During my warm up, I saw Derrick Hamel jogging around and figured I would be racing for third. Derrick and I haven't raced since Apple Harvest Day in 2013 where I had a big lead early, and he was nearly able to reel me in. More recently, he finished second to Jim Johnson at the Chief Maloney 10K last week, and I assumed he'd be second to Jim again here at Children's. There was no doubt in my mind that Jim was going to crush the course and take the win. He's been running really well lately with 15:30 5Ks and sub 32:00 10Ks. He tries to downplay it every time I talk to him "the course was short" "the course was pancake flat", but I'm on to you Jim. The only thing that may have been able to stop him is if Nate Jenkins, who was hanging out by the start line, had taken off the warm ups and toed the line. Thankfully for those of us hoping to place well, he was just there spectating.
As expected, Jim jumped out in front right out of the gate, but surprisingly, Derrick didn't go with him. Jim started to gap the field immediately, and I didn't try to go with him as I settled into second place at 5:20 pace. Going into the race, I figured I would be able to manage around 16:45 maybe 16:30 if things went well, so the goal pace was 5:20. For me, the point of this race was to judge my fitness on a course I've raced before and make sure I place well enough to keep myself in the running for the overall Seacoast Road Race Series victory. A quarter mile into the race, the field was starting to take shape. Jim was slowly pulling away, and I could hear multiple sets of footfalls behind me which I assumed included Derrick. At that point, I actually got a bit excited because I thought I'd have company during the race to keep my pace honest. It didn't end up panning out that way though. I held my pace even at 5:20 as we went up the hills that cover the first half of this race, and eventually, I couldn't hear any footsteps behind me. First mile split was exactly 5:20. About a mile and a half into the race, the course takes a quick loop through a neighborhood, and the tight turns give you a good chance to glance to the side to see how far back the next group is. When I looked back, I was surprised to see that I had maybe 15 seconds on Derrick, and I still felt strong. That boosted my confidence a bit and carried me through the rolling hills of the second mile. I split the 2nd mile in another 5:20 as I started flailing down the steepest hill on the course. This hill is just a bit too steep for me to really feel comfortable on, and that's before taking into account the fact that I don't want to mess up my heel by leaning back on the downhill and pounding it. So, I did the only thing I could think of. I leaned forward and flailed my way down nearly out of control. This is actually my normal tactic for this type of hill, but I tried to hold back a bit without falling back on my heels.
About 2 and a half miles into the race, Nathan Huppe was standing on the sidewalk and yelled that Derrick was right behind me. That surprised me a bit since I thought he had fallen back. I chanced a glance back, and sure enough, he was looming. At that point, I started pushing towards the finish. I don't have a finishing sprint right now anyway, so it's better for me to try and spread it out over the last half mile. I still felt pretty good as I went up the last little hill in the course and thought that I would hold on to second place if I was able to hold my pace. I hit the 3rd mile in 5:13, and started my semi-kick into the finish. The last bit of the race is a bit long, but I was still able to finish up in 16:43 for what my watch said was 3.16 miles. I was pretty happy with my time considering where I am in my training. It was a big improvement over both the Run of the Savages and the Rescue Run. I finished up right on target for my estimated time of 16:45, and by my estimation, this course adds 15-20 seconds over faster races due to the length and hills. As an added bonus, I received 6 lobster dinners for my efforts.
Alie crushed it as she improved a ton on her race at the Run of the Savages!
After the race, I cooled down with Jim, Derrick, Darin Brown, and female winner Leslie O'Dell as we ran the course again. The cool down was nice and relaxed as we discussed the upcoming series and running in general. Derrick also mentioned that he hasn't been able to get the miles in lately and was struggling with allergies which explains why he didn't try to run with Jim or myself early in the race.
Full Results can be found here
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