Run to Win

The weather this morning for Eliot was much better than what the forecasts had called for. Rather than the torrential downpours and wind we were expecting, the runners were treated to a very humid but relatively cool and very calm morning with temperatures in the low 60s. Fog may have blanketed everything and all of the events for the Eliot Festival Days (except for the race) may have been canceled, but 412 runners still came out to run.

The men’s field was very competitive, with 13 runners going sub-16. Not quite the 25 sub-16s of 2005, but a good jump on the past few years where only 7 or 8 sub-16 runners competed. Louis Luchini was unchallenged at the finish line in 14:39, while Robert Edgerton only managed to edge out Patrick Moulton by 1 second with a time of 14:53.

Carry Buterbaugh also had a strong lead at the finish line, finishing 22 seconds ahead of Johanna Fickenscher in 18:11. Christine Reaser took 3^rd place in 19:13.

In team racing, Dirigo won the day no matter how you scored the race. It seems as though they went on finishing time at the awards ceremony, but the final results have the scores age graded (as they were supposed to.) All that meant was that 2 of our 3 scorers were different. PR Racing finished in 2^nd place, about 3 and a half minutes back.

The food at the end of the race was pretty good, with plenty of fruit, bagels, bread, pasta salad, cookies, and soup for all of the runners. There was even some left after people finished their cool downs.

I am not sure if there was a problem with the sponsorship, though, because the prize structure did not seem to pan out. The race announced that it would pay out 10 places, male and female, but they decided only to pay out 5 places and also reduced the money earned at that. This does not strike me as a good way to convince top talent to return to your race, especially with the constant turnover in race directorship. I think that Eliot’s best days may be past, which is shame because it used to be such a good showcase for New England talent.

My own race went well, but I still failed to meet my season goal. I finished in 16:30, going out a few seconds slower than I wanted and then falling apart near the end. One of my teammates kept himself motivated at the end by watching my form fall apart in the last half mile, although I still kept my lead on him as I struggled to the finish line.

(Full Results – Team Results – Official Photos – Photos & Videos)

This morning was the 10^th annual Dan Cardillo Memorial 5k, which is run in memory of Dan Cardillo and to which all proceeds go towards his charitable fund. The light rain and dreary skies didn’t keep the runners away this morning, with 306 people running the race. This race is popular for local runners because it is very flat and relatively fast.

The race went out at a pedestrian 3:10 for the first kilometer, until Nor’Easter runners Robert Gomez (2^nd/15:47) and Jeff Sqrague (3^rd/16:02) pulled in front of eventual race winner Ethan Hemphill (1^st/15:31) and tried to put the sag on and slow down the pace further. Ethan got around them and picked up the pace, splitting up the lead pack into 2 groups.

The Nor’Easter runners managed to win the team event by 6 seconds, taking the 2-3-5 slots to Dirigo’s 1-4-6 slots, 48:08 to 48:14. I was about half a minute behind the pace that I wanted, finishing in 6^th place overall with a time of 16:27 and about 8 seconds behind Nick Scott, the 3^rd Nor’Easter runner.

(Full Results – Age Group Results – Team Results – Course Map – Photos: CD 1 & CD 2)

The New Bedford Half Marathon in Massachusetts was this morning. It is the first of seven races in the USATF New England grand prix racing series. The temperature was in the high 30s with some strong wind but not as strong as in years past. It was much stronger at 9:30 in the morning than it was at race time.

The course is pretty flat, with some hills in the first few miles and one decent sized hill over the last mile of the race. There are 4 or 5 miles of (mostly) gentle downgrade in the middle of the course. Those miles correspond with when the wind is at your back, but it comes straight into your face from mile 9 through most of the rest of the run.

There were 1666 runners this year. Derese Deniboba won with a time of 66:29, almost 2 minutes ahead of New Balance Boston’s Ryan Carrara.

Ethan Hemphill led the Dirigo runners, outsprinting a few competitors to finish 11^th in 69:45. I rounded out the scoring for our team as the 5^th man in 76:31.

Heidi Westerling led the women’s race, finishing 65^th overall and winning with a time of 74:30. She passed me about 4 or 5 miles into the race. Molly Taber came through in 5^th for the women with a time of 77:16 for her warmup for the Olympic Trials in April. She ran the majority of the middle miles with me, but decided not to let me break the wind for her in the back stretch and fell back a little.

The Boston Athletic Association dominated in the team race, winning the men’s race with a combined time of 5:47:57 and the women’s race in 3:49:47. Scores are the aggregate time of the first 5 runners on a team for the men’s race and the first 3 runners on a team for the women’s race. The men’s team won by about 9 minutes and the women’s team won by about 5 minutes.

Dirigo finished 5^th overall, following the Merrimack Valley Striders by only 30 seconds. Our combined time was 6:02:28.

(Full Results)

Last weekend was the USATF Masters 5k Cross Country Championship Meet at Saratoga Springs, New York. Dirigo did not field a team this year, although we did send two runners. After two great performances, the Dirigo guys spent some time hob-knobbing with the Genesee Valley Harriers as they get ready for the 10k championship race in Ohio this November.

Pete Bottomley ran a strong 15:50 to place 2^nd in the 45-49 category, cutting 12 seconds off of last year’s time and placing 5^th overall with an age graded time of 14:17. Tom Ryan also put in a strong performance, placing second in the 50+ division with a time of 16:33 and placing 4^th overall with an age graded time of 14:15.

(Full Results)

The USATF cross country masters championship races were yesterday at Saratoga Springs in New York.

Dirigo won handily in the men’s 40-49 race, beating the Genesee Valley Harriers 48 to 76. Brian Pope of Oxford, MS won the race in 15:25, followed by Mike Payson (15:28) and Todd Coffin (15:34).

Tom Ryan won the 50+ race in 16:25; this placed him fourth with an age-graded time of 14:15.

Shore Athletics Club of NJ beat out the Finger Lakes Runners Club by 1 point in the women’s race. Carmen Ayala-Tronco won the race in 17:19 by almost 40 seconds.

From the Dirigo press release: (Click here to continue reading…)

The Physical Therapy 8k in Brunswick, Maine went off this morning at 9:00. The weather was on the cool side, but it was a beautiful day for running. There were some breezes along the course, especially early in the race, but the headwinds were not too strong. There were 164 finishers.

Dirigo beat out PR Racing/Moose Milers by about 8 minutes, taking 4 of the top 5 in the race. Ethan Hemphill (25:36) and Josh Zolla (26:45) led the way for the entire race. TJ Hesler from PR Racing came in a solid 3^rd place with a time of 28:08, followed by Rob Fast (28:26) and Blaine Moore (28:49). Marjorie Graff completed the scoring for Dirigo in 31:57, winning the women’s race by over a minute. Tiki Humphries (33:09) and Jessica Fortin (33:28) raced it out for 2^nd and 3^rd place.
(Click here to continue reading…)