Great Bay 5k

On Saturday October 23rd Heather and I went up to the Seacoast area of New Hampshire for the Great Bay 5k. This race was the last race in the Seacoast Series and was sure to attract some fast guys as it pays cash to the top three ($150, $100, $75) and has a very fast course. Upon arrival we met up with Jim Johnson, who of course was sandbagging with all kinds of talk about how he was sick, and couldn't breathe. He was saying he was just there to finish up the series and get his series jacket. Yeah right! We took a look at the entry list for the race to see if we noticed any fast guys. We didn't recognize any names and thoughts of a first and second place finish for Jim and I started to enter our heads. Another thing to consider was the Mackenzie Mile, which is a cash prize for the first person through the mile. In the end, it turns out we didn't need to worry about it.

After a warm up with Heather and Jim on the course we headed over to the starting area and soon we were off and running. Right away a guy decked out in a Navy racing kit (Nick Crowell) went right to the front followed by another guy in a white shirt (Jeffery Sprague). I did not recognize either of them and thought they may be just after the first mile bonus and I was not interested in going out fast and blowing up. I was more interested in a top 3 finish. Jim and I were right together as Nick and Jeff pulled away a bit. Nick hit the first mile in about 4:50 with Jim and I going through in about 5:01. At this point I felt Jim starting to fall off my pace and I was making up ground on Jeff who was in second place. This second mile has some small rolling hills and I caught up to and passed Jeff at about 1.5 miles. I was also now making up ground on Nick. I hit the second mile in 9:55 (4:54 mile) and was now only about 5 seconds behind Nick. Thoughts of both a fast time and a victory started creeping into my head. Soon after two miles we turned into a neighborhood and started up the biggest hill on the course. At this point I think Nick noticed me getting closer and picked it up. I could not match his move after pressing the second mile and he put some distance on me. At this point I was sure I was good for second place and still a fast time, I was still running quick, but not making up any ground on Nick. As I started getting close to the third mile I started hearing the footfall of someone coming up behind me. I never looked back to see who it was, I didn't know if it was Jim, Jeff, or someone else. All I knew was I needed to get a move on and hold off who ever it was. Its was all downhill from this point on and I just let it roll as fast as my legs would let me. I went through 3 miles in 14:58 (5:03 mile) and put in the best kick I could to secure second place. I covered the last 0.1 in 30 seconds finishing in 15:28 (A new 5k PR) holding off Jim and finishing second.

Heather also ran a great race finishing first in 17:44, beating the competition by more than a minute! In addition to the $150 first place prize she also won the $50 Mackenzie Mile bonus! Just awesome!

Article

Top 10 plus CMS in Blue

Place	Name	Age	City/State	Net Time	Pace
1	Nick Crowell	23	PORTSMOUTH NH	15:21	4:57
2	Chris Mahoney	32	HAVERHILL MA	15:28	4:59
3	Jim Johnson	33	SALEM NH	15:31	5:00
4	Jeffrey Sprague	27	PORTLAND ME	15:38	5:02
5	Erik Travis	26	LEE NH	16:23	5:17
6	Chris Ritchie	27	HAMPTON NH	16:29	5:19
7	Scott Clark	44	GILMANTON NH	16:54	5:27
8	Peter McNeil	26	BARRINGTON NH	17:11	5:32
9	David Harrow	26	GREENLAND NH	17:24	5:37
10	Jasmin Lepir	34	PORTSMOUTH NH	17:34	5:40

821 Total Finishers.