30:59.  Not bad compared to my 30:40 5 mile a couple of weeks back, but I was 10 seconds behind Dan.

 

The second half was a bit of a blur to me.  My training runs have maxed out around 8 miles which does not bode well for longer races.  The relocated out/back section of the course was just after the 5 mile mark.  It was a good opportunity to scout out the competition.  You could see anyone ¼ mile ahead and a ¼ mile behind.  Actually doing anything about the competition was a whole other story!  I tried to work the downhills and had miles of 6:08 & 6:00.  Dan was way out of sight now and I was concentrating on the two final hills.  The 8^th mile had a 130’ climb but it also had a long downhill (over 100’).  I managed a 6:16 but was definitely beginning to fade.  I missed water at the 8 mile stop and Joe O’leary was kind enough to share a sip. Thanks Joe!  The final hill was a killer 100’ over ½ mile.  I was hurting despite catching a couple of guys and ran a 6:29 mile.  Right at the 9 mile mark fellow senior runner Charlie Bemis blew by with another guy who said “let’s get going” to which I had no answer.  Charlie put 25 seconds on me during that final downhill/flat mile (6:07 for me).  I was definitely surprised to finish third (behind Dan & Charlie) in the 50+ and CMS had a good day placing 4 in the top 10.

 We got in another slow 2 miles on the rail trail as scores of other teams went flying by in both directions.  I hung out at the finish and caught my sisters finishing.  Way to go DRC!

USATF 10 mile championship    M50-54

1  1:00:57          Dan Verrington   54         CMS
2  1:01:37          Charlie Bemis     53         WRT
3  1:02:03          Dave Dunham    52         CMS
4  1:03:25          Mike Cooney       54         WRT
5  1:04:08          E J Hrynowski     53         GLRR
6  1:04:48          Henry Scollard    52         WRT
7  1:04:57          Terrance McNatt 51         CSU
8  1:08:15          Peter Fratini       51         GSH
9  1:08:47          David Lapierre    52         CMS
10 1:09:37         Ed Sheldon        52         CMS