Way too much fun - Kerouac 5K, Lowell MA 9/30 (Read 861 times)

The really nice thing about running a series is seeing the same friendly faces each week. The Kerouac was not a series race but was hosted by Hookslide Kelly's, the same watering hole that sponsors the ten week Spring and Summer Good Times 5K series. As a result the Kerouac felt like a Good Times reunion. It was a beautiful day in the mid 60's, some clouds for cover and not too much humidity. I hadn't run the race before, so the race director's description was all I had to go on. "There's a hill, it's about an eighth of a mile, that's pretty much it". Liar. There were actually three noticeable uphill stretches, but thankfully they were all on the out part of the out-and-back course. The eighth of a mile hill was very early so it wasn't bad at all. I was with a pack of about 10 runners when I stopped for my first walk break, and crossed the first mile marker at 6:45. The second mile was a bit slower, I think the clock showed about 14:00. The traffic at the water tables was pretty heavy so I passed them without stopping, I was really wishing I hadn't forgotten my water bottle. The hills that made it harder on the way out were now helping, and I seemed to get a bit of strength back. I was passed by a young lady, and decided that I was going to try to stay with her. We changed places a couple of times, and she seemed to be tiring when she asked me where the finish was. I pointed out the pack that I dropped out of at the first mile, and told her it was about .10 from where they were up ahead. I think we were about .25 mile out at that point. So much for tiring, she started her kick. She had opened up a pretty good lead on me, and at about the three mile mark I decided to try to get some of it back before the finish. I ran the last tenth hard, and wound up crossing the line at 21:00, three seconds behind her. It was a nice surprise when she thanked me for pushing her, I said I thought it was the other way around. I was 29th overall, and sixth in the 40-49 male age group. My pace bunny won her age group (20-29) and was the fourth female finisher overall. Since they were awarding the top five by age group, I wandered off to my Jeep to grab my camera. What I didn't account for was two runners from my age group finishing in the top five overall, moving me up two slots to fourth in 40-49. Figures one of the few times I earned some hardware I was missing in action. They were nice medals too. The 70-79 male age group provided a couple of great moments. The perennial winner is well known, when I heard shouts of "go George go!" I knew who was coming in to the finish. I made my way to the front of the crowd in time to see this amazing runner roar across the line at 22:23. What was really nice was the ovation for the last runner in the group was even louder at 1:00:24, the crowd went wild. Now to the important part, the afterparty was a blast. A couple of complimentary beers, a beautiful afternoon and friends to share them with. After a couple of hours of good tunes, good beer and great laughs I headed home. The clincher was a text message that popped up on my phone as I was leaving the parking garage, my brother in law had run yet another Boston qualifier by finishing the Keene NH Marathon in 3:28. Sometimes the planets line up just right, and this was one of those days. A pair of bad dawgs.

Nice report. Congratulations on a good run. So, did they give your medal to someone else?

I don't really know. I had another regular come up to me as I was leaving and she asked "where the hell were you when they were calling your name?" My incredibly eloquent response was "huh?" Of course none of the drunkards at my table were paying attention (yes that's YOU Trentman359 )

Excellent report! Didn't you push that kid in the Red Sox shirt away so you could get that picture?

He definitely pushed that kid. I think he stole the kid's beer, too.

Good luck proving it kid (the brat snapped an incriminating pic, but I took his camera away before he could get off the ground). Not. You've now left me no choice, I'm compelled to expose my accusers. Who ya gonna believe? An honest old guy who took a moment out of his day to cheer up some poor soul sweltering in a red dawg suit, or a pair of derelicts caught red-handed stealing the event posters?

Those are two handsome dudes right there

You're talking about the posters, right? Happy birthday jailbait! If you keep up this birthday thang, next year you'll be half my age.

Happy Birthday Trent! How do you guys do the gray section at the bottom that highlights your upcoming races? That's a nice feature.

You should email your RA password to me Rich, I'll give you a really nice signature.

Thanks Rich