2015 National Masters XC 5K Championship October 18, 2015

JoAnne and I loaded up the van with snackages for the three hour drive to Saratoga Springs, NY. This was to be my first XC race in 40 years. The last one was October 1975, in some hostile desert or mountainous region of New Mexico. Apparently not getting any smarter over the last four decades, I decided that it was a good idea to sign up for this race. After the drive, and having our pockets picked from Worcester to Albany, down "The Pike" we arrived in a most beautiful area, the Saratoga Springs Spa State Park. Parking was plentiful and close by the start area. And the air temperature had warmed to a balmy 40 degrees! A bit like my first race back in February, at the Amherst 10 mile.

I was greeted by in the parking lot by CMS teammate Mr. "Only One Hill" himself, Dave Dunham. He kindly directed me to the Strider encampment. I walked over and gave greeting to the 40+ team as they were preparing for their warmup.

CMS 40+ Masters Team
(Photo Credit John Griego)

I asked Jim Pawlicki the whereabouts of the Bib pick-up area. He pointed and and we strolled to the tent where some friendly representatives handed, to me, my front and back bibs.

I decided to do a course preview and jogged down the long grassy start area. The course was well marked and there were guides giving directions at every turn. I reached a sharp downhill at about 1/2 mile in and reminded myself to run wide to avoid the crowd crush. After crossing the bridge over Geyser Brook I reached an uphill on Picnic Lane, which I came to discover, was no picnic! Cresting the hill, there began a loop, and mile 1, that returned me to the same hill and back down to the brook. I ran along the bank, which has great views of Geyser Brook. Crossing another footbridge further down I headed toward mile 2 and a short but rather sharp hill called Femdell Hill.

Femdell Hill
(Photo Credit John Griego)

At the top of this hill the course was relatively flat/rolling to the finish. I stopped at 2.6 miles anticipating the arrival of the 40+ Master runners. It then began to snow and hail. Soon the runners arrived and I was pleased to see the CMS team closely stacked up front. It appeared they had the 5K XC Title in hand!

Race Leaders
(Photo Credit John Griego)

Team Running
(Photo Credit John Griego)

I was getting cold and ran back to the van to warm up a bit. After the Women's race started and was about 15 minutes in, I walked out to begin my warm up.

Pre-Race Happiness
(Photo Credit JoAnne Griego)

 I joined Dave in an open starting lane and after a few instructions from the starter, we were off and running! Although I was going out at or a bit quicker than planned it seemed as though I was getting swallowed up by the crowd converging on the first hard right turn at the end of the straightaway.

I failed to follow my own advice, hitting the inside turn on the first sharp down hill and barely kept from doing a major face plant. Crossing the bridge and cresting the first hill I was sucking wind and I heard 6:05 called out at mile 1. Negotiating the big loop and back downhill I recovered a bit and found myself with a couple of M55-59 age groupers. We ran along the brook, which seemed a little less scenic than when I first passed. Crossing the second bridge, and despite the fact that I was getting tired, I was having fun. We approached Femdell Hill and I knew that all the hill repeats, Amanda had me perform, would come in handy. Halfway up, at mile 2, I heard 12:27 called out. I reached to top of the hill, hoping everyone felt at least as bad as I did. The course was flat(ish) now and I tried to press down to pass the runner in front of me wearing a M55 back bib. Every time I would close, he found a bit to hold me off. I think this chase kept the runners behind me from closing as well. We exited the woods and people we calling out names and encouraging runners. I could see the finish banner and could hear runners behind me and tried to catch the guy in front of me, but my legs were toast; however, I managed to not be passed.  I forgot to stop my watch...but I didn't care. I was tired, had some fun, and was ok with the effort.

Holding on!
(Photo Credit JoAnne Griego)

The gory details...

Finish Time 19:14, 6:12 per mile pace

6th Place, 23 total M55-59 Age Group
31st Place, 58 total M50-59 Age Group

While I need to relearn how to run XC, I had a great time. I'll be back!