Topsfield Cross Country Festival

On a very windy and cool Saturday October 15th I headed over to Bradley Palmer State Park for the Topsfield Cross Country Festival. The was my first team race as a CMS member and I was looking forward to running and racing with the guys. After some confusion on how to get to the race starting area we finally pulled in about an hour before race time. I was actually the first CMS guy there and picked up the race numbers for the rest of the team. We had a very strong team there with Peter Mallett, Kevin Tilton, Ben Strain, Rich Patrick, Greg Putnam and myself representing CMS. This race is part of the USATFNE XC Grand Prix and I knew the field of runners would be strong. Among others in the field was Nate Jenkins and Matt Ely, two of the best runners in New England. My goals going into this race were to first score for CMS (top 5 on team) and second to place in the top 10 and win a pie! After meeting up with the guys we did a warm-up around the course and then it was time to race!

As the race went off Nate Jenkins went right to the front and was off on his own as expected. The rest of us kind of stayed bunched together in the strong wind. The group was led by Matt Ely and Colman Hatton from BAA followed by a bunch of CMS blue with Peter, Rich, Greg and myself right behind and many more right with us. We made our way around the first little loop and soon we were headed out for a loop up and over Moon Hill. I was feeling OK at this point, but I was not sure I had made a wise decision by going out so hard. As we made our way out towards the hill I was following Rich and just trying to stay comfortable. We hit Moon Hill and made our way up the single track trail. Soon we hit the field up top (around 2 miles in) and were on our way back down to the woods. Just a bit after hitting the woods and continuing our way downhill I moved past Rich and tried to press my way forward. Heading out again for a second loop up and over Moon Hill I could see Peter ahead and I could hear someone gaining on me. At this point I was just trying to keep things together and try to hold off who ever was behind me. I hit the bottom of Moon Hill and Ryan Place from GBTC had caught me and soon he went by me. I tried to go with him, but he was moving well and pulled away. I also noticed that Peter was coming back to me a little bit. Soon we were back in the woods and I made a hard charge on the down hills towards the finish area. Once back on the fields I was right behind Peter and making my way towards the finish. With about 200m left I pushed past Peter and made a strong charge for the finish line.......getting there in 27:02, good for 5th place over all and first CMS runner. CMS took the next two places with Peter Mallett and Rich Patrick finishing close behind me. CMS sealed the team win with strong finishes by our next two runners Kevin Tilton and Greg Putnam in 11th and 13th place respectively.

I was very happy with the results today. I not only accomplished, but exceeded my goals by finishing 5th overall and 1st CMS runner. I felt strong for most of the race and mixed it up with some very good runners. This was a confidence builder for sure. It was also great to win the team race with CMS winning over GBTC. I enjoyed running with the guys and look forward to more team racing in the future.

Results