USATF NE 5 mile

 I started to feel I had my “running legs” back under me this week.  It took longer than I expected from the week of biking on the Erie Canal.  I was glad to have a little extra time to come back for the USATF New England 5 mile championships at the Bobby Doyle race in Narragansett RI.  I hadn’t done this race since 2016 and was doing it now as it was part of the All-Terrain runner series.  My goal was under 32:30 (6:30 pace) and I thought a solid race would see me breaking 32.  My hope was that I wouldn’t slow much from my recent 5k pace (my last race was 19:51 for 5k) over the extra 2 miles.
 

I had a bit of a rough afternoon the day before the race getting stung 10 times by hornets while working in the yard.  After that I felt sick and dizzy the rest of the day.  I still felt a bit off during the 1:45 drive to RI but tried not to worry too much.  I met up with CMS teammate Paul Bazanchuk and we headed out a little after 8 a.m. for a warm-up.  We did 3 miles running out and back on the finish of the course.  It is always a good idea to check out the course if you can and see any surprises.  It also helps during the race when I reach that point where we’d turned and now would know the final 1.5 miles.  It was nice catching up with Paul. Humidity was very high (mid 60 dew point) but the temperature wasn’t brutal.  During the race it’d top out at 80.  Fortunately, much of the course was shaded and there was a little breeze so although it was uncomfortable it was never dangerously hot.

 

I switched into race gear and headed out for another mile, grabbed a final swig of water, and headed over to the start line to join over 1,000 others.  Based on the previous year’s results I figured I’d finish around 250-300^th place and tried to find the right spot about 20 rows from the line.  I bumped into Paul McGovern and knew he’d be ahead of me so that made choosing a spot easier.  I saw other 60+ runners just a little ahead (Charlie Bemis, Jeff Walker, Jason Cakorous) so I knew I was in the right area.  At 9 a.m. (plus a few seconds to get to the line) and we were off.

 

It was pretty crowded the first mile and I ran very defensively sticking to the left side of the road.  I could see Jim Rhodes a little up ahead and a few others so I knew I was about where I should be.  I was aiming for 3:10 ½ mile splits and hit the half in 3:02.  Not crazy fast and there was a little down (20’).  From that point on no one passed me until the last 400 meters of the race.  I hit the mile in 6:08 feeling I’d found a good groove.  The only real hill in the race climbed 42’ from just after the mile to 1.3.  That would be my slowest half of the race (3:21). 

I didn’t panic but rebounded as the course flatten out and I closed on GLRR’s Jim Rhodes.  I caught Jim around 2 miles (12:38/3:09) and he mentioned something about us not running the shortest route.  I didn’t say anything, but the course was certified with some roads coned off as there would be runners in both directions, we were running the course as certified.  Although, it was still fairly crowded, and I couldn’t always run the shortest line.  I was in a decent groove and looking ahead constantly to the next pack to pick off.  A 3:10 and 3:08 got me to three miles in 18:56 and across the 5k mat in 19:37. That was faster than I raced the USATF 5k back in March!  I could see Chris Smith (SRR) up ahead and focused on reeling him in. A 3:06 and a 3:05 brought me past him (and a bunch of others).  Chris gave a nice encouragement as I went by. 

I took the turn onto the final long straight and could see Jason Cakorous up ahead.  I didn’t think I could catch him, but I hoped to close the gap.  I was also doing the math and thinking even if I fell apart in the last mile, I’d break 32.  I closed with a 3:05 and a 3:11 (up 20’) and was pleased crossing the line in 31:39. I ended up taking 8^th in the 60+.  After a quick trip under the fire house (so refreshing!) I headed out for an easy 2 miles on the course to get my warm-down and 90 miles for the week.  I broke up the longish ride back with a stop at my parent’s house where we caught up and I got one loss and one win versus dad in cribbage.

Pic from Scott Mason (hadn't seen him in a few years)

 

Pl       Time   Name                              Sx/Age          O'all Pl Team

1        28:55  Nat Larson                        M63    164     GSH

2        29:53  Norm Bouthillier                M60    226     GMAA

3        29:56  Charlie Bemis                    M62    233     WRT

4        29:57  Scott Grandfield                 M60    234     GSH

5        30:32  Jeff Walker                        M61    256     WTAC

6        30:40  Paul McGovern                  M66    262     WRT

7        31:31  Jason Cakouros                 M60    295     HFC

8        31:39  Dave Dunham                   M61    304     CMS

9        31:43  Constantino Rago              M63    310     BAA

10      32:28  Barry Sussman                  M60    349     Notch