Run to Win

This week last year was all about racing, specifically focusing on the New England Mile. Alas, the NE Mile no longer exists, but at least it went out with a bang. I also delved a little into politics and into cross training last year.

• Early in the week, it was announced that we had secured a $1500 bonus for breaking 4 minutes in the New England Mile. If it happened, then it would be the first time that a native Mainer had done so on Maine soil. Standout runner Louis Luchini and Pete Bottomley appeared on the Kid’s First radio show before the race, discussing the father/child competition and general running. Shortly after the show was announced, though, Pat Tarpy announced his intention to race. Not only did he intend to race, but Tarpy won the race in 3 minutes and 54 seconds, winning the race and taking home the prize money. After the race, he was asked when he knew that he was going to win the race. “Yesterday,” was his reply.
• In other racing news, the first Back Cove 5k Leader Board was announced. I expect that this year’s first leader board (which will be announced on Wednesday evening) will be much larger. Not only have there been over 100 runners every week, but there have been quite a few people that have run all 5 of the initial races so far.
• For cross training, I suggested that you pay attention to your lawn and do some yard work. You can get a good workout that way and your spouse will love you for it.
• Delving into politics, I tried to determine whether the NCAA had the right to kick a blogger out the baseball finals so that he couldn’t “scoop” the paid media sponsors. I never did see what agreements that he had to sign in order to get his press pass.
• This week two years ago I concentrated mostly on topical news, both local and national. I also shared my recipe for grilled catfish and tried to determine how many pushups I was capable of doing (46).

The Pat’s Pizza 5 Mile Classic at the Yarmouth Clam Festival was this morning. Pat Tarpy came back to Maine to attempt to set the course record. Two years ago, he ran a course record 24:29 but was soundly beaten by Matt Lane, who ran an impressive 23:48. This year, having already run the fastest mile on Maine soil, he set his sights on breaking Matt’s record. He went out strong and on pace, but fell back a little in the last mile to finish 8 seconds shy in 23:56. He has, however, now broken the course record from before the course was certified. Jeff Caron took second place but was over a minute back in 24:58.

The women’s race was much closer, with Kristin Barry and Sheri Piers repeating last year’s 1-2 finish. They were only 7 seconds apart, running 28:56 and 29:03, respectively. I didn’t see Joan Samuelson at all today, but she came through a hair under 30 minutes, just as she has for the past few years.

Despite the coolest weather since I began running this race, I did not do quite as well as I had hoped to. My goals were about a half minute to 45 seconds faster than I ran, which shows that I should have followed last year’s strategy of running negative splits. My last two miles were a solid and even effort, but they were both about 9 seconds per mile slower than they were in 2006. I came through in 28:02, which will hopefully serve as a good wake up call for my legs so that I can perform well in two weeks at the Beach to Beacon.

There were also 290 children who completed the kid’s 1 mile fun run, and 917 finishers in the 5 mile race.

(Full Results – Clam Festival – Fun Run Results – Photos)

The results for the New England Mile are available and are now online. The official press release is copied below. The race was a great time, and I am looking forward to it again next year. The race was twice the size of last year’s field, and it is very exciting to see that sort of growth.

Overall Results | Top Ten Males & Females | Top Ten Masters M/F
Age Group Results | Father/Son Team Results | Father Daughter Team Results

June 17th, 2007
Portland, Maine

The organizers of the KeyBank New England Mile got what they wanted when Pat Tarpy shattered the 4 minute barrier running 3:54 and collecting the $1,500 prize sponsored by The Downeast Group at Smith Barney, to lead a pack of 5 talented Mainers who all ran 4:05 or better.

“I’m still keyed up from Tarpy’s performance,” said an elated Pete Bottomley, Key Bank New England Mile director. “I expected Pat to be fast but I was surprised that he broke the 4 minute barrier by such a large amount. It was inspiring to watch.”

