Notes
Woke up sick not feeling too great. Nothing terrible, just a head cold causing some congestion, runny nose, dryness, etc. So more of a nuisance rather than anything too bad. Started coming on Friday, continued to get worse overnight.
Liz got up early to hit the mall before the crowds. My plan was to eat breakfast, then head to the gym to ride the stationary bike for an hour. Lots of fun. After breakfast, I remembered that John Longo had mentioned he was doing the Assault on Mt. Hood on Saturday. Originally I was supposed to do the Jingle Bell Run 5K in Somerville on Sunday, but that go postponed a week due to the impending storm. Wasn't feeling 100%, but the thought of doing a cross country race seemed pretty fun, especially since I missed cross country season this fall. A quick check at the weather showing 13 degrees gave brief hesitation, but figured might as well HTFU.
Grabbed my alternate singlet, cross country shoes, warm clothes, and drove up to Melrose to make post registration and get in a short warmup. With 15 degree weather, cant go into that race without getting the muscles moving at least a little first.
Didn't know what to expect at the race. I golfed at Mount Hood once about 8 years ago and just remember it being pretty hilly. With a race name, "Assault on Mount Hood", one could only guess there may be a few hills to contend with over the course. Got to the course and saw John and Pawlicki early on. Didn't realize Jim would be here, so was good to see some familiar faces. Chris Smith, Lindsay Willard, Jason Bui, Zach Schwartz, and a few others were there as well. Didn't know what to do for footwear, opted for my cross country shoes that had some knubbies on the front to hopefully give a little traction.
Starting line was pretty casual, not your usual cross country box type start. I have to say, for 15 degree weather and fairways covered in snow in most spots, the turnout was great for this race. Gun went off and followed the trail of red flags and paint throughout the golf course. Many rolling hills with a huge downhill about 1/2 mile in. So steep that you had to hold back to avoid falling. This of course turned into a ridiculously steep up hill on a few minutes later on the grass (one part that actually wasn't covered in snow). Made a couple of passes at the top of the hill, but was sitting around 8th at this point.
Over the next mile, the chase pack I was in (Jenkins and Schwartz had a clear lead) started to pull apart, unfortunately with me on the back side. Just wasn't getting the power today that I hoped. Although given this is cross country, pace per mile doesn't really mean a whole lot. Made one last pass around the 2.5 mile mark around a BAA guy and from there on the order didn't really change until the finish. With about 1/2 mile to go, I caught a Greater Boston guy on an uphill. At the crest, we hit pavement once again with another good drop that concluded at the finish line. I just didn't even try to kick, we both coasted down the hill, him a little fast, and I followed in one second behind. A little ashamed I didn't even bother to push. Combination of coughing up phlem, being wiped from the hills, and battling for a position outside the top five led to a lazy finish, which none of them are really good excuses. Oh well. I guess his one second victory over me was to make up for his trip and fall early in the race (he was about 5 seconds ahead of me at that point so no, I didn't trip him and he was already back running before I got to him).
Ended up taking 7th overall for 3rd in my age group winning me a cool nutcracker as a price.
Overall a very well organized race. Really happy I decided to make the trip up. Great race organizer, lots of friendly volunteers, well-marked course, free beer and pint glasses, pasta lunch, chowder, and just fun group of runners. Really reminded me a lot of the Andover race that no longer exists, just a lot more hills on this one and a lot colder.
Place No. Name Time Pace Div/Tot Div Ag S City St Team
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1 117 Nate Jenkins 17:47 5:05 1/51 M3039 33 M North Andover MA CENTRAL MASS STRIDERS
2 327 Zack Schwartz 18:12 5:12 1/19 M2029 25 M Medford MA NETT-OPEN
3 339 Ryan Gough 18:57 5:25 2/19 M2029 29 M Lowell MA GLRR #1
4 30 Chad Carr 19:02 5:27 2/51 M3039 38 M Cambridge MA CAMBRIDGE RUNNING CLUB #3
5 323 Gregory Putnam 19:09 5:29 1/72 M4049 44 M Stoneham MA
6 287 Robert Deleo 19:20 5:32 3/51 M3039 31 M Winthrop MA MRC
7 335 Christopher Kluczni 19:21 5:32 4/51 M3039 31 M Somerville MA SOMERVILLE ROAD RUNNERS
8 315 Andreas Heilmann 19:40 5:37 3/19 M2029 29 M Boston MA
9 215 James Pawlicki 19:42 5:38 5/51 M3039 39 M Lynn MA CENTRAL MASS STRIDERS
10 276 Patrick Ward 19:47 5:39 6/51 M3039 30 M Philadelphia PA
11 110 Ryan Hayes 19:51 5:41 7/51 M3039 35 M Woburn MA SHAMROCK RUNNING CLUB #2
12 329 Kevin Gravina 19:56 5:42 8/51 M3039 34 M Cambridge MA CAMBRIDGE RUNNING CLUB #3
13 155 John Longo 20:14 5:47 4/19 M2029 25 M Medford MA SOMERVILLE ROAD RUNNERS