1/2 way to St Patrick's day 10k

I was looking to race this weekend and narrowed it down to a couple of trail races or an XC race.  Then my ankles had different ideas.  The PTT was really acting up after Greylock and off-road running makes it worse, so I started looking for road races.  I found the Millennium race and know they always do an excellent job.  It is rare to find a 10k race so my choice between the 5k or 10k was easy.

I got to the race extra-early as city races can be a bit difficult.  I got a decent parking spot and picked up my number.  I headed out for my warm-up 50 minutes before the race and with the 2-loop 10k I could see the entire course.  Basically i

t is an out and back as you go out on Elm street and back on Chestnut which is just 2 streets over.  The outward part had about 100' of climb with half of that in 1/3 of a mile right before you turned back.  Not a major climb (3%) but enough to feel it.  The temperature was just about perfect (55-60 during the race) the only issue was the wind which was in your face on the outbound part but it was only about 10mph.

The 5km was part of the NH grand prix series so most of the big-guns were in the 5k.  I lined up on the far right, but in the first row.  I was hoping for sub-6's and thought if all went PERFECTLY I might be able to run as fast as 5:50's.  About 1,200 runners took off down Elm Street.  Charlie Bemis (Whirlaway) went by in the early going as did Brian Ruhm (GCS).  I was pretty sure they both were running the 5k but there was no way of knowing for sure.  I tucked in behind Brian after the mile (5:54) and was a bit surprised that Charlie wasn't that far ahead.  When we hit the hill they pulled away and I settled in trying to not push too hard this early.   I ran another 5:54 (11:48) which was encouraging considering the uphill (but 1/2 mile of that was downhill).  The tempo increased as people were cranking out that last mile of the 5k.  I reached 3 miles in 17:39 (5:51) and crossed the 5k mat in 18:29 (?).  That was fast enough to finish 15th in the 5k.  Things really thinned out on the second loop.

I could see Mark Laprade way up ahead and he was battling with a guy in a kilt (they gave out kilts for the race).  Even further ahead (way in the distance) I could see the police escort.  I was pretty sure I was in fourth place.  I couldn't hear anyone behind me and unless someone blew up I would not be catching anyone.  I concentrated on just getting through the next mile.  I reached four in 23:29(5:50) and started catching people on their first loop as I reached the "Elm St. hill".  I had taken water at the stops during the first loop thinking I might not be able to on the second loop and I was right.  Traffic (people traffic) started getting heavier around 4.5 and it was impossible to cut tangents on the last couple of turns.  I got to five in 29:27 (5:58) and no longer could see anyone up ahead as the crowds were very think.  I ended up running the last 1.2 miles in the vehicle traffic lane on Chestnut street as the runners & walkers were stretched across the road.  I had my head up searching for the stop light at Bridge street and could see it in the distance, finally 6 miles in 35:18 (5:51) and crossed the finish line in 36:34.5 for 4th place overall.

I was definitely hurting afterward (stomach) but had an excellent 2 mile warm-down before heading over to the food/water/entertainment.  I guess I'll need to sign up for at least one more Millennium race to get a jacket for the series!

Totals:
477 in the 10k
712 in the 5k