USATF NE 10km championships - Lone Gull

I went into the 10k championships with a plan “run with Dan (Verrington) for as long as possible”.  Dan was hurting having taken a bad spill on his tailbone and probably shouldn’t have been running at all.  So much for race plans.  We got to the race early and headed out for a 2 mile warm-up on just about an ideal morning.  Temps were in the 50’s and there was a breeze but it turned out to be mostly a cross-wind during the race.  I switched into my race gear then ran over to the start.  My plan of keying off of Dan was out the window but it didn’t change how fast I hoped to run.  I was gunning for a sub-36 and would now be looking for teammates Ed Sheldon and Jim Pawlicki to key off of.  I’d also be looking for the Whirlaway guys who have been fairly close over the last couple of races.  It was great seeing so many of the top NE runners lining up.  I even bumped into longtime friend Byrne Decker who rarely comes down from Maine to race.

I got a good spot on the line over near the top women about five rows from the front (since I finished just inside of the top 100 last year that seemed to be the place to be).  The start was ON TIME which was great, the last 2 years Lone Gull started at least 15 minutes late which really stinks when you warm-up for a specific start time.  Nearly 1,000 sprinted off along the Ocean.  Right from the gun it felt “quick” to me.  I checked my watch at ½ mile (2:50) and thought “Well, that isn’t quick”.  Ed Sheldon went out as he usually does and it felt just a bit too fast for me.  That’d be the feeling of the day.  Every time someone went by I’d want to latch on but it always felt just a little bit too fast.  I reached the mile in 5:40 which was right around the time I thought I could run but it felt a lot tougher than I’d hoped.  Mark Reeder (GLRR) went by me after the mile and I tried to latch onto him.  I actually managed to keep him pretty close for a couple of miles which was a small victory.  Two miles was reached in a slower than hoped for 11:30.  Ed was 12 seconds ahead looking pretty strong but also stuck on his own.  I was a bit more fortunate always having someone around me.  Jim Pawlicki caught me before 3 miles (17:15) and we strode through 5k together in 17:56.

I still felt I had an outside shot at breaking 36 if I could hold pace.  The fourth mile is probably the slowest of the day and I was definitely feeling the effort.  Scott Anderson and Doug Martyn (both Whirlaway 50+ runners) went by and again I tried to latch on with little success.  Jim and I were still together at 4 in 23:08.  I was losing ground on my fellow Senior runners but hadn’t given up hope.  I passed five miles in 28:58 (which was much faster than I’d raced 5 earlier this year) and kept  the back and forth going with Jim as a few fast ladies went by.  Jim took off on the final climb to the 6 mile mark (I suck at hills) and Charlie Bemis (WRT 50+) went by at the crest of the hill.  I gave all I had left but every step I lost ground.  I crossed the line in 36:11 (clock time) with a chip time of 36:06.  The 50+ field was strong and I did not crack the top 10 (finishing 11^th).  I missed my 50+ personal best by 9 seconds (35:57 in 2014).  Our team took 3^rd behind Whirlaway and a strong Somerville Road Runners squad.

50+ Top 25

DvPl      Name                Age       ChipTime GunTimeTown              Club
1          Peter Hammer    50         0:33:14 0:33:18 Needham           BAA
2          Greg Picklesimer 50         0:33:24 0:33:28 Brighton             SRR
3          Pete Bottomley   54         0:34:58 0:35:04 Cape Elizabeth    Dirigo
1          Robert Cipriano   56         0:35:17 0:35:22 Brighton             SRR
4          John Ayers         50         0:35:36 0:35:39 Hamilton                        WRT
5          Ed Sheldon        52         0:35:42 0:35:45 Hooksett                        CMS
6          Scott Anderson   51         0:35:47 0:35:52 Truro                 WRT
2          Mark Reeder       56         0:35:53 0:35:57 Brighton             GLRR
3          Douglas Martyn   56         0:35:53 0:35:59 North Andover    WRT
7          Charlie Bemis     53         0:36:00 0:36:05 Derry                 WRT
8          Dave Dunham    52         0:36:06 0:36:11 Bradford                        CMS
9          Michael Cooney  54         0:36:18 0:36:23 Chelmsford        WRT
10         Chris Smith       50         0:36:36 0:36:43 Woburn             SRR
11         Terry McNatt       51         0:37:17 0:37:24 Needham           CSU
4          Tony Bates         57         0:37:21 0:37:25 Salisbury                        GMAA
12         Peter Fratini       51         0:37:22 0:37:26 Westfield           GSH
13         Jeff Walker         50         0:37:25 0:37:31 Falmouth           Dirigo
5          Martin Tighe       58         0:37:43 0:37:51 Providence         CMS
14         EJ Hrynowski      54         0:37:43 0:37:51 Arlington                        GLRR
15         Rory Fagan         54         0:38:06 0:38:14 Somerville          SRR
6          Andy MacDonald 56         0:39:06 0:39:12 Jamaica Plain     BAA
7          Ephraim Ezekiel  59         0:39:22 0:39:30 Newton              WRT
16         John Pajer         53         0:39:56 0:40:04 Leicester                        CMS
17         David Lapierre    52         0:40:02 0:40:11 Chelmsford        CMS
8          Paul Hammond   56         0:40:03 0:40:10 Lexington           WRT
18         Dan Verrington   54         0:40:03 0:40:12 Bradford                        CMS
19         Philip Savoy       54         0:40:28 0:40:37 Shrewsbury        CMS