The lead packed came through the quarter mile in 56 seconds. 20 seconds later Tarpy surged to the front and was never really challenged. He led through the half mile in 1:56 and was running strong and smooth at the ¾ mile marker that he passed in 2:56. With 30 meters to go and the crowd going nuts Tarpy eased back a little and took a moment to wave to the crowd.

Ayalew Taye, who will attended Georgetown University in the fall, finished second in 4:02 followed by Gabe Rivard in 4:03, Jeff Caron in 4:04 and Louie Luchini in 4:05.

“We had truly amazing performances in all age group and gender categories with over 300 people running the race. I think we’ve hit our mark and I hope this race will continue to go and become a Father’s Day tradition,” exclaimed Bottomley. “We already have a commitment for equal award money for the female runners next year. Claudia Camargo shattered the women’s record running 4:27 which equates to a sub 4 mile for men. I would love to be able to reward a woman with the same amount of prize money that the men receive for that type of performance.”

For race results go to www.newenglandmile.com

For more information and interviews contact:

Pete Bottomley
207-807-1133

Patrick Tarpy absolutely dominated the field at the New England Mile this morning, coming in at an impressive 3 minutes, 54.8 seconds. His excellent race was the first sub-4 minute mile run by a Maine runner on Maine soil, and earned him a $1500 bonus that was generously donated by Smith Barney. When the race was over, he was asked at what point he knew that he was going to break 4 minutes. His reply? “Yesterday.”

Congratulations to Pat, and to the rest of the great field of around 300 finishers this year. Official results will be available later this afternoon.

Louie Luchini is going to have his work cut out for him on Sunday at the New England Mile, because Patrick Tarpy has just announced that he will be joining the field. The $1500 prize for the first sub-4 minute mile on Maine soil is really up for grabs. Pat Tarpy has recently run a 23:15 8k. He ran a 3:41.28 in the 1500 in Boston last week, the equivalent of a 3:59.3 mile. The last time that I raced him, he beat me by over 2 minutes at the Elliott Festival 5k with a time of 14:16. There may very well be 4 or 5 people below the course record of 4:05.

Whether you can run or not, I recommend getting out to at least watch what is going to be a spectacular race.

The Eliot Festival Day 5k was this morning in Eliot, Maine. The field was not quite as deep this year, but still saw a record setting winning time of 14:16. Pat Tarpy of Providence (formerly of Yarmouth) beat the field by almost a minute. Casey Moulton and Ethan Hemphill came through in 15:12 and 15:18 to round out the top 3. Rehima Kedir and Reba Naser of Ethiopa won the women’s race, coming in right behind me in the low-mid 16:40s. Kristen Barry was third in 17:14.

There was no team award this year, but Dirigo would have won it had there been one. Everybody that came down on both the men’s and women’s side went home with cash or hardware. Josh Zolla missed breaking 16 minutes by 6 seconds. Bill Mariski and Tom Ryan were the first masters runners in 16:19 and 16:20. I was a short ways behind them in 16:38, failing to catch PR Racing’s TJ Hesler.
(Click here to continue reading…)

The 40th annual Yarmouth Clam Festival is this weekend, and the 24th running of the Clam Festival Classic 5 mile road race was this morning. The temperature was a cool 84 degrees (compared to last year’s 96 fahrenheit) despite starting at 8 o’clock in the morning.

Bob Winn held a course record of 23:58 on a short course, and Todd Coffin has the official course record of 25:06 on the recertified and full distance course. Matt Lane of Menlo Park, California decided to come into town for the clam festival, and he smashed both records with a time of 23:48, followed not so closely by Patrick Tarpy of Yarmouth in 24:29 (also a record setting pace). Kirby Davis followed in third place with a time of 25:38, having run 5:07 splits almost every mile.

Joan Benoit Samuelson won the women’s race for the third year in a row in 29:30, and she had her fair share of supporters all along the course. Erin Lane came east with her husband and took second place in 29:54, followed by local runner Kristin Barry in 30:06.