Run to Win

The final installment of the 2009 Weekly Back Cove Race Series was this evening, and 113 runners came out to participate. I also got out for my 7^th race this year in the series, and my first one since I broke my foot.

Curtis Wheeler (01:42:14) brought his overall time down by almost 2 minutes with his win in 17:49 today, which left him in a solid lead for the free shoes this year.

Abbey Gosling (01:54:10) was not present this evening, but nobody even came close to beating her in the series standing.

The win for the women tonight went to Nan Lobo, who ran 20:16 and completed 2 races this season.

The community spirit award went to Craig Whiten (02:19:56), who ran all but 2 of the races this season.

For myself, tonight was the first time that I have run in 45 days. I went out a bit quicker than I needed to but quickly settled into a more appropriate pace. My foot felt fine, which is good, although I am going to come back very slow and easy so that I don’t have to worry about injuring myself again.

I have no plans for my running until January, and have canceled everything I had had scheduled for the rest of the year so I can concentrate on getting better and building back my base.

I’d like to thank Stu Palmer, John Rogers, and Diane Fournier for all the work that they do throughout the Summer to put this series on. Without them, these races couldn’t happen.

I’d also like to thank Colin Ingram and Mizuno for their support, as well as Portland Trails and the Maine Track Club.

This year, we had 2864 finishers from 1203 runners, which is over a 30% increase over 2008. There was 1 person who ran every single week, Richard Dawson (02:26:47). There were 157 people who ran 6 races and found a place on the leaderboard, which is 37 more than last year and 104 more than in 2007. 23 people ran at least 13 of the races.

I hope to see everybody again next May when the 2010 series starts! Thank you for coming out.

(More Info: Full Results – Leader Board – Complete Runner’s List – Photos)

After last night’s announcement that there would only be 2 more Back Cove races, 126 runners made their way out this evening in great running conditions for the race.

Shawn Rumery led the way tonight, winning the race in 17:08. Jocelyn Olsen clocked 20:57 for her win in the women’s race.

The top of the leaderboard hasn’t changed since yesterday, but it is now 147 runners deep who have all run at least 6 of the races this year.

There are still 2 runners who have run every single race so far, and only have one more to run to have made all 18 on the year.

Don’t forget that next week is the last week of the race series.

(More Info: Full Results – Leader Board – Complete Runner’s List – Photos)

The Back Cove 5k Race Series was scheduled to go for 19 weeks this year, rather than the 18 weeks that it has been for the past 2 years. However, the last race is being dropped due to scheduling difficulties and so the series will end on September 09, 2009 instead of on September 16^th.

Awards will be given out before the race next week on 9/09. Right now, Curtis Wheeler (01:44:06) and Abbey Gosling (01:54:10) are at the top of the leaderboard.

Abbey will be almost impossible to catch her 13 minute lead, especially with only 2 races remaining.

Curtis could still be caught by Scott Gorneau (1:44:53), who trails by a mere 47 seconds over their top 6 races. Scott could take the lead if he ran one of the remaining races in 17 minutes flat, and could tie for first place if he runs both races in 17:20. He has run faster than that 17:20 time twice now in the series. If Curtis races at least one more time, though, he stands to drop his time by 2 to 3 minutes which will make him uncatchable.

The leaderboard is determined by an individual runners top 6 times throughout the 18 week series. Check the links below if you would like to see where you stand on the leader board, or if you would like to see what place you are in when you factor in every race amongst everybody who has run the same number of races as yourself!

(More Info: Leader Board – Complete Runner’s List)

127 runners were greeted with overcast skies and temperatures in the high 70s this evening for the 16^th Back Cove 5k. Only 3 races remain in the series for 2009.

The race was led by a couple of first time runners on the season, with Jason Scott leading the way in 18:09 and Jennifer Sporzynski winning the women’s race in 22:19.

Curtis Wheeler (01:44:06) and Abbey Gosling (01:54:10) both retain their comfortable leads in the overall standings. We’re now up to 131 runners on the leader board who have run at least 6 races.

There are still 2 runners who have run every single race so far. Hopefully they can make it to the last 3 races. For that matter, hopefully I’ll be able to run at least one more of them before the end of the season…

(More Info: Full Results – Leader Board – Complete Runner’s List – Photos)

The Weekly Back Cove Race Series is now 15 weeks in, with 1 more month of races remaining.

