Run to Win

The Craig’s Cup 5k cross country race was this morning, which once again served double duty as the Maine USATF cross country state championship race.

There were over 200 people registered runners and 180 finishers this year, which had near perfect racing weather and conditions despite the heavy rain over the past day and a half.

The course was not nearly as wet as I would have expected that it would be, leaving the runners only moderately dirty rather than drenched in mud. Dirigo managed to beat Triad/PR Racing by exactly 3 minutes, with cumulative times of 1:25:06 to 1:28:06.

Ethan Hemphill repeated his win from last year, bettering his time by 4 seconds to finish in 16:29. His margin of victory was 12 seconds. Christine Reaser won the women’s race with a bit more breathing room, finishing in 19:43.

(Full Results – Photos » Set 1 – Set 2)

Update: All of the results for races I knew about are now accounted for, as well as the results for a race I hadn’t previously been aware of. There were at least 4561 people who finished a road race on Wednesday.

It is the Fourth of July today, one of the more popular days for a road race in the country. Here is a short recap of the Bridgton Four on the Fourth, the L.L. Bean 10k in Freeport, the York Four on the Fourth, the Winthrop Friends on the Fourth 5k, the Walter Hunt Memorial 3k in Brewer-Bangor, the Kennebunkport Goose Rock Beach 5k, and the Around Mount Desert Island Relay. Updates will appear as I find the results for each race, and I may add more races that I was not aware of, such as the Thomaston 5k.

The first race is the Bridgton Four on the Fourth. This is the one that I decided to run, and the weather was absolutely perfect for a fast, short race on a course with plenty of shade. Erik Stanley broke 20 minutes for the first time in quite a few years, winning the race in 19:57. Carry Buterbaugh ran just over 6 minute pace to win the women’s race in 24:08 on her first attempt at the course. There were 1411 finishers, about 30 shy of last year’s numbers. (Full Results – Photos)

The York Four on the Fourth was won by the local Anthony Balkier in a time of 20:52. The women were led in by Kelsey Smith in 26:50. There were 780 finishers, a healthy growth over last year. (Full Results)

The L.L. Bean 10k in Freeport was won by Ethan Hemphill in 32:33, half of a minute faster than his winning time from last year. Emily Levan had a strong showing to win the women’s race in 36:15, almost a minute faster than second-place Sheri Piers. Joan Samuelson fell back about a minute from last year’s winning time and was the fifth woman to finish. The race grew quite a bit this year, with nearly 200 extra finishers from last year to bring the total to 711. (Full Results – Race Video)

The Kennebunkport Goose Rock Beach 5k was won by again by Mike Griffin, running 6 seconds faster than last year with a winning time of 15:51. He was 50 seconds ahead of second place; a slightly smaller lead than he had last year but still a commanding one. Christine Reaser also repeated last year’s performance, finishing in 18:26. There were 644 finishers, about 30 less than last year. (Full Results)

The Walter Hunt Memorial 4th of July 3K in Brewer/Bangor was won by Steven DeWitt in 8:37. Hilary Maxim led the women in 10:54. Both runners won by less than 10 seconds. There were 490 finishers this year. (Full Results)

The Winthrop Friends on the 4th 5k was won by Gabe Rivard in a speedy 15:07. The women were led by Donna Harriman in 18:31. The race increased by over a third this year, with 407 finishers! That is some huge growth. (Full Results)

The Thomaston 5k was won by Mike Hersom in 19:07. In fourth place over all, Caity Tully won the women’s race in 20:41. There was also a 1 mile kid’s race which was won by Abby Hersom and Keenan Hendricks in 6:33. There were 89 finishers in the 5k, and 58 children in the 1 mile race. (Full Results [5k only] – News Story – Video [start line] – Winner Photo)

The Around Mount Desert Island Relay consisted of 9 teams, 8 of whom finished. The race is comprised of teams of 8 people each, although 11 people ran at least 2 legs of the race; 3 of those 11 ran 3 legs. Team Mules, from Maine, set a course record of 6 hours, 16 minutes and 29 seconds. Crow Athletics was a little over a half hour behind them in 6:52:23. Each team was given a Barbie or Ken doll with a matching bib to use as a baton. There were 68 legs of the race completed by 54 people. (Full Results [pdf])

There were at least 4561 people who finished a road race in Maine today.

The 9^th annual Kerryman Pub Road Race and Mary’s Walk were today in Saco, Maine. Ethan Hemphill and Timothy Rider both broke last year’s record setting pace by over 10 seconds; Ethan won by 2 seconds in 15:23. That ain’t walking, especially this early in the season. Kristin Barry won by almost a minute in 17:52, followed by Christine Reaser in 18:41 and Abby Iselborn in 19:16. Lynne Mooney and Dan Franek won the master’s races. There were a total of 660 finishers.

