USATF NE 8km championships

Bridge of Flowers (08/10/19):  It had been 11 years since I last went to Shelburne Falls to race.  The last couple of years the 10km distance had been shortened to 8km but the signature hill was kept (Crittenden hill climbs 450’ in ¾ of a mile).  I was looking forward to getting back to the USATF grand prix right up until I got sick on Wednesday.  I had fever/chills/nausea/headache that just wouldn’t go away.  On Friday I skipped my afternoon run to see my doctor, got some blood taken and was advised to not run at all (that isn’t going to happen).  I still had hope that I’d wake up Saturday morning feeling better.  I did feel a bit better on Saturday and made the trip out with teammate Dave La.  I did a short (2m) warm-up that turned out to be quite slow but felt really fast.  That made the decision for me, no way to go after it today.  So much for my goal of scoring a point in each of the GP races since turning 55.  Dave suggested I start 10 rows further back than normal and see how I was feeling after a half-mile, that sounded like a good plan.  Teammate Paul Bazanchuk was also in that area of the start line and he suggested I run with him as he was hoping to run “7 to 7:30 pace”.  That sounded a bit fast, but I figured I’d go with him for the first ½ mile and see what happened.

The gun went of and we stood for a bit waiting to get going.  It took 21 seconds to cross the start line, but the running was mostly clear after that.  I latched onto Paul at what felt like a fast clip.  We were passing people left and right (and on the grass or sidewalks if they were going way slower).  There were a couple of spots where we almost came to a halt, but it wasn’t terrible.  I just moved when and where Paul did.  It felt fast through the first half-mile then I kind of settled in.  We passed a lot of people in the first mile (7:01) and even more in the second (6:29).  I saw Dan Verrington a little ahead at 1.5 and picked it up a little to get up to him.  My momentum had me going by him as he noted “What are you doing back here”.  I later found that he had also been sick all week.  I reached the bottom of the hill and figured if I could do the climb, I would be able to finish since it was all downhill from 2.8 to the end.  I saw Paul Hammond (WRT) not too far ahead and was a little surprised as he usually finishes in the top 10 in the 55-59, so maybe if I caught him, I’d get a point.  I passed many on the climb despite a third mile of 8:23.  At the top I saw that EJ Hrynowski was 10 seconds ahead and set my sights on him.  It was all downhill from here.  A 5:46 mile got me up to EJ and the next person ahead was Kara Haas.  Well, even though I wasn’t racing you just can’t take the race out of me (plus I figured if I could catch Kara that would get EJ into my rearview mirror).  I caught Kara with ¼ mile to go and thought I had her on the final straight but she had a kick left and put a few seconds on me to the line.

I had to take a few (well maybe more than a few) seconds on the ground as I was very dizzy and thought I might throw-up.  Kara kindly offered assistance as did one of the medical personnel.  I was okay, just didn’t want to yack all over myself or fall on my face.  Eventually I got it together and even did a nice 1+ mile warm-down with a group of CMS old-timers.  Our squad had a great day with Ed Sheldon (who turned 55 this week) taking the 55-59 age group.  D-la took 4^th and I was 7^th.  Tim Van Orden topped the 50-54 breaking his age group record from last year.  CMS took home first in the 40 and 50 team categories.

Bridge of Flowers (USATF NE 8km championships) M55-59

1              30:33       Ed Sheldon             M             55            Hooksett NH           CMS

2              30:57       John Sullivan          M             58            West Roxbury MA   HFC

3              31:02       Charlie Bemis          M             56            Derry NH                 WRT

4              32:37       David Lapierre        M             55            Chelmsford MA       CMS

5              32:51       John Noland            M             56            Kingston MA           WRT

6              33:15       Mike Ryan               M             56            Ponte Vedra Beach FL            

7              33:36       Dave Dunham         M             55            Bradford MA            CMS

8              33:42       EJ Hrynowski          M             56            Arlington MA           GLRR

9              34:27       Paul Hammond       M             59            Lexington MA          WRT

10            34:53       Kenneth Warren      M             57            Wilmington MA       WRT

11            35:23       Philip Savoy            M             57            Shrewsbury MA       CMS

12            35:43       Patrick Pezzati        M             56            Montague MA          GSH

13            36:05       Dan Verrington       M             57            Bradford MA            CMS

CMS

Place       Chip time First        Last         Sex          Age         City/St                     Team 

14            26:28       Adam Malek            M             31            Providence RI         CMS

15            26:33       Dan Vassallo           M             34            Peabody MA            CMS

17            26:37       Scott Mindel            M             32            Burlington MA         CMS

27            27:22       Scott Leslie             M             38            Rutland MA             CMS

30            27:42       Eric Narcisi              M             39            North Andover MA  CMS

57            29:07       Bryan Trinque         M             36            Clinton MA              CMS

45            28:42       Arthur Besse           M             46            Templeton MA        CMS

40            28:11       Tim Van Orden        M             51            Bennington VT        CMS

62            29:33       David Principe         M             52            Johnston RI             CMS

80            30:27       Joe Shairs                M             51            Peabody MA            CMS

82            30:33       Ed Sheldon             M             55            Hooksett NH           CMS

127          32:37       David Lapierre        M             55            Chelmsford MA       CMS

156          33:36       Dave Dunham         M             55            Bradford MA            CMS

185          35:23       Philip Savoy            M             57            Shrewsbury MA       CMS

198          36:05       Dan Verrington       M             57            Bradford MA            CMS

213          36:41       Paul Bazanchuk       M             64            Center Conway NH CMS

245          37:46       Stephen Drouin       M             64            Leominster MA        CMS

314          40:29       David Krom             M             60            Worcester MA         CMS

364          42:26       Vin Garofoli             M             64            Worcester MA         CMS

374          42:43       Frank Ruggiero       M             60            Lunenburg MA        CMS

613          57:07       Larry Morris            M             72            Leominster MA        CMS