Tom Walton race

 

I did the Tom Walton Memorial race but didn’t “race” it.  I really wanted to support his cause.  It was so strange and sad doing a race at NHTI and not seeing Tom there.  I did see so many familiar faces and had a chance to chat with many volunteers and racers.  Tom and Ellen Raffio and Tom Walton’s family all gave some nice pre-race speeches about Tom.

Me and Ellen

 I did an hour on the bike earlier in the morning and was definitely not feeling in race mode.  I checked out the course as a warm-up and came out with 3.18, not surprising for an NHTI race 😊.  My knee felt like crap but I figured I could run around 7’s (I’d done 4 miles a few days before at 7:15 pace).  I went out in the top 15 and thought “I want to get into the top 10”.  Funny how dumb things like that can be motivating.  Jonathan Kovar gave a hearty welcome back as I caught him.   I moved up to 10^th by the mile and was feeling pretty decent as we headed down the button-hole section.  I gave Andrew Tuttle a high five-as he cruised by on his way back.  He was high-fiving and offering encouragement to everyone as he flew by (good kid and good genes). The course was an out/back a bit of a tailwind (10mph) for most of the out meant a mostly headwind for the “back”.  My ½ mile splits: 3:15, 3:17, 3:17, 3:26, 3:26, 3:35.  I was really only bummed about that last split where I was struggling and didn’t feel up to pushing it.  I held onto my 10^th place only until 2 miles when Mark Laprade went by like I was standing still.  He put 56 seconds on me in the final 1.17 miles!  I ended up running 6:46 pace for the long (3.17) 5k.  No complaints about the pace, well under what I thought I could do.  Now I just need to figure out what is wrong with my knee.  MRI on Monday (07/31) and results on Thursday.

 

Place	Time	Pace	Name	Category	City, ST
1	18:06	5:42	Andrew Tuttle	Male 20-29	Alton, NH
2	18:48	5:55	Tyler Mclaren	Male 20-29
3	19:12	6:03	Mary Klene	Female 30-39
4	19:19	6:05	Austin Patenaude	Male 15 & Under	Henniker, NH
5	20:01	6:18	Graham Hayslip	Male 30-39
6	20:29	6:27	Steve Nelson	Male 50-59
7	20:34	6:29	Mark Laprade	Male 50-59	Bedford, NH
8	20:41	6:31	Michael Bisbee	Male 30-39	Nashua, NH
9	20:43	6:32	Stephanie Burnham	Female 40-49	Hudson, NH
10	21:14	6:41	Ryan Kelly	Male 40-49
11	21:30	6:46	Dave Dunham	Male 50-59	Haverhill, MA
12	21:36	6:48	Max Rossignol	Male 20-29	Contoocook, NH
13	21:50	6:53	Jonathan Kovar	Male 50-59	Contoocook, NH
14	22:04	6:57	Jennifer Mortimer	Female 40-49
15	22:05	6:57	Johan Hogne	Male 50-59
16	22:05	6:57	John Mortimer	Male 40-49
17	22:37	7:08	Benjamin Strauss	Male 50-59	New Boston, NH
18	22:43	7:09	Jennifer Caracoglia	Female 50-59
19	22:51	7:12	Pam Moore	Female 50-59
20	23:14	7:19	Peter Heslam	Male 50-59	Belmont, NH
21	23:22	7:22	James Green	Male 40-49	Dunbarton, NH
22	23:28	7:24	Tom Moore	Male 60-69
23	23:30	7:24	Mike Barry	Male 60-69
24	23:35	7:26	Christopher Baerman	Male 50-59	Laconia, NH
25	23:44	7:29	Jeff Reed	Male 60-69	Norwich, VT
26	23:59	7:33	Fergus Leclere	Male 20-29
27	24:12	7:38	Ellen Raffio	Female 50-59	Bow, NH
28	24:27	7:42	John Tuttle	Male 60-69
29	24:31	7:44	Sean Coyle	Male 60-69	Salem, NH
30	24:44	7:48	Lisa Colgan	Female 40-49
31	24:57	7:52	Nicholas Thalheimer	Male 40-49	Townsend, MA
			146 finisher
			19 M50-59