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Shamrock Race Report (Read 452 times)

    It was another great year for the Shamrock. The temperature was in the low 30's at race time with the sun shining brightly. I immediately ditched my gloves but stuck with the jacket for the first half. The temp was up in the 40's by halfway and I dropped my jacket. Beautiful weather the whole way with barely a breeze and clear skies. I decided to run with the 3:20 pace group. It ended up being a good choice. What a great bunch of people in that group. Our very own DannyC was the pace leader and did a fantastic job. He brought us in for the half in 1:39 just as promised giving everybody a minute in the bank for the second half. This was my first time running with one of the pace groups. I had always used them as targets to pass instead. What a great experience. Everybody was looking out for one another. We shared gels and made sure that everybody got water when they needed it. It was such great teamwork. Unfortunately the group started to break apart with about 5 miles to go. I let the bulk of the group go on ahead since I was on good pace and felt like I could maintain the rest of the way to the finish. I stuck with Dan until about 2 miles to go and then sped up just a little since I still had a little left. I havn't seen the official time, but easily finished in under 3:20, qualifying for Boston and setting a 10 minute PR! Thanks again for the perfect pacing Dan! The Shamrock organization was great as usual. Plenty of water/gatorade. All kinds of fan support. Some of the best swag at any race (long sleeve tech shirt, tech hat, big medal, and a goodie bag). I couldn't ask for much more.
      sounds like you had a great race. Congrats on the BQ and the huge PR!
        Way to go Jeff and way to go DannyC! Well done gentlemen, well done.

        E.J.
        Greater Lowell Road Runners
        Cry havoc and let slip the dawgs of war!

        May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, may the sun shine warm upon your SPF30, may the rains fall soft upon your sweat-wicking hat, and until you hit the finish line may The Flying Spaghetti Monster hold you in the hollow of His Noodly Appendage.

          Hey Jeff, Great job out there on Sunday. It was great to have you out there with the group. A lot of people had great runs and after looking at the results it seems that once I dropped to the back of the group to pick up the end of the line the people out in front had the energy left to pick up the pace and really have strong finishes. I saw at least one guy who was with the group at 21 miles and ended up with a 3:15 finish, that is pretty strong over the last 5 miles. Looking forward to going back and pacing again next year. Big grin
          2010 Goals
          Succesful pacing jobs at Shamrock (3:20)...
          VTU 100 Ultramarathon - finish
          at least 250 miles/mo., 3000+ miles for the year