The last weeks of summer and the early part of fall are the best time for long distance races. For me, I get the summer to work off the few extra pounds that I inevitably gain back in the winter, and I have a little extra daylight to run longer distance runs, so I am often in better condition.
Since the last update, I have competed in several races, two of which are in the Seacoast Series, which is a lot of fun. The first was Saunders at Rye Harbor, a 10k race named after a place that no longer exists. I had a big training week, and when the race started, I avoided a mistake I frequently make (starting out too fast) by simple exhaustion. Instead, I ran very nearly even splits, right at 6:00 pace for the first 4-5 miles, and I ended up with a solid 37:46, which was 8 seconds off my course PR set 2 years ago. For my efforts, which landed me a second place in my age division, I won a singlet and shorts, a novel, and $25 in cash. Add it to the T-shirt and that was a pretty nice haul for one night!
Nick and I ran a race called the "You and Me" (ME being a play on the state of Maine). This was the first race of its kind that I have seen -- it was a true relay. The first runner races a 5k, then hands a baton to the second runner, who does virtually the same course. The most difficult part of the event was finding the starting line, as my GPS magically disappeared from my vehicle and did not return (oldest son driving now... hmm). We drove around lost for about 45 minutes before my uncle, who lives right near there, saved us by giving us very good directions. Because I didn't have enough time to warm up, we swapped order and Nick ran first, hitting a solid 18:17. I finished up in 18:25, and we placed 3rd in the 40-59 (combined) age division.
The Kennett Challenge marked the start of the cross country season, and the Kennett high school team and the local White Mt. Milers club raced against the Fryeburg Academy XC squad. Usually the milers run away with the team score, but this year we missed Jim Johnson, Kevin Tilton, and Leslie Beckwith (who ran with her young son), and we were defeated by FA. Silas Eastman won the race with a time that tied his own course record (10:07), and our own Tim Livingston, ran a very solid race for second. Tim Even, USM all-star and former FA runner and now coach, backed off a bit at the finish and came in 3rd. Nick was fourth, squeaking past a FA runner at the finish, in a PR of 11:17. I held off a FA runner for 6th (11:41). Alex had a decent run at 13:36, and Melissa was the number three scholastic runner behind Sarah Hernandez (KHS) and one FA runner with 14:16. She counted for the milers, though, because she is only in 7th grade and not on the HS team.
The next race was the Millen Mile, a one mile track race in honor of a great community member, Gary Millen. This was an evening event, and some of the big guns came out to race. Tim Even won the overall race in 4:29, Tim Livingston would have broken the race record with a 4:36, and Kevin Tilton, last years winner, ran the same time as last year for third. I managed a fourth place finish with 5:00.3, a fairly good time for me in a race like this. Steve Piotrow hit 5:14, and Gabe Flanders, after eating French Fries, decided at the last minute to join the field and ran a very strong 5:22. Allan Whitley completed the men's field with a 6:07. The women's field only had three runners, but they were all very strong, led by repeating champion Leslie Beckwith, in 5:44. Meredith Piotrow broke 6:00, and Cathy Livingston managed a 6:06, a very solid race.
The latest Seacoast race was the Fox Point Sunset 5 miler, my favorite race of the year. It's not about the course, the distance, or the level of competition. It's about the FOOD! They have a cookout with burgers and dogs, pizza, cookies, brownies, bagels, etc. It's the best spread of any race I have been to. Having just raced the mile the night before, I was not expecting much. Again, I avoided going out to hard because I simply couldn't go out hard. However, I was quite surprised that I ran 5:51, 6:00, and 6:05 for the first three miles. I was 18:31 at 5k, which made me smile because Nick's X-C time from earlier in the day (on a hilly terrain course) was 18:33. Around the fourth mile, the runner who was in 4th place stopped by the side of the road to throw up. I felt a moment of sympathy before thinking... well, that moves us up a place! I chased a fellow named Tyler Doyle for the last mile (which turned out to be uphill, and explains the solid start) and ended up at 30:28, which was about 30 seconds off my best. That made sense given the way I felt after the night before's full out effort, plus the running around at Alex and Nick's X-C race in the AM. I think at full speed I might have been able to take 3rd place, but I was still happy with 5th. Chris Ritchie took the win, and we all enjoyed a nice cookout (once the nausea from racing full out abated).
Next up in the Seacoast Series is Great Island, and then Great Bay, both 5k's. Meanwhile, I am changing my training to get ready for indoor track, under the guidance of Roger Pierce, a many time American and World Champion Master's runner, who has agreed to coach me. The goal is a fast 400m time; from that, all else will come!
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Darin
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