(Full Results – Race Photos – More Photos)

The Mid-Winter Classic was this morning in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. It was a chilly day with temperatures in the high teens/low twenties, but the wind was something fierce. Not much of a factor on the back of the course, the start and the finish were both very chilly and very hard to run through the wind.

Ethan Hemphill set a new course record of 52:45, 16 seconds better than the previous record from two years ago. He ran with Ryan Robitaille through mile 7+, but left him behind in the last 2 miles to win by over a minute. Sheri McCarthy-Piers won with a commanding lead over second place Kendra Hodder, beating her by over 3 minutes in 62:39. Todd Coffin also set a course record, beating teammate Mike Payson‘s masters record by 23 seconds in 54:19. Christine Reaser won the women’s masters race in 66:46.

The race set records in both the number of registrations as well as the number of finishers, which is great news for a very early season race with less than stellar weather for running. There were 660 finishers today. I was 26^th overall in 61:32. I did not quite meet my goal of of running negative splits, despite working much harder through the second half of the race.

The volunteers at the race were great. A race like this requires a lot of people to make it happen, and as of the few days before the race there were not nearly enough people committed. Around a half dozen of those who were committed had to call and cancel due to having the flu. The last 3 days before the race, though, plenty of volunteers stepped forward and they did a great job. The race also had a great spread afterwards. There was plenty of water, gatorade, accellerade, bagels, oranges, pizza, banannas and yogurt. The two course records both awarded their winners with a $100 bonus, and the other prizes consisted of head bands. An appropriate prize for a winter race.

(Full Results)

The USATF Club Cross Country Championships were this past Saturday. Linda Somers Smith of Washington won the female master’s 6k race in 22:15, leading her Asics Aggie Running Club teammates to a victory of 1 minute and 14 seconds over Club Northwest. Tracy Lokken led the Front Line Racing Team to a 1 minute and 11 second victory over Fleet Feet Racing – Boulder by finishing the 10k course in 32:44. The open races were won by Amy Hastings in 19:59 for the 6k and by Matthew Downin in 30:13 for the 10k. The Boston Athletic Assoc. and ZAP Fitness took the team awards.

Dirigo had a showing in the men’s 10k, placing 5^th. Todd Coffin (33:41) and Dan Franek (34:19) led the way, placing 12^th and 26^th, respectively. Mike Payson (35:31), Pete Bottomley (35:32), and Tom Ryan (35:44) rounded out the scoring for a total of 170 team points. Dan Dearing (37:39) and Peter Hall (38:07) also competed. Tom Ryan was 2^nd in the 50+ bracket.

In the women’s 6k, Christine Reaser was 9^th over all in 23:22.

A 24 hour monsoon saved the race from not living up to it’s “Mudstock 2007″ name, leaving the course sloppy and wet. Over 500 master’s from 60 teams lined up at the start, leading to the largest field for any USATF cross country race to date.

(Full Results – Picture)

The inaugeral Saco Bay PT 5K Cure for Breast Cancer race was this evening at 4:00. It drew quite a few people for a race in its first year; there were over 200 finishers. The weather was absolutely beautiful.

The course records belong to Matt Weber of York Beach in 17:03, and to Christine Reaser of Dayton in 18:40.

Matt had a slight workout to beat second-place Joshua Corbin, but there was no challenge to Christine. Hannah Johnston and Judith Hardenbrook took second and third in the women’s race, both with a time of 21:14.

(Full Results)

The Presidential Road Race is a 5 miler in Kennebunkport Maine. The race was missing its perennial favorite to win, Ethan Hemphill, who had not lost the race since 2002. Beautiful weather helped Patrick Moulton of Pelham, New Hampshire cruise into a 4 minute and 39 second victory over Tom Noonan of Steep Falls. They ran 24:47 and 29:26, respectively.

Katie Twarog of Providence won the women’s race and was third overall in 29:53, followed by Christine Snow-Reaser in 31:47.

(Full Results)

The Dan Cardillo Memorial 5k was this morning in Falmouth, Maine. Dirigo racing club swept the field with the first five finishers. Ethan Hemphill won the race in 15:39, followed a minute later by Josh Zolla and Bill Mariski. Blaine Moore and Rob Fast were not far behind. Sheri Piers ran a 24 second course record in 17:33, bettering Kristin Barry’s time from last year. Christine Reaser and Mary Pardi were a minute and a half to two minutes behind her. There were 268 finishers on an absolutely beautiful day in the mid 60s with a slight headwind on the course.

Update: Dan Cardillo Pictures
(Full Results)