Good Times 5K of Lowell MA

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2010 Wild Rover Series (Read 626 times)

evtish


    Thanks EJ.  What a nice guy!  Jason- nice writeup.

     

    Well, I'm back from the Dr and got the antibiotics to help kill off the strep.  I may be ready for Sunday after all.

      Who said you could post my Thanks, EJ!
      Socref91


        EJ, Very proud of my running son....lol

         

        Even after he called me a sandbagger in his blog, damn younsters.......lol

         

        Its not not going to be easy to crack the top 3 in the 40 something DIV this Spring @Goodtimes!!!

         

        See you all (or most of you) on Sunday!!!!!

          Its not going to be easy to crack the top 3 in the 40 something DIV this Spring @Goodtimes!!!

           

          Hard enough anyway, but Boston should thrash my legs and make it even more brutal and unlikely.  Bring it on.  Smile

           

           

           

           

          I heard a nasty rumor that Dave may not be starting the Spring series up on its usual first Tuesday of April, because it's dark by the time the last runner finishes.  Somebody want to put on a detective's hat and check on that Sunday?  Assuming the rumor's not accurate, this countdown is accurate.

           

          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.

             

             

             

             

             

            I heard a nasty rumor that Dave may not be starting the Spring series up on its usual first Tuesday of April, because it's dark by the time the last runner finishes. 

             Well I hope your rumor is wrong.  I can't wait for registration to open up.

            evtish


              See you tomorrow guys.  Plan on hanging around for a few beers!  lots of room at the Claddaugh!  We'll see how it goes for me. I've been sick so my miles are down and I feel kind of beat up, but I'll try to suck it up and give a good effort.  My goal is to beat Caroline Bjune since she beat me last week and I just barely beat her in the last 4 miler I ran from the Claddaugh.
                Run tall, race hard, finish strong!  Looking forward to your race reports, I'll be out in Clinton so tip a few for me boys.

                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.

                  Drink one for me too.  I probably won't run a race until good times.
                  DekRunner


                    I've been sick so my miles are down ...

                     

                    Your miles are down?  Twenty-eight miles would easily be weekly PR for me.  How to hang tough when you're sick.  See you at the Clad.

                      Wild Rover #2 Writeup:

                       

                      http://jbrunningink.blogspot.com/2010/03/march-7th-2010-race-lawrence-ma-4.html

                       

                      (photos courtesy of www.jimrhoades.com)

                       

                      Day 66 - The pride of Greater Lowell showed up in full force for the Wild Rover #2 Four Miler in Lawrence, MA. Appropriately, we were all decked out in the spiffy new, green singlets.


                      Off the top of my head, I can think of Fil, Cullen, Jon, Matt, Kevin, Mike, and myself for GLRR reps at this race. Jimmy, Glenn, and Jim S. also made guest appearances throughout the day. Please let me know if I am missing anyone!

                      The temps at race time was closer to 52 degrees than 32 degrees! It was snowing at this time last year! In other words, it was a near perfect day for a race (stupid wind)!


                      No parking issues this week as Fil and I got to the race relatively early, plus there was plenty of parking around the Claddagh. Good thing Sovereign doesn't open on Sundays like some other bank!


                      The crowd was still thin when I went to pick up my race packet inside the very spacious pub. By the time the starting gun (hey, we're in Lawrence after all) went off at 11AM, there were over 900 runners lined up. I later found out (from Andy S.'s Facebook posting) that this was the largest road race EVER in Lawrence! Over 1,000 registrants per Dave C.!


                      Once the race got underway, the blistering pace was set by about ten runners leading the charge down the first mile of the out and back course. I ran most of the first mile with Eric M. on my left and Jimmie C. once again directly in front of me.


