This weekend I ran in the 2007 USATF New England Cross Country Championships at Franklin Park in Boston, MA.  This was the last XC race in the 2007 USATF NE XC Grand Prix.  Full Results Here.
My strategy for this race (being a 10K) was to go out relaxed and try to hit near 5:20 pace.  Normally I have been going out far too quick on the first mile and have paid the consequences for it during my 2nd and 3rd miles.  This time around, I made a conscious effort to go out conservatively and try to hit my goal pace. I stayed back where I thought I belonged and still went out in 5:05.  My 2nd mile was a classic Franklin Park 5:35. I'd like to think Bear Cage Hill had something to do with that.... I went through my 5k slightly slower than I wanted, but it was far better than I thought it was going to be because I felt horrible.  At 2 miles I felt sluggish and spent. Not a good sign w/ 4.2 miles to go.  I did manage to run slightly better over my 2nd 5K and come back with a 16:35 to run a 33:22 (for 38th place) which was just under my ultimate goal for this XC race...Any slower than 33:30 and I would have considered it a total dud.  In all, I was mediocre this weekend, but I'm not completely dissatisfied.  It was my fastest 10K since making my comeback, so I'm pleased in that sense.  Next up is the Andover XC race, as I am pretty sure I am foregoing the Feaster Five which is only 3 days away.  I think it may be better to run Andover next weekend and Mill Cities the week after.  That will wrap up 2007.  As always, great pictures are available courtesy of the always lovely and talented Kristin (who was under the weather today, but still braved the chill and got some great shots).

Splits:    

1 Mile: 5:05
2 Mile: 10:40 (w/ the hill)
5K: 16:47
4 Mile: 21:37
8K: 26:50
10K - 33:22

1st 5K: 16:47 (5:24 pace)
2nd 5K: 16:35 (5:20 pace)
Total 10K 33:22 (5:22 pace)

Other notables here were MVS teammate Jon Healey (who ran this as just a workout) was 42nd at 33:30 and former UML teammate and current New Balance Boston stud Brad Klinedinst had an off day but still managed to run 32:42 for 24th place.

This past Sunday I ran up in Amherst NH at the Amherst XC Festival. This was the 6th official race in the USATF New England Cross Country Grand Prix series. The race was on the groomed equestrian courses up at Freestyle Farm. The trails were all relatively well groomed grass and dirt horse paths that circle a 50+ acre pond and wind up into the woods and back down onto the field where it began. The footing was pretty good but the course is definately slow. I don't think I have ever run on a hillier course than this overall since coming back...The hills weren't long per se, but continuous. The course had essentially no flat stretches until the very end. A very beautiful layout and technical course made this a fun race... I look forward to running here again...

Pictures from the day provided by the lovely and talented Kristin.

Results:

Men's USATF XC Grand Prix Freestyle Farm Amherst, NH

Team Scores:

SISU 1,2,4,5,6 [18]

GBTC 3,7,8,9,10 [37]

Individuals:

This past Saturday was the 18th annual running of the Boston Athletic Association / Adidas Boston Mayor's Cup cross country races at Franklin Park in Boston. It was a perfect day for a cross country race as there was plenty of sun (slightly windy) and temperatures in the lower 50s. There were 782 finishers over 5 separate races (Boys 1.1 mile | Girls 1.1 mile | Open 5K | Women's Championship 5K | Men's Championship 8K).

This was the race I had been looking forward to since coming back to running one year ago. When there was a race I would think about over and over again in my mind, this was it. When I was out on a long run and daydreaming about racing in particular, I would think about the Mayors Cup. There is just something about running in a steady stream of about 200 or so of the top xc runners around, that gets the blood pumping slightly faster...Back in 1996, when I ran this race for the first time, I had a mediocre performance at 26:11 and was 111th place. A humbling experience to say the least. This year, I ran even slower than that (still on the comeback trail), but because the field wasn't exactly as deep as it was last time around, I placed much higher. This year, I came in at 26:25 for 74th place. I went out in 4:57 for Mile 1 and settled in with essentially the same group of runners for the rest of the way, picking a few off here and there, and surrendering places to others occasionally. The fun thing about this race is the fact that you have absolutely no idea where you are, place-wise, and you 'think' you are running far worse than you are, because there are so many people in front of you....what you have to realize though, is that this is probably the deepest field that most people will ever run against in a xc race... I had fun regardless of not breaking 26 minutes (my subconscious goal going into this week)... While my attempt at fielding an MVS team failed (thanks to no shows....err...um...Sully), it was nice to see Todd Lagimonier and Phil Cootey on the line with me. Both were coming back from extended time off and ran just for the experience...

In the Women's championship 5K, Salem's own Jennifer Toomey (Nike) finished 7th overall in 17:15 (5:32 pace). Fellow MVS members Melissa Donais was 21st in 18:05 (5:48 pace), Crystal Sineath was 41st in 18:52 (6:03 pace), and Maureen Forsyth was 69th in 19:54 (6:23 pace). The overall winner of the women's championship race was Ethiopian Aziza Ayilu, representing Westchester (New York) Track Club. Aziza also won the women's championship race last year. Results | 5K Women's Photos

In the open 5K, Mike Toomey placed 19th in 16:56 (5:26 pace). Boston College's JV runners occupied spots 2,3,4,5,6,7,10,11. Results | 5K Open Photos

The men's 8K championship was won by Ethiopians Girma Tola also representing Westchester (New York) Track Club. The winning time was 23:18 (4:43 pace). The top 6 spots were all under 24 minutes and last year's winner, Stephen Chemlany, was 14th this year in 24:38 (4:59 pace). It was Chemlany who narrowly edged American mile record holder Alan Webb last year for the win. Former UML alumns Brad Klinedinst (37th - 25:35 - 5:11 pace) and Kevin Alliette (52nd - 25:53 - 5:15 pace) had very good races respectively. Results 8K Men's Photos

Saturday it was back to Franklin Park in Boston for my first XC race in 9 years. October, 1998 was the very last time I laced up the spikes on the line at Franklin Park. Although unseasonably warm (about 80ish +), it felt good to be back running on the old course again. This was the 40th running of the Codfish Bowl. The race used to be on our schedule at UML. I ran this race 4 times from 1995-1998. Back then the field was far faster/deeper, but now it seems that the race has fallen out of popularity over the past few years. Only about 90 or so ran this year (with a dozen or so unattached/open runners). Regardless, I used this as a launching pad back into the world of XC running. Though about 2 minutes slower than my typical Franklin Park jaunt back in the day, it was a fun time nonetheless. I got to say a quick hi to Ed Lyons (Bentley coach) briefly and he was his typical witty self, exclaiming immediately that he had seen me 5 or 6 years ago and I had looked like a 'sumo-wrestler' back then....but I looked ok now. Good stuff. Click here for the Flickr set of pictures taken by the lovely and talented Kristin! Next up will be Topsfield and then eventually back to Franklin for the Mayors Cup in October. Still trying to convince Lavalley to come to his senses and sign up...

Codfish over the years:
1995 - Place: 9th - Time: 25:42
1996 - Results lost over time...(comment if you have them...)
1997 - Place: 12th - Time: 25:48
1998 - Place: 6th - Time: 25:29
2007 - Place: 15th - Time: 27:21