When last we spoke, I had just run the second race in the Fallen Leaves series, and basically tied my 5K personal record with a time of either 24:12 (Strava) or 24:15 (CVR). It was a pretty good result, but left some unfinished business. You see, I set my PR in the first Fallen Leaves race last year, and I set a goal for 2022 to run a 5K in under 24 minutes. Time is running out.
I was skeptical coming into this race, because I’ve just not been getting any faster this year, despite focusing on doing speed training from time to time. I think part of this was the result of the marathon in May beating me up, and running longish trail races for much of the summer afterward, but I really expected to be under 24:00 by now. It also didn’t help that I came down with a little bit of a cold during the week, which slowed me down some.
One final concern came the day of the race. Due to the Thanksgiving farmer’s market being held in the high school gym, the race director was asked to reroute the course. On the one hand, the run across the grass/mud/snow was eliminated. On the other hand, several more turns were added. Turns slow you down.
I mentioned snow above, because we received our first snowstorm a few days before the race. About four inches accumulated in Montpelier. The snow was fully melted from the pavement, including the bike path for the race, but it remained on grassy areas. Of concern for this race, the shaded portion of Montpelier High School’s dirt track – about a third of the track – was still covered. With three full circuits required for this race, that meant about a quarter mile of running on hard-to-grip surface.
Sunshine abounded, but the temperature at 9:00 a.m. was under 30 degrees, or 35 degrees colder than the previous week. I was expecting a large field given that the high school cross country season ended the previous weekend, but only a handful of kids showed up. The starting field of 35 was on the small side. Katie was with me, and our Runderachiever friends Kim and Darrel were also there. Darrel is always there!
Per usual the start was fast for two loops around the track. The crowd sorted out quickly. Kim was a bit in front of me, and immediately in front of me was Tim Noonan. Tim normally directs this race, but today our friend Donna handled RD duties and Tim ran. Tim is a good substitute for Donna in terms of pacing. I followed him for a lot of the New Years Eve 5K last winter before passing and finishing a few seconds ahead. I think he could easily beat me in most half marathon or longer races, but I can compete with him at the shorter lengths.
Tim led me the full two laps. The race emptied onto the bike path, taking a left then another left to go around the Department of Labor building, before we returned back to the bike path and continued our way out to Dog River road. I passed Tim on the leg heading back to the path. Shortly thereafter the first mile clicked at 7:32. As with the previous races, this was faster than I expected, a few seconds faster than last week.
As we headed out the path I could see Kim a ways in front of me, and there was a dark haired woman between us. I figured I would try to hang with her, though she was a good hundred feet or more in front. When we got to the turnaround, I saw that I had gained a few seconds on Tim, and there were a couple of women close behind him.
I was feeling good on the return, and tried to make a point of gaining some speed on the downhills. I also tried to make a point of keeping my pace up as I passed the liquor control building, but again I failed. I don’t know if GPS doesn’t get a good read there? I should probably accept that my pace will always be slow there and get on with it.
Mile two clicked in as we were back on the DOL loop. It was 7:48, so a similar slowdown to the one from last week. It was again looking like I would fail to beat 24:00, but a new PR was still within reach.
As we turned left to head back to the bike path, the route closely paralleled the high school track. I noticed that the lead runners were already heading down the home stretch to the finish line. I was at 2.1 miles, exactly one mile behind them. That’s actually another benchmark of mine, to be no more than 1.5x the winner’s time. They were finishing a little over 16:00, so my estimate of 24:00 was right in line.
Still, my first thought was, “shit! I still have a mile to go!”
Back on the path, Kim and the dark haired woman were still in front of me, and I was losing ground. I didn’t really have hope of catching either of them, so I focused on goals I could achieve: pushing for a PR and staying ahead of Tim. I boosted my cadence and tried to avoid relaxing at any point.
The course ran past the track and on the bike path down to Bailey Avenue, where we had another turnaround before returning to the track. There was just over a half mile to go, and by now I had a pretty comfortable lead on Tim. Importantly, I wasn’t getting that feeling of not being able to keep up the pace. I thank the cool temperatures for that.
I hit full spring mode after I turned onto the track. There’s actually quite a bit of elevation gain on the front stretch, about 10 feet, so my pace didn’t fully reflect the effort. Of course that meant there would be downhill to the finish, but that was the snowy part. The third mile clicked on the back stretch, but the split didn’t really register in my mind. By now I could see the clock, and there was a chance.
I gave it all I had for that last tenth. Donna Smyers was timing the race, and she called out “under 24!” I had done it. My official time was 23:57 – a new personal record.
I was very pleased with this race. Tim finished about 15 seconds behind me and said he liked following my pace. “I could never gain on you, though.” This was a lesson in trusting the process, I believe. If you put the work in, eventually you’ll see results.
So I guess I have to shoot for under 23:00 next year. More work to do…
Following the Fallen Leaves 5K, Katie and I went home to gather our stuff for RUTfest, the trail running festival put on by the Richmond Trail Running Club. This is a 37-hour festival, from 6 am Saturday to 6 pm Sunday, with an additional hour due to the end of Daylight Savings Time. It’s more a celebration than a race, with runners free to come and go and run as many laps as they want during that time. It’s called “fatass” style, though that seems needlessly derogatory as everyone is working hard out there.
Our friend Darrel was also there, fresh off an 8K run Friday night and two 5K races already on Sunday. He got to Catamount a little after noon, and it was his intention to run as much as he could for the next 30 hours, hopefully getting to 65 miles for his upcoming 65th birthday.
When Katie and I arrived, Darrel and his cohorts, April and Ira, were just finishing a lap. As we chatted a bit, Darrel said, “do we know where Ali is?” Just then, she popped around the corner to finish her third circuit. Her goal was to run 50K on day one and another 50K on day two. She was already at 21 miles, so she only had three more laps (1.5 circuits) to go for the day.
After Ali fueled up a bit, the three of us headed out (Darrel and the others were already out on the other loop. April and Ira were shooting for 100 miles for the weekend!) Ali was understandably taking her time, and I found the pace a bit slow for my liking, so after about a half a mile I left them behind.
Catamount is a big Nordic skiing and mountain biking center, and the race course had a little of everything. Wide Nordic ski trails and skinny mountain bike trails, and some double track that was somewhere in between the two. The first mile and a half are pretty flat, before a 250-foot climb over the next mile or so, up to The Lookout, the highest point on the course. This is only steep in small bites, but it’s technical enough to keep the running to a modest jog even on the flat parts. Next comes a steepish but flowy downhill for a little less than half a mile, then a fairly flat mile to the finish.
I completed the first loop in 50 minutes, then had about a ten minute wait for Katie and Ali. We then started out on the short loop together, but again I kept to my own pace. This side of the course goes around and uphill through a big field for a mile before entering the woods. In the field I caught up to a woman in pink who was walking up the hill, and we chatted for a few minutes before taking off. In the woods, we ran a mountain bike trail with lots of switchhbacks, which was fun because I crossed paths with Katie and Ali a few times.
