Chelmsford Alumni XC race

Chelmsford Alumni XC – Back in 2005 race director Keith O’Brien first invited me to run at the alumni XC race that he directs.  Since that time I’ve now run ten of the races.  This year was the 21^st annual and it was a perfect day to race.  I’m too old and sore to race on back to back days so my focus this year was to run the alumni race hard and not race on Thanksgiving.  I did my normal 5 mile run early in the morning (4:30am) then headed to work to put in a half day.

I arrived with just enough time to get in a course preview prior to the race.  Scott Graham joined me for the first 2 miles on a beautiful morning. Temps were already in the upper 40s with bright sunshine and very little wind.  I quickly changed into my “Billerica” singlet and Inov-8 trail shoes and headed out for another ½ mile around the baseball fields.  The course was in great shape with the exception being the infields on the two diamonds that were muddy and very slick.

We lined up for the obligatory starting line picture and O’B sent us on our way.  I took it out HARD.  My goal was to get under 6:00 pace for the 3.22 mile which is essentially a double loop (once clockwise and once counter-clockwise).  I could hear Jason Bui close behind for the first ¼ mile and then I was on my own.  I was very careful rounding home plate and accelerated after that, maybe a bit too fast as I hit the mile in 5:34 which was one of my fastest opening miles this year.  The couple of bumps in the next mile and feeling the effects of the opening mile had me slow to a 6:03 (11:37 2-mile split).  I pushed hard on the downhill after exiting the field trying to build up some momentum for the bump near the outdoor track.  I had a decent third mile (5:48) which got me to the 3 mile point in 17:25. The final little (20’) hill leading up to the finish was tough.  I kept going as hard as possible hoping for a sub 19 minute effort.  I crossed the line in 18:41 for the 3.22 miles and could not have been happier with going well under 6’s (5:48s).  It took me a good minute on the ground before I could “walk it off” so I was pretty sure I’d given all I had on this particular day.  Weird how sometimes a good effort comes in a small race.  I can only hope this points towards a good run at XC nationals in two weeks.

I got in another 2 miles of easy running before the awards started.  O’B gave away a typical collection of odd items like crabs, Cap’n Crunch (my choice), toilet paper, penalty flags, and other odds & ends.  It is always fun seeing the same hardcore runners year after year coming out and enjoying the fun event.  Thank you to Keith O’Brien who does all of the work to make this event happen.

Pl	Time	Name		High School	Class of	Pace
1	18:41	Dave	Dunham	Billerica	1982	05:48
2	20:05	Jason	Bui	Lowell		06:14
3	20:17	Don	Fay	Billerica	1991	06:18
4	22:12	Kara	Haas	Westford Academy	1988	06:54
5	22:34	Eric	Beauchesne	Chelmsford	1988	07:00
6	22:47	Keith	O'Brien	Chelmsford	1982	07:05
7	23:20	Mark	Gallagher	Chelmsford	1982	07:15
8	23:34	Dina	NagDinoroff	Burlington		07:19
9	23:39	Mark	Blaisdell	Wilmington	1975	07:21
10	24:13	Scott	Graham	Chelmsford	1976	07:31
11	24:31	Frank	Georges	Phillips Academy	1995	07:37
12	24:39	Steve	Sartori	Lexington	1971	07:39
13	24:52	Mike	Hurton	Tewksbury	1976	07:43
14		Anonymous
15	26:03	Glen	Turgis	Chelmsford	1981	08:05
16	26:18	Jessica	Costa	Chelmsford	1980	08:10
17	28:23	Richie	Blake	Tyngsborough	1986	08:49
18	29:55	Matt	Shapiro	Chelmsford	1991	09:17
19	31:30	Lee	Panas	Chelmsford	1980	09:47
20	35:07	Richard	Molloy	Lowell	1969	10:54
21	36:46	Valarie	Anderson	School	1989	11:25
22	41:24	Rick	Marais	Lowell	1969	12:51
23	42:15	Kim	Chadwell	Chelmsford	1980	13:07