There have been 6 different winners in the past 3 weeks since my last update. Emily Durgin (19:10) and Curtis Wheeler (16:56) won on August 8^th. Matt Lunt (17:20) and Kristen Sweeney (20:24) won on August 12^th. Kurt Wente (17:40) and Marita Stressenger won on August 19^th.

Curtis Wheeler has (not surprisingly) taken over the leaderboard with a cumulative time of 1:44:06, 47 seconds ahead of Scott Gorneau. Abbey Gosling has only run once in the past 3 weeks and did not drop her cumulative time of 1:54:10 at all, but she still maintains a comfortable 13 minute lead.

Only 2 people remain who have run every single race so far this year.

I have not gotten to the race at all in the past 3 weeks, nor have I been running. My foot is getting better, but is not well enough to run on yet.

Results:Week 13 – Week 14 – Week 15 – Leader Board – Complete Runner’s List
Photos: Week 13 – Week 15

152 ran ahead of the rain in humid weather in the low 70s last night during the Weekly Back Cove 5k.

Ed Parrot won his debut weekly 5k appearance with a time of 17:20. Emily Durgin repeated her performance from 2 weeks ago, winning the women’s race in 18:36.

cutting 20 seconds off of her overall time on the leader board to 1:54:21. There weren’t any changes at the top of the men’s leader board, with me still leading the way in 1:45:59.

The leaderboard gained 5 new runners this week and now stands at 89 runners having run at least half of the 12 races so far. The list of folks who have run all 12 races is down 1 from last week to only 3 people.

Abbey Gosling may have come in second place last night with her 19:05 finish, but it was fast enough to drop her overall time down another 10 seconds to 1:54:10 (a 19:01 average.) I am still sitting at the top of the men’s leaderboard in 01:45:59, despite not running the past few weeks.

It’s also quite unlikely that I will run at any point in the next few weeks. My injury from last week has become much worse, and though I seem to be recovering relatively quickly I am not planning on trying to come back too fast. Maybe by September I’ll be able to run in the last few races.

(More Info: Full Results – Leader Board – Complete Runner’s List – Photos)

200 runners took part in last night’s Back Cove race, enjoying the sunny temperatures in the low 70s in downtown Portland.

(Somebody pretending to be) Jorma Kurry ran for the first time this year, finishing first in 16:32 with nobody anywhere near him. Abbey Gosling has started a new win streak with her 19 minute finish, cutting 20 seconds off of her overall time on the leader board to 1:54:21. There weren’t any changes at the top of the men’s leader board, with me still leading the way in 1:45:59.

The leaderboard gained 10 new runners this week and now stands at 84 runners having run at least 6 of the 11 races so far. The 4 people that had run all 10 races through last week all came back this week, so we still have 4 runners who have finished every race so far this year.

I didn’t make it to the starting line this week. I hurt my right foot on Tuesday evening so I decided to take it easy yesterday and not do any running, and stuck to just doing pushups instead.

(More Info: Full Results – Leader Board – Complete Runner’s List – Photos)

This week’s Back Cove race consisted of 214 runners braving temperatures in the low 70s with clear skies.

Curtis Wheeler led the way handily, winning the race in 16:59. Abbey Gosling’s win streak was broken, however, as her time of 18:50 was 25 seconds behind Emily Durgin’s 18:25.

Abbey’s 1:54:41 overall time on the leaderboard is still almost 13 minutes ahead of her closest competitor. On the men’s board, as predicted, I came onto it in first place with an overall time of 1:45:59. I expect that Curtis will take over that number 1 spot next week if he runs, however.

The leaderboard is growing, with 74 runners having run at least 6 of the 10 races so far. We are down to only 4 people that have run all 10 races, however, down from last week’s 6 runners.

This race was more of a tempo run for me this week. I ran to the Back Cove from work, where I saw Madeleine, Erin and Matt Lane out for a jog and decided to run with them for a short ways. The next thing I knew I barely had enough time to get from Tukey’s Bridge to the starting line, but I did make it a good 30 seconds before the start of the race. This turned my 5k into basically an 8k tempo in the middle of a 16½ mile run. I was rather tired and hungry by the time I got home.

(More Info: Full Results – Leader Board – Complete Runner’s List – Photos)