The trail then pops out of the woods and crosses another field on the way back up to the first field. By this time, about 11 miles in for the day, I decided it was okay to do some walking on the uphill. Then it cruises on down to the start/finish hub. This is in every way an easier loop than the four-miler. It’s shorter, less steep, and less technical. It only took about 35 minutes for me to finish this round.
While I was waiting for Katie and Ali to return, I struck up a conversation with Nik Ponzio. He’s one of the RTRC leaders and organizers of this event, and he was on a quest to break the course record of 112 miles, which was set in the inaugural event last year. I had never met Nik, but I follow him on Strava and I know he’s a big-distance guy. He was pretty chill about his race, now in its 8th hour. He knew it would be a long haul.
Somewhere along the way I decided that I wanted to run two full circuits today. From not even planning to do this on Friday morning to 14 miles on Saturday afternoon. 19 counting the morning’s race and warmup. I finished the first circuit at 3:15, and the whole thing had taken me about an hour and a half. With still a couple of hours of daylight, I should be able to do this before it gets dark. After Katie and Ali got back I made sure Katie was okay with waiting around – she was done for the day – and then I was off.
By now I was feeling the miles and going slower. In particular I was walking all the uphills, whereas I pretended to run some of them the first time around. But I was pretty much the only person doing any running at all, as I passed a few people walking on the flats. They were long-haulers who already had a ton of miles in on the day. I didn’t stop to take photos, though, and I got back in 52 minutes, about three minutes slower than the first round.
I was starting to feel strain in my knees on the hills of the last loop, so I put knee wraps on for the final lap. I also grabbed a headlamp. Even if I was a little slower I had plenty of daylight to finish unless something went sideways. The headlamp was insurance against anything going sideways.
The last lap was uneventful. I passed a few other people who were walking, but otherwise was on my own. Again I walked up the hills, but I also didn’t spend as much time trying to take photos, so I finished this lap in almost the same time as the first time around. I even was able to run a pretty good pace down the hill to the finish, and ended with plenty of daylight to spare!
Lots of people just kept on going. Darrel ended up with 77 miles for this event, while April and Ira elapsed 100. Ali came back on Sunday and did another 50K, ending up with something like 65 miles for the weekend. And Nik Ponzio just went on and on through the night, finishing with 116 miles and meeting his goal of breaking the course record.
I was inspired by the laid-back nature of the race, but also the great planning and camaraderie. I may plan on this for next year as an event to push some distance goals. I am happy to have reached this point of the season in pretty good health, and if things are the same next year it seems like a good opportunity to stretch myself with little pressure.
RACE SUMMARY: Distance: 14 miles Running time: 2:51 Total time: 3:30
This is a week of seconds – the second Fallen Leaves race of the series, how a matter of seconds defines the finish.
Katie was away with family duties this weekend, so I ran this one without her. It promised to be a different race than last week. The temperature was pretty much the same (very unseasonably warm low-60s), but there had been torrential rains all night. There were huge puddles on the Montpelier High School Track, and the field portion was a mud bog. I have a goal of getting my 5K below 24 minutes at one of these races, but this wasn’t shaping up to be that day.
The rain stopped shortly before 9:00, however, and the puddles started to slowly drain away. The huge puddle right in front of the start line started to show a small land bridge. Still I told my friend Dylan, who was standing next to me, “I’m going to run right through it and get the foot soaking over with.”
I did just that, and then a whole boatload of people passed me just after we started. I was totally surprised by this. I will never be among the front runners, but a huge portion of the field just immediately pulled away. I was running faster than a 7:00 pace and losing ground. It was amazing. Soon two other women passed me, and while one pulled away I managed to stick with the other.
As we passed the start/finish line after the first lap, I heard people call out “go Donna!” – that’s Donna Smyers, who I’ve never managed to beat in a race before – and “go Celia!” Celia is the woman I tried to use as a rabbit at last week’s race, until she got too far ahead for me to track. I was surprised she was behind me.
I was sticking with the last woman who passed me – we’ll call her black shorts woman – and keeping close by running tight lines. More than probably any other race, I was aggressively running the tangents on this one and it was working out, even with the puddles. In almost all cases, a little spat of land opened up on the inside edge of the track. And there I was.
And there I was on the portion that cuts across the high school fields to the bike path. My running a more direct path led me to pass black shorts woman as she went the long way around a big puddle and I went the short way. Soon I was on the bike path and feeling pretty good. The first mile clicked in at 7:35, a few seconds slower than last week, but honestly faster than I expected. There was a kid ahead of me, probably middle school aged, who stopped running and started to walk. Then he looked back, saw people coming, and started to run again. But then he had to walk. I am guessing this was his first 5K, and he doesn’t yet know how to pace himself. He’ll learn.
After that, things were pretty status quo from a positioning standpoint. I could hear Donna behind me, but she didn’t pass. As we got to the turnaround I saw that the person on my heels was actually Celia. I had forgotten about her. Donna was a good five seconds further back.
The next mile returning on the bike path, Celia was occupying my brain. She had run the Autumn Onion in 22:something, and last week’s race in 23:something. I knew it was just a matter of time before she passed me. I found myself in that lull near the liquor control building once again, and made an effort to pick up the pace. I kept hearing her get close, and I pushed a little harder each time. I wasn’t just going to give it to her.
Tables turned: Celia is using ME as a rabbit!
As we neared the end of the bike path there were two occasions where it sounded like she was going to make her move, but she backed off both time. Finally when we got back to the mud pit there was more room to maneuver and she pulled ahead. I tried to stay with her but her closing speed was a little too much. I was also motivated to stay ahead of Donna, but I didn’t hear her behind me, so I figured I was safe there.
At the mile three marker my time was a little over 23:30. I wasn’t going to be able to break 24:00, but I figured I had a shot at my PR, which is 24:14 of official race time, so I went for it. I saw 24:13 as I reached the finish line, but thought that the timers might have had it at 24:14. A PR! Or maybe a tie! A great race nonetheless.
Strava told me that I finished in 24:12; I don’t know why it shaved off a second from my Garmin. It also said this was my third-fastest Fallen Leaves 5K, behind two other races that were 24:12. But my official race time was 24:15, which is outrageous. I can’t consider it a new PR in this case.
So basically I tied my best race. Seems like I should be able to move that bar at least a few seconds, and hopefully 13 – 16 seconds.
Celia put 10 seconds between us over the last .3 miles, but I managed to beat Donna by 23 seconds. She’s a triathlete and has been doing Iron Man races, not running fast, but this was a substantial-enough margin that I consider it a legit win. So that’s one definite goal that I can count for this one!
