Notes
Went out to dinner with Liz on New Year's Eve, then came home to watch a movie and fell asleep on the couch. Ended up just giving up and going to bed before midnight. As a result, woke up on the earlier side this morning and decided to jump into a race. Didn't feel like Woburn again since without it being SRR grand prix, turnout would be low with no competition. Didn't feel like making the hike to Salisbury Beach again, so Salem seemed like a good option with a few guys right around my pace. Got there and right away saw Nate Jenkins during the warmup, any hopes of starting off the year with a win like 2013 went away immediately. Saw Pawlicki at check-in and did a warmup with him.
Cold day, probably no warmer than 20 at the start. Headwind later in the race only made it feel worse, but wasn't too bad when the wind was at the back. Was sunny out which helped.
Race started out fast and I dialed it back about half a mile in to a more manageable pace. Hit the first mile split at 5:14 which was a lot better than my 5K a couple of weeks ago. Mile two came in at 5:18, which also included a long gradual incline. Felt good through two miles. Jenkins and another guy pulled away out of sight after 2 miles, followed by two runners not too far ahead of me (but far enough to be out of contact). Third place (Geoff) seemed like he was falling off pace and would be able to get picked off, but in reality I think Jenkins and the ultimate winner were really just picking up speed and pulling away.
Mile three was a challenge, a few rollers but more importantly, a pretty tough head wind. Talking to Jenkins afterwards, even he fell 15-20 seconds off pace (a mere mortal 5:00 mile for him). Third and fourth also struggled a little but create a little more gap on me. Mile four was just adrenaline trying to hold on. Legs were tired, just didn't want to fall off further and lose my spot. Pace got a little better but wasn't exactly ripping it up - still a slight headwind at this point.
Closed out to the finish with 21:15, a new PR at this distance. A closer look at my Garmin did indicate that this course was probably at least 20 seconds short, but even then would have been a PR for me. Happy with the time, but still think there needs to be some asterisk on this one. Don't think yesterday's run with Sean/Robert hurt me at all today, probably wouldn't have been able to catch 3rd/4th even if I was fresh.
Can't complain about the 5th place finish, definitely some strong runners out there. Interesting to see that my time would have won the race the past few years, but you can only race against who shows up and the fast guys were there today. Was a fun time nonetheless and was nice to do the warmup/cooldown with those guys.
Place No. Name Div/Tot Div Ag S City St Nettime Pace Guntime Pace
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1 712 Jordan Williamsz 1/37 M2029 21 M Lynn MA 19:14 4:49 19:14 4:49
2 733 Nate Jenkins 1/80 M3039 33 M N.Andover MA 19:28 4:52 19:28 4:52
3 740 Geoff Nelson 2/37 M2029 28 M Providence RI 20:40 5:10 20:41 5:11
4 812 Jordan Kinley 3/37 M2029 29 M Salem MA 20:48 5:12 20:48 5:12
5 786 Christopher Kluczni 2/80 M3039 31 M Somerville MA 21:15 5:19 21:16 5:19
6 298 Christopher Chaprue 4/37 M2029 21 M Danvers MA 21:42 5:26 21:42 5:26
7 437 James Pawlicki 3/80 M3039 39 M Lynn MA 21:46 5:27 21:46 5:27
8 498 Erich O'Neil 5/37 M2029 22 M Beverly MA 22:22 5:36 22:22 5:36
9 857 Alex Gomes 6/37 M2029 25 M Peabody MA 22:37 5:40 22:38 5:40
10 254 Dan Chruniak 4/80 M3039 30 M beverly MA 22:45 5:42 22:46 5:42