I was on the road, zero dark early, for the almost two hour drive to Gloucester, headed toward the 7th and final USATF-NE Grand Prix Road Race. I jogged over to the porta-potty area and was surprised at the length of the lines so early! I then went to the bib pick-up canopy, which had no line.
Walking past the USATF-NE liaison table we, JoAnne and I, saw Jean Cann and stopped for a quick chat. We headed back to the van where I pinned the bib, #665, on my singlet. It was about time for my warm-up so I ran over to Thatcher Road and joined the crowd of runners. It took about two miles including strides before I felt ready. I was a little concerned because my legs had felt sluggish on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I ran back to the van, accidently hit JoAnne in the head with the van door. After a few minutes of ice to the afflicted area, we strolled across the beach over to the start line.
I did a couple of pick-ups and returned to the start area, saw the CMS women's team and wished them good luck. I seeded myself appropriately and was joined by Martin Tighe and we chatted a bit. Suddenly, everyone was running. Martin and I both were chuckling as neither of us heard any start gun or horn!
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| Photo Credit JoAnne Griego |
Anyway we were off and running, I felt OK clocking Mile 1 in 6:10. Once again I forgot to set my GPS to take mile splits, so I only have what was called out on the course. I was 18:37 at Mile 3 (6:12 pace). The first three felt easy enough, Mile 4 felt harder. I tried to tag along with some WMD?/Millennium? runners, then I saw Phil Savoy(CMS) in the distance. He was the lucky guy with the Bib #666. I caught up with him at about 4.5 miles, passed him, he came back by me, I pressed a bit harder, went by him again. I gained some confidence, saw Jenn Brooks(CMS) and went by her at around mile 5. We were now running back along the shore and the wind was in my face. I went after, and caught, a runner wearing a GLRR singlet, then I targeted a runner in a New Balance kit. I could now see the final hill before the finish line. I passed the NB runner and saw a age grouper in a white singlet up ahead. I could not tell if he was in my age group. I pressed to close the gap and saw that it was a Greater Springfield Harrier. I came up next to him and decided to pass and drive hard up the hill. At about .3 miles left I passed him, pushed up the hill and dashed for the finished line. The whole time I was wondering if Phil, Jenn, GLRR guy, NB girl, or the GSH was going to come flying by me!
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| Photo Credit John C Mulroy |
My legs held out to the finish. I think miles 5-6 were good I was not passed (not that I recall) and passed a few people. Last year I was 39:35 chip and 39:41 gun, and this year 39:04 chip and 39:11 gun,so it's 31 second pr for this course! And I managed 6th place in my age group to pick up 5 GP points. As always, it was fun. I put in a couple of post race miles and we drove over to Salem for lunch, a cold adult beverage and a walk on the waterfront.
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