Yankee Homecoming 10 mile

Yankee Homecoming – This was the 11^th time I’ve done the 10 mile Yankee Homecoming race in Newburyport but the first time I’ve done it in a decade.  I’m not a fan of night races and being on a Tuesday in the summer aren’t exactly selling points for this one.  Team manager Jim Pawlicki was looking to fill out the masters team and I was hoping to race this week so the stars just aligned.  Usually I’m winding down by the 6:10pm start time so I tried something a bit different on race day.  I did my normal 6 mile run at 5am and hydrated well through the day.  The twist I threw in was eating a bagel at lunch with an iced coffee.  My hope was the extra caffiene and the extra food would help me to not be hungry or sleepy when warm-up time approached.  I got to the race early and got decent parking (although I had some a-hole homeowner give me grief about blocking her driveway – I WASN’T – so I moved).  I had a few minutes to chat with the many familiar folks onsight to either race or cheer. 

I met up with teammate Dan Verrington who was racing the 5k and we headed out for a 2 mile warm-up on the Clipper Rail Trail.  It was hot but not terrible in the shade, temps were in the mid-80s and it was humid.  I was soaked after warming up.  I changed into race flats and decided to go stealthy with no singlet.  The 5k went off at 6pm but I didn’t see Dan while I was out on the course doing another mile.  Funny, nearly 1,000 lined up for the 10 mile but no one seemed to want to go anywhere near the front.  I lined up three rows back and spotted most of the 50+ runners I’d be competing against.  The field looked strong as Titus Mutinda (1^st last year) and Charlie Bemis (2^nd last year) toed the line along with Chris Smith and Joe O’leary from Somerville Road Runners, Paul Hammond from Whirlaway was also in the mix.  I lined up with teammate Jim Pawlicki who asked my plan to which I replied “conservative”.  My hope was to go out around 6:30 pace and pick it up after 4.  I thought under the conditions I could run around 6:20’s.

Wow, everyone just took off at the start.  I checked my watch at ½ mile and I was 3:07 so it was “quick”.  I could see all of my 50+ foes up ahead and pulling away.  Jim caught up with Nick Taormina (another CMS 40+) and they slowly pulled away.  The first 3 miles are pretty fast, flat or down.  The only drawback is that you run into the back of the nearly 2,000 people doing the 5k.  It was a bit of a cluster since they were not sticking to one side of the road and some would just stop suddenly or move right/left suddenly.  My goal was to just not get knocked down!  I caught Paul Hammond somewhere during this mess and then set my sights on Titus.  I didn’t want to push too hard to early, but from 4 miles on I was catching a lot of people.  I passed Titus right around 5 miles which I passed in 31:50 (6:22 pace).  My 6:20 goal seemed reachable although there were a couple of tough little hills in the second half.

I could see Jim and Nick up ahead and pushed the hill to close the gap a bit.  I caught Nick after 6 and then Jim soon after.  Jim changed gears and went with me.  I timed Chris Smith as he turned onto Hoyts lane (a great downhill section after Maudslay state park) and he was 35 seconds ahead.  Jim really grooved on the downhill and I lost contact.  As we turned onto route 113 and started a long gentle climb I caught back up.  We passed a guy who was having a tough day as he was puking up about a gallon of water!  There certainly was plenty of chance for water on the course with official aid stations and inumerable unofficial ones along the way, not to mention MANY hoses and sprinklers set up along the route.  As we closed on 8 miles I passed Chris and way up ahead I could see Joe O’Leary.  Jim and I were picking off guys left and right and I was hoping I’d have something for the last mile.  Finally we got onto High street and the closing flat to downhill stretch.  I was steadily gaining ground on Joe but was also running out of distance to the finish.  Jim fell back with a half-mile to go (right after one of Joe’s teammates yelled out a warning that Jim was coming).  I caught Joe on the final turn and he gave me a nod as I went by.  The final little uphill in front of the school hurt but I managed to kick to the line and cross in under 1:03 (barely) with a 1:02:58.  My second five miles was 31:08 (6:13 pace) and I ended up taking 2^nd place in the 50+ trailing only Charlie Bemis who smoked a 1:01:24.

CMS took home the overall win and the masters (40+) as well.  I was fourth man on the 40+ team so I guess I did help fill out the squad.

Open
CMS	GBTC	SRR
0:52:34	0:56:21	0:58:56
0:57:28	0:57:14	1:00:58
0:58:06	0:58:16	1:01:21
0:58:07	0:58:21	1:03:06
0:58:46	0:58:44	1:03:46
4:45:01	4:48:56	5:08:07
40+
CMS
0:57:28
0:58:07
0:58:46
1:03:00
1:03:07
5:00:28