USATF New England Marathon Championship, Cape Cod

Thanks Scott Mason for photo, Ironrunner Jacket

This was my 25th marathon, I trained well for this one and felt fit. A nagging hip flexor, but we all have aches & pains.

Rookie mistake, following the forecast from Thursday of 40 degrees, I didn’t pack long sleeve shirt, hat or racing tights… figured I raced Granite State 10 miler Sunday at 37 degrees in just uniform & arm sleeves.

Saturday night, the “sideways rain” drenched & froze me simply walking the distance from car to hotel and gusts during the night sounded like they’d topple cars.  At least the rain stopped in the morning, but wind, cold & puddles stayed.

Whirlaway team was super to hang out with, like college kids in a dormitory.  For pre-race meeting I was in pj’s and racing shoes.  Race morning, teammate Christin Doneski and I bagged a perfect parking spot… did someone say expect 50-70 mph wind gusts?  A hasty last minute choice to race in my post-race compression recovery tights was a large part of my undoing… breathing is required for a marathon.

WRT teammate, Lisa Zappala, and I ran together for maybe 10-12 miles and Kaz was fantastic out there for us.  I had not trained with Sport Beans and they didn't sit well in already hurting, non-breathing belly... so I suppose it didn't matter that beans kept falling out, leaving a "hansel & gretel" trail.  Walking at 17, I knew it was going to be a long day.  Incredibly, it turned out not to be my slowest Cape Cod Marathon and I still qualified for Boston by 12 minutes.

Whirlaway kicked ass and the new USATF Ironrunner jacket fits me perfectly... 12th consecutive jacket.   Whirlaway picked up 10 jackets.  Very proud to be part, outstanding people and athletes... we won 5 of 6 divisions this year… USATF NE Champions !!!

Results

Photo Chambers Photo and another

Granite State (Mole Day) 10 Miler 10.23.11, NH State Age Record

About 15 months ago, NHTI coach/neighbor Perry Seagroves began talking about  Granite State 10 Miler which course would include our training roads.  Perry had his eyes on a 10 mile NH State Age Record and curious, I looked up State Record for my age... 45 year old female, 1:17 something.... cool, I was in too!   

Perry was involved in all stages of the race planning and explained how much was involved making the course certified for State Records.   With reference to "Mole Day",  Perry sent an email the week prior to the race **  (see below)

The weekend prior to the race, Kevin Beck and Jeremy Huckins joined us for fun as we ran up, up, up Snow Pond Hill then powered down Shaker Road.

Driving to the race, car thermometer said 37 degrees... glad I brought my arm sleeves.  As I walked to registration in NHTI lecture hall, noticed the exceptional details... helpful volunteers, facilities...  A+ for course management, cash prizes, ladies sizes technical shirts, shoe bags, etc... variety and quality post-race food (Boloco cheese & egg tortilla!)

I warmed up about 20 minutes, lined up 2nd row of 222 runners.  The miles went by pretty quickly.  Saw my Dad cheering and lots of volunteers I know.   Held off on water & Gu until 8 miles, didn't really need them, but practicing for Cape Cod Marathon following weekend... damn, so much time slowing down to drink...  lesson to remember.   Giggled to myself for not automatically veering off-course towards home via my usual route.

Crossed the finish line, 1:11:46 and my blonde brain confidently recalled the previous State Age record was 1:17 something.   Good margin.   Perry confirmed he got his State record and I checked and found out I was 4th woman.

Massage table & change shoes, then at the awards I received $50.00 check for 1st female master... boooya!!! 


NH State Age Record for Women's Single Age (45)

Time:
1:11:47,   7:11

4th woman, 222 runners

Results



** Mole Day?  Perry said: 
"I am a nerdy chemistry guy. We use the concept of the mole to count atoms and molecules. It turns out that there are 6.023 x 1023 atoms in exactly one mole of an element. This of course has led to the celebration of Mole Day on 10/23 or October 23. You can imagine how excited I was when it was decided that the first ever Granite 10 was going to be run on Mole Day. The race committee, who have all been working tremendously hard, denied all of my suggestions. There is no mention of Mole Day on the race app, they would not put a little picture of a mole on the sleeve of the race T-shirt (I think that would have been soooo cute), there is no category for chemists, they did not call the race the Grappone SiO2*Al2O3*xH2O 10 Miler, and they would not start the race at 6:02.3 in the morning. But that’s OK because I am very used to having my ideas politely ignored. I am still very pumped that we finally have a 10 mile race back in Concord and it is on Mole Day. My big dilemma is that I can’t decide if I should wear my Mole Day shirt running. It looks very cool, but it is not exactly light weight and I don’t think that it has any wicking qualities."