RACE SUMMARY: Distance: 5K Time: 24:59 Pace: 7:47 Overall Finish: 25/40 Age Group Finish: 5/6 Did I beat Donna? Yes
It’s November, so it must be time for the CVR Fallen Leaves races. This is a fun series of 5Ks held the first three Saturdays of November. They are low key, but the entry is $5 and the course is flat and fast. Almost every time I’ve run this race, except for the last time, I set a 5K PR.
You can guess then what my goal for this race was – to beat my 5K PR, which was 24:16, set in the first Fallen Leaves last year. I skipped the second one due to the Race for DFL, then was six seconds slower the third time. Somehow, though, my average pace has gotten faster each race. Obviously I am running slightly less-efficient routes.
My greater goal is to get my 5K time under 24:00 before the end of the year. This race is a good one for that, too. That requires a time of under 7:40, and more like 7:35 if I run a “long” 5K. (My Strava-measured distances for this race have ranged from 3.10 to 3.16 miles, but usually 3.15, which makes a difference around the edges.)
I’ve been doing some speed work, on a schedule of my own creation that might not be serving a purpose. But I’ve been doing intervals and recently did a 20-minute tempo run, in an effort to get the legs moving faster. I’m not sure I’m there yet.
When I first ran these races in 2019, the temperature was in the teens, and it got more wintry every week. This time, though, it was sunny and 65 degrees. And following a few weeks of autumn weather, it felt hot. I ran this in shorts and a tee shirt. It was weird, actually a little warmer than I was hoping for the race. I had run the two miles from home as a warmup, and I was already sweating.
The race itself was fairly uneventful. We start with a couple of laps on the track, and by the time we exited I was ahead of most of the people I want to be ahead of, such as John Hackney and Tim Hogeboom. After the track we cross the High School lawn and go out and back on the bike path. By the time I hit the lawn, my position was pretty much set. There was a woman named Celia who had run the Autumn Onion in under 23:00 ahead of me, who I thought I could use as a rabbit for awhile, though I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep that pace. There was a man behind her who I didn’t recognize. It would be the two of them in front of me for basically the whole race.
The track laps are always fast, and mile one clicked in at 7:30. I was trying not to burn too fast on the bike path, but finding that balance was tricky. My watch pace was a little slower than I was hoping, at least for a 24:00 finish. Celia and the guy were pulling away, slowly but noticeably. When I made the turn I noted that there were two women a few seconds behind me. I had a fair lead on them. Mile two was shortly after the turnaround, and clicked at 7:42. Still looking okay. I passed Katie coming the other way, and she was looking stronger than the week before.
There is something about running back on the bike path, whenever I look at my watch somewhere in the middle I am always going slower than I expect. And so it was when I got to the Liquor Control building and my watch was reading 8:15. What the hell? It was time to pick up the pace, but the response wasn’t fantastic. I was kind of moving as fast as I could.
Celia and the other guy were too far in front to try to catch, but I was surprised to realize when I turned from the bike path back on to the lawn that one of the women behind me was now hot on my heels. That gave me some incentive to squeeze a little bit more out of the throttle. Running across the grass wasn’t conducive to speed, but the track had enough for my kick. I ended up crossing in 24:19, just three seconds before the woman behind me.
I was somewhat disappointed to not be able to squeeze more speed out of this race. My third mile split was 7:50, so I definitely was slowing down. Perhaps the heat, or my longish warmup, or a combination of the two slowed me down? Regardless, I now only have two more chances to drop those last 19 seconds!
After the race, Katie and I headed home and prepared for another run: the Richmond Ultra Trail Festival (RUTfest). This will be the subject of our next post.
RACE SUMMARY: Distance: 5K Time: 24:19 Pace: 7:41 Overall Finish: 21/43 Age Group Finish: 3/4
Preparation for this race is less about training and more about getting together a good costume.
Onion River Outdoors, the sporting goods company, organizes this race every year for the Sunday before Halloween. The competition is more about the costumes than it is about the running. As such, it’s been one of my more successful races. I won awards for my Most Interesting Man In The World costume in 2021, and for my Billy Idol costume the year before. So the pressure was on.
After last year’s success, I wanted to do another beard-based costume. Since I started growing beards, Katie has occasionally said that I look like Kenny Rogers. So a couple of months ago we settled on me going as The Gambler. As far as costumes go, it was pretty simple: all I would need was a vest, a white shirt (which I have), a bolo tie, and some playing cards (which I also have); the bolo tie could be made out of fabric if push came to shove. All I needed was to go to a thrift store and buy a vest.
That task got put off until the Friday beforehand. I had a comedy show in Barre, so we hit the Salvation Army there. We’ve gotten costume supplies there the last two years. This year I struck out.
No worries. On Saturday we went to the Goodwill in Williston….and also struck out on the vest. What the hell? There were tons last time we were looking. The backup plan was to cut the sleeves off a dark shirt and make a vest. But time was running short – we were attending an event in Burlington that evening – and it was going to look sloppy without some effort to tidy up the seams.
Goodwill had some Halloween stuff for sale. I was messing around and tried on a devil mask, and the lady at the cash register said “that looks really good on you.” Katie agreed. So we were in Plan B territory. There was also a devil’s pitchfork, and I found some socks with a bloody red pattern. I could pair all this with black tights and it would be cool. Kenny would have to wait.
For her part, Katie had purchased a neat witch’s hat, and decided to build a witch costume. She found a couple of dresses that she could layer, and also some cool witch socks, and we were in business.
One of Katie’s dresses was a black velour number that she envisioned turning into a cape. After we got home we realized that any self-respecting devil should also have a cape. We dug through some bins and pulled out a plastic picnic table tablecloth. I also remembered that I had a pair of boxers with a jack-o-lantern print. It was all coming together. Katie helped me pin up the tablecloth, and the look was complete. I was concerned that the tablecloth, which was dragging three feet behind me, was too long, but Katie assured me that “it looks really cool.”
We cut up the velour dress and put Katie’s ensemble together. She also looked really cool. We were ready to compete the next morning.
The effect was more “chunky witch” than we were expecting!
Things were cold Sunday morning. The temperature was not even 30 degrees when we headed out, but the sun was shining. This was far removed from the torrential rains of last year. There were 37 runners entered, and some good competition. Our friends Darryl and Cheryl were there with 1920’s-style gangster/flapper togs. I thought if they didn’t win the couples competition there was a problem, though the salt and pepper couple also did a great job.
Cheryl and Darrel. And that’s the loon-like woman behind Cheryl.
Because this wasn’t a super competitive race (and I had no chance of winning anything, with my friend Peter guaranteed to beat me in my age group), I chose to run with Katie instead of trying to bust out a PR. We started back of the pack and found ourselves kind of in the middle as things sorted out. The only other racer who I really took note of was a woman dressed as Tom Brady. I was thinking I probably should beat Tom Brady, because he is so slow. (Spoiler alert: I did not beat Tom Brady.)
