I was not feeling great this week after doing a workout on Wednesday which was probably a day later than I should have done it with a Saturday race looming. I did a 3 mile run at 5:30am to loosen up a bit and although it was hot like Friday, it was still quite humid. I hit the road early and arrived at Canterbury for the Shaker Village 5k XC race a solid hour before the start. I’ve done this race many times but rarely has the course been the same. This time it was altered due to cows using one of the fields and a tree down on one of the trails. I was happy to see that meant cutting out the newer loop which was very technical with many twists and turns, stream crossings, and a lot of rocks. It is still a stretch to call this a cross-country race when it is closer in spirit to a trail race. At least this time we’d have over a mile of either dirt or paved road. The course was a 1.5 mile loop that we’d do twice, so I headed out to warm-up on the course and check out the markings. It was very clearly marked and really only had maybe a ½ mile each loop where you had to be cautious and keep a close eye on your footing. I switched into racing flats and did another 2 miles. I went a bit longer than normal as this was the first time I was using the Hoka XC flats which Joe Shairs gave me after using them at Nationals and not liking them. They felt pretty good to me and I was ready to race.
We lined up and Sam Wood (who had helped mark the course) mentioned using caution on the bridge crossing (just a couple of planks) as they we slick. I had noted that on the warm-up and would be careful crossing them. Over 125 shot out at the start and I found myself in 8th place after 23 seconds as we took the first turn and got onto the loop. I moved up to 7th place before we hit the single-track and settled in a bit behind Mary Klene. She had beaten me by 30 seconds at NHTI and also had done a low 18 5k earlier this season so that was about where I should be. I could see Sam up ahead, I was hoping to keep him within sight. I made it safely through the woods and saw Mary and Sam both pull away on the climb (6% grade for ½ mile). I got through the first loop in 10:27 and was starting to feel better as we started the second time around.
I closed the gap a bit on Mary as it seemed she was a bit more tentative than I was on the singletrack. That is kind of funny since I think I’m very tentative. I was very cautious approaching the bridge and as I crossed one of the boards broke! I pinwheeled my arms and made two more steps before falling. I was lucky I’d made it across and landed on dirt instead of the large concrete edge of the bridge. I got up quickly cursing myself for losing ground and worrying about possibly getting caught. Soon after I reached the dirt road and saw that Mary had caught Sam and I hadn’t really lost any ground on either of them. I slowly reeled in Sam as we were lapping people. As I approached him I thought I heard him speaking to me but he was saying something like “keep grinding”, “get up the hill” and as I passed him “go with him”. I have a lot going on in my head as well but generally will save my breath and just think it. I got by Sam and worked the final ¼ mile to ensure he didn’t get back by with a kick. I was happy to see that despite falling my second loop was 3 seconds faster than the first. Negative split! Now I just have to keep on icing my dinged up knee.
Place Time Name Sex Age City, State Div/Pl Division
1 18:42 Matt Chorney M 36 Jackson, WY 1 MOPEN
2 19:20 David Chorney M 37 Concord, NH 2 MOPEN
3 19:44 Nicholas Gosling M 42 Meredith, NH 3 MOPEN
4 20:13 Andrew Strauss M 21 Amherst, NH 1 M2029
5 20:30 Mary Klene F 41 Manchester, NH 1 FOPEN
6 20:49 Dave Dunham M 61 Bradford, MA 1 M6069
7 21:00 Sam Wood M 38 Laconia, NH 1 M3039
8 21:36 Silas Frary M 25 Concord, NH 2 M2029
9 22:01 Mahalie Burdette F 16 Concord, NH 2 FOPEN
10 22:16 Scott Lemire M 47 Weare, NH 1 M4049
MALE MASTERS AGE GRADED CARS RESULTS
Place Time Agtime Agegrd% Name Sex Age Hometown
1 20:49 16:42 76.91 Dave Dunham M 61 Bradford MA
2 19:44 18:28 69.60 Nicholas Gosling M 42 Meredith NH
3 22:44 19:21 66.38 Benjamin Strauss M 54 New Boston NH
4 22:16 20:03 64.08 Scott Lemire M 47 Weare NH
5 26:18 21:40 59.32 Bruce Dyke M 58 Chichester NH
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