On Saturday March 27th Heather and I went up to Gilmanton, NH for the Gilmanton 5k Road Race. The race is directed by CMS runner Scott Clark, who always does a great job with this race. The race is also the first race of CARS (Concord Area Race Series). This course is always a tough one, it is generally downhill for the first 3k, then up a huge hill for about 1.2k, then the last half mile is down to flat. This race also has cash prizes to the top 3 finishers, so it always draws a fast crowd.
Heather and I did a short warm up on the last part of the course and then it was time to head for the start. Conditions were pretty cold with temps in the upper twenty's, of course the cold weather made my nose run even more than it already was from being sick. I was pretty sure I was going to look like a disaster before this race was over. Soon after getting to the starting line we were off and running.
Right off the start Mark Miller (pictured to the left) shot out to the lead with a high schooler in tow. A bit back from them was Mackenzie Kilpatrick and myself. This race always goes out fast as the first mile is flat and then down. Soon the high schooler faded and it was Mark with a good lead followed by Mackenzie and myself. We went through the mile in 4:57 which was a bit slower than I expected. I pulled by Mackenzie just after the mile and pushed on down the hill. Soon we made our turn onto the dirt road and up the hill. This is where my race went in the crapper. As we hit the hill I felt like I weighed about 300 pounds. I could not get any oxygen in the system and my legs felt like cement. I went backwards real quick and Mackenzie left me in the dust. At this point I went into survival mode and was just trying to keep myself in third place. I knew there was a pack of runners behind me and catching up quick. I figured if I could make it to the top of the hill with a lead I might be OK. After much suffering I crested the hill with a very small lead and made the push for home. I felt quite a bit better on the flats and downs but I was running scared. In the end I managed to hold on and finish in 17:10 good for 3rd place and $75. I ended up 10 seconds in front of 4th place. This was 46 seconds slower than I ran last year.
Heather ran her best ever Gilmanton Road Race finishing as the 2nd woman in 19:46! Also good for $100. Nice run Heather!
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