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