But I was enjoying my time with Katie, and we stayed together for most of the race. The course starts in front of ORO on Langdon Street, goes out Elm and then Cummings to the North Branch River Path, where it turns around and heads back. I was pushing Katie a little with the pace, and she decided to walk with about 2.3 miles to go. She told me to go ahead and finish my race, and I decided to run.
There was a woman wearing what I think was supposed to be a loon costume about 100 yards ahead of me. I made it my goal to catch her, and I did with about a quarter mile to go.
I thought that was the end of it, but there was a kid in front of her. Not super close, but not super far. And not really busting it as far as I could tell. Since I was now in race mode, I made him a target.
He really didn’t know I was coming until it was too late. He was turning on to Langdon Street, with maybe a football field left to go, when he saw me behind him. He was enough of a racer that he wasn’t going to go down without a fight, and we both sprinted to the finish. In the end I beat him by about two steps.
He’s only 8, but I’m pretty sure I own his soul now.
It was a fun race. Not a record time, but the casual start contributed to a fast finish. Alas, the devil costume was not a winner this year, but Cheryl and Darrel did prevail with their ensembles. That was much deserved. Katie and I have designs on a different race for next year, but we will surely be back for the Autumn Onion if that doesn’t work out.
This one was on a bit of a whim. With the Bolton Valley race, my “serious” race season for 2022 came to a close. I plan to do the Fallen Leaves 5K races in November, but other than that it’s time to chill for a bit. Katie, on the other hand, has been frustrated by injuries for much of the year. Earlier in the week she got the okay to run again, and she was eager to jump into this race, which our friends Darrel and Cheryl were running.
We signed up Friday night and on Saturday morning we were off to Brookfield. The price of entry was worth it just to force us to go for a drive. The leaves in Vermont are at peak foliage, and the scenery was gorgeous. What a day to be outside!
This is only the second running of this race, part of a little Oktoberfest celebration in town. Brookfield’s claim to fame is its floating bridge across Sunset Lake. This race took advantage of the bridge, both starting and finishing on the landmark. A unique opportunity to say the least.
From the floating bridge.
As a new 5K in a small town, this had a smallish starting field of approximately 30 runners. In addition to Darrel and Cheryl, our friend Ali was there, as well as Darrel’s friend April who we know a little bit. It was nice to have some familiar faces to run with.
Similar to other races in the area, this one has a climb to start and big downhill. The biggest differences are that there’s not a long flat finish and it only goes around part of the lake. (Because it goes over the bridge.) Actually, now that I think of it, this is more akin to the New Year’s Eve 5K in Montpelier, which also doesn’t have a lot of flat bits at the end.
The weather was good, with temperatures in the mid 40s and some sunshine. The race was scheduled for 10 a.m., but we actually started a few minutes early because everyone was ready to go. I assessed the field and decided I could start more to the front than to the back. I didn’t recognize anyone other than my friends, but I got a more casual vibe from the pack.
I have a goal of getting my 5K personal record time below 24:00 before the end of the year. (Currently it’s 24:12.) I plan to do some speed training with the hope of doing this at one of the Fallen Leaves races. But I thought I would give it my best shot on this race to see where I stand.
Because the main loop isn’t a full five kilometers, the race starts with a short out-and-back section – maybe 3/10ths of a mile total – on the main road before heading up the hill on Stone Road. It’s slightly downhill at the very start, so what better time to start running fast? Then turn around and back up the slight climb, then another flat/downhill bit, then the big climb starting at .6 miles.
The field sorted itself out pretty quickly. A guy in a blue tee shirt passed me after the turnaround, and by then all the people who would finish ahead of me were already in front of me. I passed a younger woman and an older man – I don’t think they were running together – about a half mile in. A runner with red headphones chugged past me shortly thereafter. Then we were climbing.
The course gains 275 feet over the next mile. Somewhere along the way I re-passed red headphones. At 1.2 miles we turned on to Northfield Road, climbing more for another quarter mile and passing under the interstate. Then a left-had turn on to West Street. There was only another tenth of a mile to climb before things flattened out and started to descend. At that point I wished I was a race photographer, because the runners ahead of me with the backlit golden leaves would have made a spectacular image.
I ran the first mile in 8:51 and I reached the top of the hill, a little past the halfway mark, in about 15:30. It would take some real doing to get in under 24:00, even with the downhill. I allowed myself a brief moment to regain my breath from the climbing, then I was off as fast as I could go.
I have had difficulty getting up to top speed with a mile to go in other races – I think it’s a mental thing – but the downhill made it easier to do so. I had hopes of catching blue tee and maybe the yellow tee guy in front of him, but they also were running faster. My pace for a lot of this was on either side of 7:00, which is fast but not spectacular for the slope.
At 2.5 miles came the final turn. Things leveled out for a bit, and Strava says my pace was closer to 8:00, which is good but not sub-24:00 good. Then the steep final descent on paved roads. This was fast going, and I only briefly worried about catching a shoe and falling flat on my face.
Finally the course flattened out for the final sprint over the bridge. I was alone at this point, so I was only racing for my final time. 24:00 was out of the question, but I still had a shot at 24:30, so I was pushing for that. But I didn’t quite make it. My final time was 24:33. One of my better 5Ks for sure, especially given the hill, though the distance came in at only 3 miles, not 3.1, so it wasn’t a full 5K. But given that I was in recovery mode from Bolton Valley and hadn’t trained for a 5K race, it was a good result.
After I finished I circled back for a cooldown run, and met Katie and Ali as they approached the last steep bit. I took some photos rather run up the hill, then sprinted back in with them. Katie’s time was a little over 30:00, which was great considering she’d barely been running the past few weeks.
Ali and Katie race to the finish.
I had my second top 10 this year, finishing in seventh, and if there were age group prizes I would have won the 50+ category. But, alas, there were none of those. The quest continues.
This is a race I was looking forward to since it was announced a few months back: Bolton Valley ski resort, where Katie and I have held season passes for the past few years, was going to host a 20K race up and down each of its three ski peaks. What an opportunity to really see the mountain in the offseason!
Katie was excited as me for this race, but sadly suffered an injury on a recent hike across the Skyline Ridge Trail in Middlesex and Worcester – a training event for this race that turned out to be much more hike than run. She came along for support on the day of. Our Runderachievers friends Matt and Ashley were also participating, along with my baseball teammate Trots. Fun with friends!
A couple of years ago I would have seriously fretted over my preparation for this race. Would I be able to handle the distance? Would I be able to handle the elevation? Was I stupid to think I could possibly finish this thing? But one thing I have learned and come to embrace from running with ultra runners the past couple of years is that it’s okay to walk. I knew that I had the strength to get to the end. The only question was, how long would it take?
