Melissa had the best race of her young career at the USATF Junior Olympic X-C National Championships in Hoover, AL. In addition to running a PR (by nearly a minute, at 14:22 for 3k), she moved up to 4th spot on her team (Granite State Flash) and helped them to a 10th place finish overall. She went through the first mile in 6:50 and was running very smoothly, but then developed a stitch and tied up for a half mile or so before finishing as best as she was able. She likes X-C much better than track, so after the Millennium Mile, she will probably take a well deserved break. Hopefully she will be up for some 5k's in the spring.
At the first BU Mini meet, Nick and I drove down to try to run PR's in the mile. We ran into Kevin Tilton, who raced the 3k first and then the mile, mostly as a training session. He admitted to not running much this week secondary to work and other life issues. On the official results, I was only 5 seconds behind him in the mile, as he was doubling back and I was setting my Master's PR at 4:52.66. By the way, Kevin, getting old doesn't work as an excuse against me!!
I was impressed by Jim Paige, whom I chased the entire race, but could not catch. He turns 50 soon and is running very strong this year.
Nick had a PR as well, at 5:31.57. He ran perfectly, using another runner (Philip Demers) to draft for 4 laps before making a mini-move. Philip countered and took the lead back, but with 400m to go, Nick burst ahead and kicked in strong, winning his heat running away. Nick's friend and Flash teammate Tyler DeChane ran 5:22 in the prior heat, an extremely fast time for his age.
I doubled back in the 800m, which was only about 30 minutes after my mile. At my first indoor meet, I simply scratched it because the double back was too much for my dead legs. This time I felt strong enough to try it as a workout, but I knew the time would be slow. Unfortunately I got seeded first in the section, so I went out the lead. Surprisingly, I held a strong pace (32/33/33/34) until the end where I got dusted by a youngster who finished in 2:09. My time, 2:12.61, is only 1.6 seconds from my best from last year, and after a double, I am thoroughly convinced I can blast my master's PR the next time I run a fresh 800m. Bill Newsham finished right behind me, also having doubled (with the 3k).
The Mass Velocity team was well represented, with Tucker, Bobby, Meirwyn, Tom, Roger, Sue, Jon, Ian, and Arnie all running well (Sue and Bobby both bettering times from last season already). We are on our way to defending our title as National Champions -- but we may need some help from distance runners and younger participants, especially as we won't have "home track advantage" this year!!
Meanwhile, Alex had his first Indoor Meet at UNH, hitting a PR in the 1500m at 5:43. It's his first effort at that distance, and I am sure he will hack off several seconds from that PR next time, as during practice he ran a mile (albeit downhill) at 5:30.
Next week is another BU Mini meet, and then the Millennium Mile on January 1.
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Darin
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