Run to Win

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)

Every year, the Portland Sea Dogs put on a 5k race on Mother’s Day. The team mascot, Slugger, drives in the pace car with his mother around the course, which is one loop. It is a fun race that usually has less than ideal conditions. Not today, though. The weather was beautiful, with a slight brreeze, no clouds, and temperatures in the mid to high 50s.

The good weather contributed to a record turn out, sealing this race as the largest 5k in Maine. There were 1439 finishers of almost 1800 registered for the race. There were around 1300 runner pre-registered. All of the runners that have made this event as well attended as it has been allowed for there to be professional photographers on the course, and for bagpipers to be hired. They did the awards ceremony outside of the stadium this year, though, which was a little odd. There is a 1:00 game against Binghamton, which must be the reasoning behind that.

Louie Luchini decimated the field in 14:30, averaging 4:41 per mile and beating the course record by 42 seconds. Ethan Hemphill came in about a minute later in 15:27. Kristin Barry and Sheri McCarthy-Piers repeated last year’s top two for the women’s race, finishing in 17:35 and 17:49 respectively.

I had a better race than I could have expected. I was there a few hours early to register and to run the course backwards at a very slow 9:00 to 9:15 pace. There were no dead animals on the course this year. After standing around for a while I got a few more miles of slightly quicker warm-up in, and then got ready to race. I managed to come through in 16:43, which is a slightly quicker start than I normally have at this time of the year. Less than a month out from my marathon, I will take this as a sign that this year I will go below the 16 minute barrier. My best remains either 16:07 or 16:09 from an indoor track race in college. I managed to place third in the 25-29 category, and the trophies remain the only ones that I have that have a baseball in them.

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

The Portland Sea Dogs held their 5th annual Mother’s Day 5k this morning. It was overcast and it drizzled off and on, and there was a fairly monstrous wind at the start, but the race has been growing by leaps and bounds. Not even (slightly) foul weather can stop it, apparently. There were over 1000 people registered to run, and over 800 people finished the race. Local man Ethan Hemphill won for the fourth year in a row with a time of 15:32, earning the right to throw the first pitch at a Sea Dogs game. Emily LeVan has apparently recovered from being the first American woman in the Boston Marathon 3 weeks ago to win the women’s race in 18:09.

I was also recovered from the Boston Marathon, but I didn’t have a very good base and was quite a bit slower. Last year, my team took home a good percentage of the trophies; not this year though.

The Sea Dogs won the first game of a double header in 10 innings (3-2), but the second game that had been rained out yesterday was also rained out today. I wanted to see them play the Navigators, and unfortunately had to watch them lose on Friday night (it was cold). I did not go to today’s game.