I spent lots of time the week beforehand poring over the course map that had been posted on Strava. Based on what I saw, I figured I could finish in perhaps as fast as three hours. My low-end projection was 3:30. The other thing I did was look at the entry list on UltraSignup to see if there was a chance I could hit the podium in my age group. There were only five men aged 50-59, so I figured there was a chance. (SPOILER ALERT: LOL no!)
The race started at 7:30 on Sunday morning. It was chilly, with temperatures in the low 30s and a brisk breeze. I had on long sleeves and light gloves, and wore a buff over my head like a hat. Because I had knee wraps and compression sleeves on my legs I opted for shorts. I wore my Altra Timps, which by now had 400 miles on them and were getting close to blowing out at the seams. I figured this was the last big go-round for them.
The conch blew at 7:30 and we were off. I started off toward the back of the pack, as there looked to be a lot of speedy runners entered. Matt, Dan (Trots), and I weren’t running together, but we were running together as we headed out of the parking lot and up Bear Run to the top of the Snowflake lift. The lead pack was running this whole part, but the pack I was in was jogging a little or just plain walking.
Soon we were taking a left-hand turn into Maria’s Woods, a beautiful gladed area that is off the trail map but is nonetheless a popular woods run for skiing. This was probably the part of the course that I was most looking forward to seeing, among the many highlights. We would be hitting alpine ski trails (some of which are work roads offseason), Nordic ski trails, and mountain biking trails along the way. A wonderful variety of terrain.
Maria’s was a steep climb where I passed a few racers, including the woman wearing bib number 39 on her backpack. I decided at that moment that my goal was to finish ahead of 39. One always needs some motivation in their back pocket in a race like this.
Maria’s spat us out at the Cobrass ski trail. Cobrass was mostly more gradual – though that is a relative term – before getting to the corner. The corner was another section I had been anticipating; during the winter it’s a steepish, sharpish turn that is almost always covered in ice. It can be a shitshow, and traffic almost always gets backed up here as people look for a way down. For the race, however, it was a muddy, rocky scramble. And a perfect spot for the photographer to set up camp.
The Cobrass Climb
After the corner, Cobrass had a little more climbing before things leveled off toward the top of Vista peak. I reached there in 34 minutes, which was basically on pace. I had figured 45 minutes top to bottom for each of the first two peaks, and I had 11 minutes for the mile+ descent. It was downhill, I figured it would be fast.
It was, but not as fast as I had anticipated. It was bike trail and then work road, which had big boulders that were pretty wet. I did not realize until after the race that for all my concern about the uppers on my Timps, 400 miles had worn almost all the grip from the soles. I am already tentative on rocky descents, and a couple of little slips made me move even more gingerly in places.
I still had Trots and Matt in my sight ahead of me. We rounded back on Bear Run, where Katie was taking video and cheering us on. Soon I was at the bottom. My time was 48 minutes, a little slower than my target but still well within my upper range time. Soon I rounded up Lower Fanny Hill to Abenaki Trail. Another relatively gradual climb, and a good spot to take a couple of shot blocks. Abenaki took us to the Wilderness Liftline trail, then we looped around on the work road to the chairlift mid station. There we can see the top of the lift.
The view to the top of Wilderness. There is clearly a gap in the flagging tape.
And there was when I took a wrong turn. The flagging ahead made it look to me like we were blocked from going up Bolton Outlaw, so I took a right-hand turn onto a mountain bike trail. I thought it was pretty cool to be running on some bermy curves, though I was concerned that I didn’t see any flagging. Soon I saw a mountain biker heading my way, and I was starting to curse him out in my mind for riding during a race when he informed me (and the unfortunate woman who had followed me) that we had taken a wrong turn. Luckily, the trail he had just come down would allow us to reconnect without back tracking. “You haven’t added too much distance.”
Afterward I determined that this probably added two minutes to my time. Looking at the contour maps, it was actually a little less steep than the intended route up Bolton Outlaw. (But still very steep nonetheless.) Soon we popped back on the correct trail, where a young man working his way uphill was confused to see us appear. I assured him that it was I, not him, who had taken a wrong turn. I took a moment to catch my breath and regain my bearings, and let him and the woman pass by. It was the last I would see of either of them.
Bolton Outlaw has a corner that is more of a skiing shitshow than Cobrass, as in addition to the ice the rocks tend to get exposed and you have to make a quick stop after a little chute lest you go too far down crossover and have to climb back uphill for a bit. As a hiker, however, it’s not too bad – just another rocky/muddy scramble. Soon I was at peak number two.
I was there in 1:15, with about a mile and a half downhill to the halfway point. I had figured on 1:30 for the first six miles, so I was back on track. Despite the wrong turn, the climb had taken less time than I expected. A ten minute pace for the downhill was all it would take to be on schedule.
I completely underestimated the second descent. At the top it was similar to Vista, in that we were running down Peggy Dows, which is a service road. After a bit we ducked into the woods to follow a mountain bike trail. Or so they call it – it was steep, narrow and technical, nothing I’d ever take a bike on. I didn’t really want to take my body on it. For me, this was not remotely runnable. Footing was slick and unstable. It was slow going. The path crossed over the Turnpike ski trail onto another bike trail called One Love, which was more of the same.
Toward the bottom of One Love I heard voices approaching. They were going much faster than I was, and I was surprised they were behind me. Soon I was passed by three women; I was a bit dismayed that one of them was #39. (In looking at Strava later, I determined that these three were friends, and the other two had been ahead of me but taken a worse wrong turn than I did.)
Things were leveling out and I was back to running. I hit the six-mile aid station in 1:36, six minutes slow but not too bad. Katie was waiting there and cheering. I almost missed my turn here, too, but she pointed me the right way. This was another spot where several folks went off track during the race.
The next two and a half miles were on Nordic ski trails. This was another part I underestimated. I figured I could run this at a sub-10:00 pace, but the footing wasn’t great in places, and there was still some uphill to do. The first 1.2 miles was on the World Cup trail, which looped back to the aid station. I had hoped to gain ground on the three women, but didn’t really manage that. After seeing Katie again it was off on another loop which followed Nordic trails that doubled as mountain biking trails. This was a pretty section of woods that I would bring my bike on. I passed a woman on this section, my first position gained in quite some time. #39 was still in sight, but she had been left behind by her friends.
This whole bit took me half an hour to complete, so by now I was probably ten minutes behind my three-hour goal. I passed #39 as we crossed the parking lot again to head up Snowflake Bentley, once again to the top of the Snowflake lift, before heading downhill to the bottom of the Timberline lift, where we would start the last climb.
Bentley had two-way traffic, and on the way up I was met with a bunch of folks bombing their way to the finish. The race leaders had been done for a half an hour by now, but these folks were still pretty elite. They included my friend Dylan, who I was surprised to see after several other women. Alas, she too had taken a wrong turn.
