Nov 28th, 2010 - Race - Andover XC - 3.5

Day 331 - There's something about this day that makes me try to get in as much as possible before heading over to Andover for the annual XC race put on by Icky.

Last year I ran up and down Mt. Wachusett before going to the race. This year I went out for a brisk "8" miler with Katy at Walden before the 12PM start time.

I have a couple of theories as to why this happens:

A) To burn off as many calories as possible before consuming unlimited quantities of beer at Andover

B) To burn off as many calories as possible before consuming unlimited quantities of pasta at Andover

C) All of this for $20 (race day)!

You know it's an Icky production when he doesn't stop talking. Wait, he never stops talking.

Speaking of never stops talking, I got to the race by 11:15 with Fil and Deric, and checked out the pre-registered. Nate Jenkins? JJ? DD? Joe D.?? The Quintals?!? EJ?!?!?! Holy crap the field was stacked. Pretty much every top runner from every running club in the area was here. I have always said that this race brings out a stronger field than some Grand Prix events.

I was shocked to discover that our VP, working the registration desk, was saving BIB #3 for me! I felt honored by having the target on my chest, especially with this crowd, and noted that this bib will probably be the only bib that I'll ever keep for more than a week before Rachel throws it out. Thanks, Jess!

We ran into the usual familiar faces, including Linda M, EJ, Glenn (not running), Ken S, "Susie", Scotty G, Kenny G, and Frank G and the killer bees from SRR. Man were there a lot of them buzzing around today! More to pass on the course I guess.

Of course GLRR members were out in full force too, even the GLRR part-timers. You know who you are, EJ/Scotty/Jess!

This race is basically a warm up for MCR next weekend, so pretty much the same runners here will be at MCR next weekend representing the same team and more.

I went back to the car and got ready with Fil. I decided to go with the Five Fingers today for a couple of reasons:

A) The VFF's are rated a 4 out of 5 on the internationally recognized Goose Shit Scale, and boy, was there going to be a lot of goose grenades today.

B) I would have an added excuse if my legs decide to blow up on me, since running JFK last weekend and "8" earlier in the day wouldn't be a good enough excuse for a poor showing today.

C) All of this for $20 (goose manure included!)

(I was going to post an image of goose poop here for illustrative purposes, but did you know that there's not one single good image of goose crap on the Internet?)

It was nipply out, but that quickly went away once we started battling for positioning at the start of the race.

This course is very hilly with ups and downs throughout, consisting of fairways, greens, roughs, cart paths, paved roads, sidewalks, construction zones, goose dung, bridges, water hazards, sand traps, and of course, rich old people with small white balls.

The beginning of the race is a blast. You first speed down a fairway and then you make a sharp dog leg right before coming onto a choke point that would make even the Spartans proud. This is madness!

I went through Mile 1 in 5:58 and I swear I could still see Nate Jenkins. That meant I had a shot.

I went through Mile 1.01 in 6 flat and I could no longer see Nate. It was time to just run my own race.

The Five Fingers worked flawlessly on the paved cart path, especially going up hill. They performed exceptionally well too on the downhills, which is typically their weakness, but because I was able to run on the soft greens of the CC this allowed me to just let loose like a crazy man. It was basically like trail running, but with a lot of goose guano. These VFF's were Born To Run on golf courses.

I went through a hilly Mile 2 in 6:25. My legs felt great and my breathing was under control. Keith kept me company for about a half mile before his XC spikes did him in on the cart path.

The 50 miler last weekend definitely increased my mental toughness. Besides helping me get through 8 hours with Fil on the road trip home, it also helped me today when my legs and lungs were burning like a mother. I was able to block out the pain and punch my way through an even hillier and goose feces filled mile 3 in 6:08, passing other runners, most gratifyingly, a bunch of SRR's.

I took down one more SRR at the finish for good measure.

Official Results

The men's GLRR team managed a respectable 4th place showing out of 10 teams. We missed 3rd place by a mere 6 minutes. Thanks EJ! Thanks Scott!

Place   Name                                   Team    Gun Time    Pace

28         JASON BUI                         GLRR    21:22.4        6:07

32         KEITH OBRIEN                  GLRR    21:36.3        6:11

43         JEFF THOMAS                   GLRR    22:21.4        6:24

51         KEVIN MURPHY               GLRR    22:50.6        6:32

59         FIL FARIA                          GLRR     23:09.9       6:38

61         DAVID PENN                     GLRR    23:20.7       6:41

68         MARK GALLAGHER         GLRR    23:33.4       6:44

70         JOHN STONE                     GLRR    23:39.9       6:46

89         KEN GOODIN                    GLRR    24:25.4       6:59

141       STEVE KANARACUS         GLRR    26:50.7       7:41

192       MARK SCHOFIELD          GLRR    28:50.6       8:15

202        JOHN DUCHARME          GLRR    29:06.6      8:20

239        LINDA MCCARTHY         GLRR    30:42.7      8:47

251        DERIC FARIA                    GLRR    31:16.6      8:57

350        DOUGLAS SYLVESTER   GLRR    43:21.7      12:24

(How did you ever get that nickname, Dave?)

Photo courtesy of http://www.jimrhoades.com/ (you're a brave man)