Baystate Marathon (10/22) – This was the final race in the 7 race USATF NE grand prix and I was looking forward to earning “Ironrunner” status by completing all of the races. Last year I ran a 2:58:41 at Manchester which was a much hillier course. I was lacking in “long runs” having only done a dozen runs over 10 miles this entire year. Actually I only had 3 runs over 10 miles since the end of April. That is not exactly ideal marathon training but I’ve found that my chances of injury skyrocket when I do long runs so getting to the starting line would be more important. My plan going into the race was to run 6:45’s in the early mile, pick it up a little on the fastest miles from 8 – 13 (Tygnsboro bridge to Rourke bridge) then settle back into 6:45’s back out to 18. I was hoping from 18 in to pick it up a lot. The last 2 marathons I did were run conservatively at the start and (relatively) fast at the end. I would be disappointed if I didn’t crack 3 hours, and felt that 2:58:10 (my fastest time this decade) was within reach, and my stretch goal was to break 2:55.
Race morning was sunny and comfortable when teammate Al Bernier and I got to Lowell. It was going to be warm (for a marathon) but not hot, a great day to be a spectator. I did an easy .8 warm-up to double check that my socks and shoes felt good. I grabbed 4 Gu Chews and a gel for the race and swigged a bit of water before heading to the start. It was 54 degrees and no wind as we set off. I settled in with some nice tunes and once I got my first ½ mile split (3:20) I knew I was okay to relax and let the miles go by. I tried to not get worried by any individual mile being a bit too slow or a bit too fast and kept the big picture in mind. I reached four mile about 15 seconds slower than my planned 6:45s but felt good and knew there was a long way to go. By this time long-time friend Mark Behan (WCRC) and I were running together. We reached 8 miles in lock-step, just 2 seconds over 6:45 pace at that point. That was also about the time we began shedding some of the big group around us. We were fronting the group and in 97th at 10k, 96th at 8.3 miles.
I felt pretty good as we crossed the Rourke Bridge and got to the ½ way mark in 1:28:15. That was a bit slower than I’d hoped for but I was listening to my body and that was all I felt I could give as it was still pretty early. I was pretty sure a sub-2:55 was out of the cards but didn’t rule it out. We had moved up to 91st by 13.1 miles and it was just me and Mark rolling down the road. I kept looking ahead trying to guess when we’d catch the next guy. We were still running steady. Our 3rd 5 mile split was within a second of our 2nd split (33:30 and 33:31) and by 16.3 we were in 80th place. I was very happy to get to the Tygnsboro bridge for the final time and “all” that was left was the 8 mile run in to Lowell. Mark was rock steady and we moved up to 72nd place at the 30km mark (18.6 miles). We ran our fastest 5m of the day from 15-20 (33:22). I was still able to do some complex math and knew at 20 that I would not break 2:55. I was starting to do the calculations of the tired runner. “Okay if I slow to 7’s I’ll run X”. At the same time I was also looking ahead and trying to pick off people. Mark fell off sometime after 20, probably due to me running a 6:37 21st mile. I could see a BAA 50+ runner up ahead and wanted to catch him. I got him just after 22 and then focused on catching Apryl Sabadosa (a barefoot runner who runs pretty quickly at the shorter distances). I caught her right at the 23 mile mark and that put me in 60th place.
I started feeling very tired after that but ran a 6:43 24th mile. The hill up to University ave took something out of me and it seemed to take forever to get to the 25th mile. Sabadosa and a fast moving guy went by just before 25 but I was hanging on now. I just wanted to be done and it seemed to take forever to get to the finish. The last part had you very close to the line but then you had to head away from it before coming up the finish chute. I was beat crossing the line in 60th place in 2:57:10. That got me 4th in the 50+. My teammates David Principe and Ed Sheldon had excellent runs taking 1st and 2nd respectively in the 50+ which got us the team championship as well. That gave Ed the win in the 50+ division for the Grand Prix. Al Bernier won the 40+ division which also gave him the win in the Grand Prix.
My Splits:
Mile
|
Split
|
Rolling time
|
5m splits
|
1
|
6:41
| ||
2
|
6:45
|
13:26
| |
3
|
6:50
|
20:16
| |
4
|
6:51
|
27:07
| |
5
|
6:51
|
33:58
|
33:58
|
6
|
6:35
|
40:33
| |
7
|
6:46
|
47:19
| |
8
|
6:43
|
54:02
| |
9
|
6:47
|
1:00:49
| |
10
|
6:39
|
1:07:28
|
33:30
|
11
|
6:51
|
1:14:19
| |
12
|
6:36
|
1:20:55
| |
13
|
6:43
|
1:27:38
| |
14
|
6:21
|
1:33:59
| |
15
|
7:00
|
1:40:59
|
33:31
|
16
|
6:42
|
1:47:41
| |
17
|
6:38
|
1:54:19
| |
18
|
6:42
|
2:01:01
| |
19
|
6:39
|
2:07:40
| |
20
|
6:41
|
2:14:21
|
33:22
|
21
|
6:37
|
2:20:58
| |
22
|
6:44
|
2:27:42
| |
23
|
6:52
|
2:34:34
| |
24
|
6:43
|
2:41:17
| |
25
|
6:59
|
2:48:16
|
33:55
|
26
|
7:13
|
2:55:29
| |
1:41
|
2:57:10
|
Results
Top 10 in the 50+ (127 finishers)
22 DAVID PRINCIPE M50 1/127 2:44:48.4 Johnston RI
26 ED SHELDON M53 2/127 2:45:40.3 Hooksett NH
56 DAVID CONSIGLI M52 3/127 2:55:12.9 Medway MA
60 DAVE DUNHAM M53 4/127 2:57:10.9 Bradford MA
66 PAUL DAVIES M50 5/127 2:57:41.4 Roslindale MA
74 MARK ENGERMAN M50 6/127 2:58:55.8 Concord MA
76 EJ HRYNOWSKI M55 7/127 2:59:11.8 Arlington MA
78 MARK BEHAN M54 8/127 2:59:24.4 Newton NH
96 XIANBAO HE M52 9/127 3:02:10.7 Brookline MA
116 YONG XUE M55 10/127 3:03:47.3 Harvard MA
Top 5 (1328 finishers)
Place Net First Last Gend Age Cat Place Cat
1 2:23:51.4 BRANDON NEWBOULD M 36 1/202 MM3039
2 2:24:15.0 RUBEN SANCA M 30 2/202 MM3039
3 2:28:32.0 JONATHAN JOYCE M 27 1/151 MM1629
4 2:29:03.1 DENNIS ROCHE M 31 3/202 MM3039
5 2:30:44.7 JACOB MAGIERA M 23 2/151 MM1629
CMS finishers
9 2:35:05 Colin Carroll M32 Andover MA
14 2:36:32 Scott Leslie M36 Rutland MA
16 2:38:47 Alan Bernier M43 Braintree MA
22 2:44:48 David Principe M50 Johnston RI
26 2:45:40 Ed Sheldon M53 Hooksett NH
35 2:50:13 Jason Dunklee M43 Watertown MA
47 2:53:42 Nick Taormina M45 Gloucester MA
60 2:57:11 Dave Dunham M53 Bradford MA
91 3:01:56 Robert Jackman M35 Warwick RI
164 3:11:09 Nakri Dao M44 Lynn MA
488 3:43:13 Frank Ruggiero M58 Lunenburg MA
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