Katie was waiting/cheering at the top of Snowflake, then it was down the Timberline Run trail. The next mile would be a net 800 feet downhill, and the terrain was generally more favorable than the previous descents. This was one of the fastest part of the course. Heading down there were two women in front of me who I noticed pausing several times on the on the way down, and I passed them about a quarter mile from the bottom.
I circled around the lift and began the final climb. This would follow the route that skiers climb if they don’t want to ride the lift. I had been feeling good, but once I started uphill again my left thigh started to cramp. I slowed down to pop a salt stick and take on water. I thought I had hydrated pretty well throughout, and the weather was still cool, but nonetheless the course was taking its toll. I had my eyes on a couple of women ahead of me, one of whom I seemed to be gaining on. It was at this time I really discovered what it felt like to hit the lactic threshold. My legs were sore and tired. It was slow going. The two women I had passed a while back were gaining again.
We got to the top of Twice As Nice, and for a moment I was excited to see the chairlift before I realized we were only at the mid station. From here we went downhill to Woods Hole before the final climb up Brandywine. This peak in general was the steepest climb, and the Brandywine climb was the steepest part of this whole section. The woman in front of me disappeared and the two women behind me overtook me again. Soon, they had also disappeared.
I paused at the top to take a photo, as I had done on the other peaks. I couldn’t see anybody behind me, so I figured my finishing place was already set. I was at 3:02 and there was about 9/10 of a mile to go.
Gratuitous, time-wasting selfie at the top of Timberline.
This was the fastest section of the whole race for me, perhaps tied with the stretch coming down to Timberline. I let it go as much as I could. Bentley was a muddy mess, but there were no uphill runners to navigate past. I popped out on the road and ran down the parking lot to the finish, where Katie, Matt and Ashley were all waiting. My final time was 3:11:14.
No, I didn’t finish in the top three of my age group, not that there were any age group prizes to begin with. I was 78/90 entrants and 45/46 males. Still, it felt like a good race for me. I figure that I would have been easily five minutes faster without the wrong turn and the photo stops, so overall not far off from my goal time. It was a fun event, despite the first-year problems with course markings, and it was fun to be part of a Vermont elite field. It didn’t make me want to incorporate a lot of mountain racing into my schedule, but I will definitely be back to improve my performance next year.
The fall race season moves on. Next up, the Sodom Pond Four Mile race in the funky little village of Adamant. This is another CVR mainstay. I think of Sodom Pond as the little sibling to the Berlin Pond Five Miler. They are very similar: midweek races that start off going up and down a hill and looping around a pond with a long, flattish finish. Berlin Pond is a little longer, hotter (it’s in August), and tends to attract a bigger field.
Sodom Pond is quieter, funkier, and doesn’t ever run alongside a highway. It also bumps up against sunset, meaning it can be fairly dark at the end. Something for everyone!
As I’ve noted in other recent race reports, I’ve been focusing on longer trail runs and races the past few months, so haven’t done much work to improve my speed on the road races. That said, I set PRs for both the Berlin Pond and Northfield races in recent weeks, so I had reason to expect more of the same for this race. I had every reason to believe I could best last year’s time of 33:34, good reason to think I could beat 33:00, and I was even feeling optimistic about crushing a 32:00-minute race, which would be an 8:00/mile pace.
8:00 would require me to cut my 2021 time by over 20 seconds per mile, which seems ambitious. Also, my most recent 5K was just under 8:00. This race is longer and, unlike Northfield, has a big hill. On the other hand, my 5K PR was at a 7:46 pace. So it was ambitious, but not out of the question.
It seemed like a smaller than usual field this year, only 30 runners entered. Two of them were Peter Lucykx, who would certainly beat me in the 50-59 category, and orange tank top guy. I was just a few seconds behind him at Berlin Pond, but he beat me handily at Northfield. As this race more closely resembled Berlin, I figured I had a chance with him.
Because it was such a small field, and there were only a handful of people who were obviously faster than me, I took the unusual step of being in the second row at the start line. Usually I am more in the middle of the pack, so as not to get trampled, but I didn’t think that was a risk today. When we were off, a high school kid who would end up winning by three minutes bolted off, followed by the other usual suspects: Peter, Kim, Mack, and OTTG.
If I was to run a 32:00, I was figuring something like 8:40 for the first mile, which is uphill but has some places to pick up speed, 7:30 for the second mile, and 7:55 each for the last two miles. It’s hard for me to really know how to approach this type of race. I know that killing myself on the uphill could sap speed on the back end. But I also know that in the grand scheme of things, this isn’t a ton of uphill, and I don’t want to give away my target by going too slow in the first mile. And either way, what should be my pace on the climbing parts vs. the flat or downhill parts?
Instead of worrying too much about that, I decided to listen to my body (working, but not dying) and keep my eye on OTTG. At Berlin Pond I had passed him going uphill, and he only caught me after a mile of flat running. At this race, however, he started out ahead of me and stayed ahead of me all the way uphill.
Also ahead of me was a kid wearing a Spartan shirt. I had seen him at the registration, wearing jeans and shitkickers. I HOPED that wasn’t what he’d be running in, and indeed he was in running shoes now, but also cargo shorts. So I didn’t know what to expect from him. He bolted out of the gates pretty fast though.
I was feeling pretty good that first mile, strong enough to push without exhausting myself, and enjoying the knowledge that most of the pack was behind me. This was an unusual position to be in. So I was a bit surprised that my first mile clocked at 8:57, which was exactly the same as last year. I had been pretty certain I was moving faster.
Now I needed to make up 28 seconds per mile, which still seemed doable because I wasn’t doing the math in my head. I figured fast on the downhill and give it all I’ve got the two miles back on Sodom Pond Road and I still had a chance. I wasn’t gaining any ground on OTTG, but I did notice the Spartan kid walking on one of the small climbs on Sibley Road after the steep descent. It seemed he had gone out too fast, and I had visions of overtaking him before the end.
My time for the second mile was 7:39, which was pretty good, but definitely not making up the seconds for a 32:00 in any substantial way. I would have to run the last two miles in about 15:30, which seemed ambitious given the first two miles. But I still wanted to see what I could do pushing for two miles.
I looked over my shoulder as I turned on to Sodom Pond Road, and saw that Donna Smyers was not too far behind me. I had forgotten about her. I’ve only beaten her in one race, and she didn’t run the whole way that day as she was recovering from an injury. So in addition to catching Spartan kid, who by now had been passed by OTTG, I was motivated to beat Donna.
I was working on pushing the pace when a tricked-out jeep came down the road, going slow and keeping a respectful distance. I gave a thank you wave, then just after passing it I tripped over…something. A root? A rock? All I know is I went down pretty quickly, and tossed my water bottle in the process.
I don’t think I’ve ever gotten up from a fall as quickly as this one. I collected my water bottle and quickly realized there was no injury. Still I was a bit shaken, and my body was not able to just pop back into sprint mode. I did my best, but there was a reset period. That was enough to allow Donna to move ahead of me. As she passed she said, “if you turn it on you’ll beat me,” which told me she was already giving it her all. Alas, there was no “it” to turn on, at least at the moment. I was going as fast as I could.
