Run to Win

The 28^th running of the Mid-Winter Classic in Cape Elizabeth was this morning in what were pretty ideal conditions for the area this time of year. Temperatures hovered around 20 degrees with wind speeds under 3 miles per hour. There were 686 finishers, just a few shy of last year’s record 691.

Speaking of records, the overall course record fell for the 3^rd time in as many years, this time with Dan Vasello cutting nearly a minute off to bring the record down to 51:09. His closest competitor was Judson Cake who finished 91 seconds behind him.

In total, there were 22 people who ran under an hour for the 10 mile course, including the top 3 women who had a much closer race. Kristin Barry led Sheri Piers by less than half a minute with her winning time of 58:42. They were followed by Shannon McHale who ran 59:42.

For myself, I ran 58:09, and while it was about the same time as I ran last year, I had to work much harder for it. I went out a little too quick and was stuck with the lead pack for the first few miles, but there was nobody near us and dropping off would have meant running alone. Of course, once the pack started to string out, I fell back fast. I had a few people around me most of the race to keep me honest, although the uphill stretches nearly did me in. Normally one of my strong suits, I just could not eke out any sort of decent leg turnover, although I made up for it on the flats and downhill stretches. I guess I am not 100% recovered from the 50 miler.

I’ll post links to the photographs and videos of the race as they become available.

(More Info: Full Results – Photos)

The Maine Marathon was this past weekend, and local favorite Heather Pagano had a very strong showing in her debut marathon by taking the title in 3:06:54. She used the Weekly Back Cove Race Series this Summer as her training ground, and it seems to have served her well.

“It was overwhelming,” Pagano said. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, I actually won my first marathon.’ It was pretty cool to break the tape. That made it real. I put my arms up, then said, ‘OK, I’m done. I’m going down.’”

Both Heather and men’s winner Art Siemers collapsed after the finish line and had to be helped away by race officials, as you can see in the finish line video below:
(Click here to continue reading…)

The Sea Dogs Mother’s Day 5k was this morning at Hadlock Field in Portland, Maine. The weather was absolutely beautiful, with clear skies and warm temperatures. The race saw a record number of entrants for I don’t know how many years in a row now, with 1780 runners pre-registered and over 2200 runners registered for the race. There were 1926 finishers. Next year may have to involve a cap to the number of entrants into the race.

Dirigo had a very good showing, capturing 4 of the top 5 positions. Ethan Hemphill led the way, beating Judson Cake by 5 seconds to win in 15:14.

On the women’s side, the top 3 women were all Dirigo runners. Sheri Piers and Kristin Barry were neck and neck, both finishing in 17:26 with Carry Buterbaugh coming in 33 seconds later in 17:59.

I did not run today. I spent a few hours behind the table in preregistration before the race, and then prevented a small Korean woman from convincing her husband to run everybody over as she waited to cross the race course. Thankfully, I was able to refer her to the officer across the street when she paused to catch her breath, so she started screaming at him instead.

(Official Site – Full Results – Videos – Photos: Set 1 – Set 2 – Set 3 – Set 4)