This year’s Weekly Back Cove Race Series began this evening and will continue for a total of 19 weeks through next September. It was very nice out this evening with temperatures in the low 60s despite a pretty strong headwind after you come over Tukey’s Bridge.

There were 239 people pre- registered for the series, 101 of whom ran tonight along with 45 people who registered this evening at the start.

I didn’t know what to expect this evening and figured that I would run at a fast pace that felt relatively comfortable. After the first mile I was surprised to still be in the lead and looked down at a 5:15 on my watch. I would continue to hold the lead through not quite 2½ miles as Dan Franek came up on my shoulder and then managed to run away from me about ¾ of a mile from the finish line. I had almost reeled him back in by the end of the race, but he edged me by a second, 16:59 to 17:00 flat.

Still, I was expecting maybe an 18:30 given that it’s only been a week and a half since my marathon (and 3½ weeks since Dan ran his marathon.)

Katie Davisson won the women’s race in 21:29, finishing 18^th overall. She beat Erin Bean by 41 seconds.

The shirts look great this year, by the way. I’ll be remembering my checkbook next week so that I can make my donation to Portland Trails and pick a few shirts up. They are dark blue with the logo up above on the fronts.

Registration should open again tomorrow morning if you’d like to enter your info ahead of time so that you can just pick up your bib before next week’s race.

(More Info: Full Results – Photos)