Alas, somewhere along the way the Spartan kid found his closing juju, and Donna kept pulling a little further ahead. The Calais town line (Adamant straddles the border of Calais and East Montpelier) is about a third of a mile from the finish, and there I found my closing gear, but it wasn’t enough to catch Donna. It also wasn’t enough to get me in under 33:00. My official finishing time was 33:04. The fall had cost me the sub 33:00.
This was another case of me being a little disappointed at the time, but it was a good race for me. I lowered my course PR by 30 seconds, and finished 9th overall, which is my best-ever for a live race. (My previous best was tenth out of 24 in the 2021 Bear Swamp race.) The disappointment was exacerbated by watching the awards ceremony, where I watched many many people who finished well behind me collect awards while I, having finished third in my age group, was once again shut out. It’s part of the whole deal, and I know I have to get faster if I want the rewards, but I really wanted that chocolate bar.
RACE SUMMARY: Distance: 4 miles Time: 33:04 Pace: 8:20 Overall Finish: 9/30 Age Group: 3/3 CVR Points: 88.6593
In many ways, this race is very similar to the Moosalamoo “Baby Moose” race a couple of months ago: similar distance, some hills, mixed terrain. But in every way, this one turned out quite different.
This was the second year in a row that Katie and I signed up for this race. But circumstances happened last year, and neither one of us could run, so we were really looking forward to having another chance. For a while I was considering running the marathon distance, but after running Six Hours on Lover’s Lane, I decided I wasn’t up for another six-plus hour run just a month later. So I settled on the 15 miler, while Katie’s latest injury status put her in the 10K event.
I felt good physically leading up to the race and, most importantly, did not poison myself with bad food. So race day already started better than Moosalamoo. Another advantage of running the 15 miler is that the race started at 9:00 a.m., not 7:00. Viva sleep! The morning was cool, and clouds hung over Lake Groton as we gathered for the start. Most of my friends and CVR acquaintances were entered in the 10K, which was a CVR race series event; only Tara was also in the 15-mile race. We agreed to start out together and see how it goes.
Another signal that this would be different from Moose, today it was Tara who wasn’t feeling well. She was just a few weeks out from having Covid-19 and suffering from lingering effects. This forced us both to start out slow, which is probably for the best. The course goes uphill at first, mostly gradually, before dipping back down some at two miles. Three miles in the first sustained climb started. We’d gain 800 feet over the next two miles as we ascended the first mountain, Big Deer.
Half a mile into this climb, while the slope was still very gentle, we came to the first aid station. My friend Manny was there, and we chatted for a bit. We lingered a couple of minutes to allow Tara’s stomach to settle, then were back on our way. The field of 60+ runners had settled out somewhat, but we were slowing down and a few people passed us. Three women running together, and a guy in a neon green tank top stand out from this group.
Soon we were headed up the serious climbing portion of Big Deer. It’s pretty steep and nobody was running the way up. It was up to the peak and back down, so there was two-way traffic. We saw neon green guy coming downhill. He had gained quite a bit on us already. Another guy coming downhill commented on my own neon compression socks, and said they made me look fast. That was fun!
We lingered a bit at the top, took a selfie, and started meandering downhill. A young woman in a maroon tank bombed past us. When things flattened out again, we passed the three women again as well as a guy about my age in a white shirt. We slowed to walk in a couple of stretches and leapfrogged each other a couple of times.
Top of Big Deer, with Tara
I was getting ahead of Tara on the running parts, and she was letting me go, but I held back to stay with her. The seven-mile aid station was coming up shortly, and her husband Jeremy was going to meet her there, so we stuck together. I remembered how nice it was to have Katie’s company when I wasn’t feeling well at Moose, and didn’t really want to leave Tara behind. But at the aid station she said she wanted to spend a few minutes with Jeremy and assured me she would be okay if I went on without her. So I did.
Next was the climb to the second mountain, Owl’s Head. Usually mountains named Owl’s Head have two peaks (like the ears on an owl), and this one is no different. The climb from here was only 300 feet, not super steep, but then down 100 and up 100 more steeply to the second peak, with a vista over Kettle Pond. Here I passed the guy in the white shirt, the three women, and the woman in the maroon tank, among others. I stopped for selfie number two, then began the steepish climb off the peak.
Shortly thereafter we were on the road that allows you to drive most of the way up Owl’s Head to enjoy the views. This was slightly longer than a half mile, and was the first opportunity to run fast. I passed a young guy on the way down, and made up ground on a couple of others. The downhill ended at the Lanesboro aid station, ten miles in. I had some chips and tightened my shoes, which felt loose on the run down.
The next act of this race was several miles on mostly double track or woods roads, with some fun flattish single track mixed in there. It would be uphill for a mile, cross Route 232 (where I saw Jeremy waiting for Tara), then downhill for 1.5 miles before mountain number three. I passed a few people on either side of the highway, including the neon tank guy, which surprised me, because I had him pegged for an ultra guy. Maybe he was, and it just wasn’t his day.
For awhile I was pretty much by myself. There were a couple of switchbacks on the flattest part of this, which is where I stepped awkwardly on a rock and twisted my ankle a little. I walked a few steps to test it out and decided it was okay, so I kept going. A bit later I took a swig of water and realized that I was getting quite low. In retrospect, it would have been a good idea to check my supply at the ten-mile aid station. The day started off cool, but was warming up, and there was humidity in the air. I knew that Little Deer was coming up soon, and figured there was an aid station near the bottom.
So I was one-for-two on that calculation. The turn on to Little Deer was just past the 12-mile mark, but there was no aid station there. As with Big Deer, this was an up-and-down climb. Suddenly there was quite a bit of traffic, including some people from both the marathon and the 10K races. This was a much steeper climb than Owl’s Head, 250 feet in only about a third of a mile, and for the first time I was really feeling it in my glutes. At the top there was a woman in yellow, looking for the turnaround, which wasn’t really marked. She took off while I took selfie number three. Then I was headed back, taking tiny sips of what little water I had left.
Top of Little Deer
On the way down I saw everybody I had passed: the three women, the guy in white, neon tank top, maroon tanktop. They were all a few minutes behind me. As I reached the bottom and was turning back on to the Telephone Line trail, I heard Tara yell “go Joe!” She had lost a lot of ground, but was going to tough it out to the end.
From the bottom of the Little Deer trail it was 2.5 miles almost completely downhill, gradually, to the finish. This was non-technical double track, and offered one final opportunity to run fast. I didn’t have any real time goals for the race; I had come into it thinking I should finish somewhere between 3:05 and 3:15, but slowing down for Tara and taking time for selfies, etc., made that an impossibility. 3:20 wasn’t impossible, though, which I realized when I hit mile 13 in three hours. I was running a sub-10:00, and often sub-9:00 minute pace, so if I kept it up I would be able to make it.