                      Yesterday's 14 miler on the Heartbreak section of the Boston course was coming back to haunt me as I started to feel the heaviness in my legs. I crossed Mile 1 in about 5:48, about where I expected to be, but I knew that it wasn't going to get any easier as we were coming onto the biggest challenge on this course, the half mile hill section right before Mile 2:



                      I caught up to Jimmie right around the base of the hill and we exchanged a brief conversation, discussing our prior day mistake of running up a few hills (Jimmie had raced a 6 miler up and down Mt. Sunapee the day before). Well, at least we were on "equal footing" at this point.


                      Being a masochist, I actually enjoy running up hills (big fan of the NE Mountain Series). Even though I was slowing down going up this hill, I did manage to put in a little more effort, allowing me to pass two to three other runners on this stretch.

                      Running through my mind was the fact that the steepest portion of the hill was just 1/4th of a mile long, or just one lap around a flat track. It apparently worked because I was up and over the crest of the hill, and through mile two in 6:25. That wasn't so bad!

                      What goes up must come down, and boy did that hill come back down on the other side! The hill coming back down was just as steep. I was in a controlled free-fall as I started the return trip home, halfway through the race.

                       

                      It was such an awesome sight to see all of the other runners making their way up the hill as I turned back onto Riverside Dr. It was also a nice boost to get a few "Go Greater Lowell! as I ran pass what seemed like an endless flow of runners going in the other direction. The crowd looked more like a marathon than a 4 miler!

                      Once again, like last weekend, I had trouble getting the turnover I wanted on the downhill portion (Yes, EJ, I even tried "wax on, wax off"! Mr. Miyagi would be proud!), and this was where Jimmie passed me back for good, but not without a few nice words of encouragement. Great run today, Jimmie! More rest next weekend and we'll do it again!

                      I got through the mostly downhill Mile 3 in 5:50, so I was back on track as far as that mile pace was concerned, but I knew that the uphill had thrashed my overall targe pace (and legs) for good. I was over a 6 minute mile pace at this point.

                      Survival mode kicked in for me halfway through Mile 3, and I actually couldn't wait for the race to be over with. There was not much more I could give, and Jimmie was pulling further and further away from me down the final stretch.

                      It got even worse as I made the second to last left turn on the course and was greeted by a wall of wind. I gave it everything I had to get through this short stretch, knowing that the finish line was less than a tenth of a mile around the corner.

                      I crossed the finish line in 24:18 (6:05 pace) for a 6th place finish. To my surprise, I was actually in 5th for about the hour that I was at the pub and saw the pre-lim results. I also held onto my streak of 1st in Age Group finishes...for about the hour that I was at the pub. Results were later adjusted for a missing runner that finished ahead of me, and just as my luck would have it, he was in my age group, thus pushing me back to 2nd in Age Group! Oh well, can't win them all!

                      GLLR Boys' order of finish:

                      Jason - 24:18 - 6th overall
                      Fil - 27:13 - 29th overall
                      Cullen - 28:08 - 48th overall
                      Matt - 28:23 - 53rd overall
                      Kevin - 28:49 - 63rd overall (12 yrs old! 2nd in Age Group 1-19!)
                      Mike - 29:27 - 71st overall
                      Jon - 36:40 - 414th overall (2nd in Age Group 70-99!)
                      !YOUR NAME HERE (OR EVEN HIGHER)!

                      Congrats to the overall winners, Jose Ortiz and Heather Searles!

                      Great job by all 909 finishers!

                      Looking forward to the final Wild Rover next weekend in Lowell (5 Miles). This time, it's on GLRR territory! Let's get out there and show them how to run, GLRR's!!

                      Notable Notes: Fil broke 400 miles for the year on our planned cooldown run to get him that milestone! Congrats!

                      evtish


                        Nice race there guys and exceptional race report again Jason.

                         

                        So I saw you and Fil during your cool down and never saw you inside to enjoy a beer.  Lost Eric too but I knew he was taking off.  Ended up seeing John Morris and his brother and hung around for a few black and tans - good stuff.  Now back to training because I can hear Fils' footsteps right behind me.

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