B1st Peepers 5k

On Saturday May 8th Heather and I went up to Barrington NH for the B1st Peepers 5k. Heather was not racing this weekend due to an injury to her foot, but she came up to cheer me on anyways because she rocks! I was actually not going to race this weekend, that was until I looked at the racing calender and saw quite a few races with cash prizes. I knew that Bob Wiles had nothing on his schedule, and Jim Johnson was going to Big Lake Half Marathon, so that took two really good guys out of the picture. Plus with the number of races with cash prizes over the weekend I figured the talent would be spread out. So I chose to go to Barrington, NH figuring it was further away than most races, thus giving me the best chance to place high and score some money.

Just as I pulled into the parking lot I looked up to see Jim Johnson's yellow X-Terra pulling in. So much for thinking I may score some easy cash! Jim and I headed over to registration where we ran into Dan Verrington, Jeff Goupil, and Mark Gibson. Registration took a little bit longer than expected and we did not get out on our warm-up with much time to spare. Jim, Dan, Jeff and I ran the course as a warm-up and saw a very fast New Balance Boston guy (Dan Hocking 14:20 5k at Penn Relays 2 weeks ago) that Jim recognized from a track meet a few weeks ago. After a quick change into my racing flats I headed over to the starting line with about a minute to spare. Soon we were off and running.

As the race started Jim, Dan H, Jeff and myself were off the front pretty quickly. The pace felt quick but controlled. I settled in behind Jim and Dan with Jeff right with us. The course had some gentle ups and downs but, nothing I would call a hill. We hit the first mile mark in 4:59 and soon after that Jeff dropped off the pace a bit and it was just Dan, Jim and myself. The pace remained solid as we hit the half way turn around cone. I hate these things, you almost come to a complete stop as you make a sharp 180 degree turn and try to get back up to speed as quick as possible. All three of us made the turn together and started back for the finish line against the traffic of the runners still heading out for the turn around. At one point I made a move across the street to the other side of the road cutting through the oncoming runner traffic. I was not alone for long on the other side of the road as Jim and Dan also made the same move a moment later. As we hit the 2 miles mark Dan was leading with myself right behind then Jim right behind me. We Hit the two mile mark in 10:08 (5:09 2nd mile). Just after the two mile mark Dan started to make a move and pick up the pace, or maybe I was throwing in a fade. Either way Dan was starting to gap Jim and I and soon I felt Jim falling off of my pace. I tried to pick it up and keep Dan in range but he was looking strong and moving away from me pretty quickly. At this point my thoughts turned to securing 2nd place and keeping Jim behind me. I built a small gap over him, but he was still close enough that I could hear him. Over the slight up hill heading back to the finish I kept trying to pick it up a bit and trying to keep Jim as far away from me as I could, but I could hear him gaining on me and I knew he was getting closer. In my head I kept thinking just beat him to the 3 mile mark and then take care of buisiness with a good kick. My thinking was, Jim had just run the Boston Marathon (in 2:30:00) a few weeks back and I figured his legs were probably still beat up a bit and I could probably match or beat his kick. I acomplished getting to the 3 mile mark before Jim as I hit it in 15:18 (5:10 3rd mile) but Jim was now right behind me, maybe only a second or two back. So I kicked like mad for the finish line! I hit the finish line in 15:47 covering the last 0.1 in 29 seconds, which is fast for me. I managed to hold off Jim by three seconds. Dan won the race in 15:39, Jim and I were actually gaining on him in the last part of the race, but he is a 14:20 5k guy and had the victory in hand shortly after the 2 mile mark and was probably just cruising into the finish. The woman's winner was Dan's wife Lesley Hocking in 17:55.

After the race a big group of us (Dan H, Jim, Jeff, Mark, Dan V, and Lesley) hit the course for a cool down. After the cool down we hit the cookie table, which had an awesome spread of all kinds of home made cookies, for some much needed nourishment! Overall I was very happy with this race, it was the first time in a long time that I have felt "in control" and not just dying out there. It was also my fastest road 5k since 2005. I hope its just a sign of things to come!

Results