Of course it wasn’t all consistently downhill. There were some flats and also a couple of short uphill bits. I caught up with the woman in yellow on one of these and passed her. The next aid station finally showed up at mile fourteen, but though I was completely dry I wasn’t about to stop with just a mile to go. I could definitely make it for another ten minutes.
Following the double track, the race finished on the same gravel roads we started on. There was one more gradual climb that lasted nearly half a mile. I wasn’t running under 10:00 on that bit. I looked behind me and nobody was to be seen. I considered walking on the steepest bit, because my finishing position was locked up, but decided 3:20 was a real goal, so kept pushing on.
Near the top of the hill there was a guy sitting on a rock. He said “just a quarter mile to go!” My watch said 14.83 miles, and I had been counting on stopping at 15, but he was correct. This was going to be 15.1 miles. Soon enough, the hill went in the other direction, and there was a fast sprint to the finish line. Katie, Matt, Kim and a couple of others were sitting on some rocks just before the finish, cheering me (and others) in. I hit the finish in 3:19:13. Plenty of room to spare!
Looking for water at the finish.
Overall this was a very good race for me. I know under different circumstances, if I had been trying for my best time, I would have easily been 5-10 minutes faster. My glutes and feet were feeling it at the end, but overall I felt really good at the finish. And I was incredibly happy to NOT have signed up for the marathon. Maybe someday, but on this day, 15 was plenty.
RACE SUMMARY: Distance: 15 miles Time: 3:19:13 Pace: 13:10 Place: 34/65 Age Group: 1/3 CVR Points: N/A
This was my second time entering this as a live race. The first time, in 2019, was my second race after my broken ankle. In between I ran this course for two virtual races in 2020. I was set to participate last year, but broke my arm instead.
I looked forward to this race; Northfield is my adopted home town, as Katie and I go there nearly every week for Runderachievers. In fact, a big portion of the 5K course overlaps with our usual Runders route. So it’s familiar territory. Still, was difficult to get amped up to really go for the gold on this race for a variety of reasons.
For one thing, my age group (males 50-59) is very competitive, so I never manage to finish “in the money.” This is exacerbated at Northfield, as this is the official 5K of the Vermont Senior Games. This only brings in more 50+ competition. Further, the CVR Points Series championship is pretty much out of reach at this point, so there was no motivation there. Finally, I’ve really been focusing on longer trail races this year – including the Groton Forest 15 miler just a week later – and haven’t done much in the way of speed training this summer. This has been reflected in my race results, which are almost all slower than they were last summer.
Still, it’s a race, and my recent course PR for the Berlin Pond 5 miler had me thinking that a course PR could also be in play for this race (25:37), if not an overall 5K PR (24:16). For simplicity’s sake, I set a goal of 25:00 in my mind. This basically meant I needed to run a sub-8:00 minute mile. The race starts with the only noticeable hill in the whole race, so I figured that would be my slowest mile, and I would try to make up time in the last two. As with Berlin Pond, I was hoping to be able to up the ante for a significant portion of the final mile.
There were slightly more than 100 entrants for the race. Katie and I settled in behind the speedy folks at the start. Things started to thin out quickly on the hill. I passed Darrel on the way up, as well as my baseball teammate Dan Winters. The orange tank top guy from Berlin Pond passed me shortly after the peak. I figured I would keep him in sight. I also saw my friend Tara ahead of me. I expected her to finish well ahead of me, but figured keeping her in sight would be good for my race.
After the initial climb on Main Street, the route dips down, then turns onto Central Avenue at the edge of the Norwich University campus. I was trading places with an older gentleman for awhile, then passed my friend Tim Hogeboom. I have mentioned before that Tim is a benchmark for me. We’ve been racing close to the same pace all year, and it’s always my goal to finish ahead of him. The other old guy pulled back ahead, so he could be another rabbit.
I was surprised that my watch marked the first mile in 7:52. That’s fast for the uphill, but in retrospect, the first mile also has the most downhill on the course. Just after the click we were back down in the heart of Northfield, then across the footbridge to do an out-and-back on Water Street.
This is when I started to notice the weather. As it seems is often the case, the temperature was a few degrees warmer than the anticipated low 60’s, and the direct sunlight we were exposed to made it seem all that much hotter. I was maybe starting to regret not carrying water for this one, because “it’s only a 5K.”
I was surprised when this guy Kevin passed me, because I think I’ve beat him in every race we’ve run against each other this year, usually by a comfortable margin. I hoped I’d be able to get back ahead of him by the time all was said and done. A little further up the road I passed a high school-aged kid, who was probably lagging after starting too fast. So now old guy, orange tank guy, Kevin, and Tara were ahead of me, while Tim and the kid were behind me.
It would stay that way for the whole out-and-back on Water Street. The heat must have been impacting everyone, because a lot of people mentioned how the way out seemed to go on forever. The lead runner came back the other way when I was at the 1.7-mile mark. I like to be no worse than 2/3 the speed of the lead runner, and I was trying to do the math to see where I stood, but I didn’t really figure it out. (As it turns out, I was right on the 2/3 mark). Others weren’t far behind, and so:on I could see the turnaround. The two mile marker was just before, and that clicked at 8:03. Slower than the first mile, but still where I needed to be for 25:00, and there is a little elevation gain going that way.
I was still close to Tara, something she realized when she made the turn and saw me. That was motivation for her. She’s training for a 50-mile race in a few weeks and wasn’t looking for a super fast 5K, but she did want to finish ahead of me. I saw her grab some water at the aid station, which gave me permission to do so, too. I knew I’d lose a few seconds by walking, but figured hydration would be my friend the rest of the way.
I never really seemed to gain on Tara or any of the others ahead of me. For all my best intentions to let loose in the last mile, I found it impossible to do so. Maybe it was the heat? Maybe it’s just my brain staying in survival mode? It’s hard to tell.
Shortly before the final turn on to Wall Street, the high school kid passed me. He was looking strong, so it didn’t make sense to keep up with him. As we got to the three mile mark, though, I noticed someone else on my shoulder. It was Tim Hogeboom!
Okay, Tim wasn’t going to pass me without working for it. I was also motivated by seeing the clock and realizing that I was going to be close to 25:00. I finally found whatever jets I had in me, and turned them on for the sprint to the finish. Tim found his jets, too, but I managed to keep ahead of him. I crossed in 24:57; he was one second behind me. Tara beat me by 10 seconds.
I would categorize this as a mostly good result. Getting a course PR and sub-25:00 was good. Finishing above the median for the race was good. I might have been a spot or two higher if I carried water, and I would have been several spots further ahead if I had really trained and geared up for the race. I am confident that there is a sub-24:00 5K inside of me, and maybe even on this course one day. Something to shoot for next year!
Joe's Running Blog 