Saturday, March 30, 2013

Saturday, 3/30 April Fools 4 Miler

I headed up to Salisbury for the April Fool's 4 miler hosted by the Winner's Circle. After a short visit to registration, I ran into Jose and we eased into a 3+ mile warm up on the course. It was a fantastic Spring day with temps in the upper 50's. Felt good on the warm up. Jose and I talked strategy a bit and we agreed he would take the first mile to make sure it was honest and I would try to take the second one.

Well, the gun sounded and Patrick Rich went straight to the lead which he never relinquished. Jose and I tucked in closely behind. It felt like a pretty aggressive start. Slightly downhill for a bit and we saw a 4:53 mile on the clock. I passed Jose near the mile and chased Rich through 2 miles in 9:57. The course is an out-and-back so we began passing hundreds of runners, many of whom knew at least one of us and cheered as we headed back up the hill. Jose passed me shortly after mile 2 and I latched on to him and eventually came up on his shoulder as we headed into mile 4. Rich's gap grew a bit during mile 3 (hit in 15:13) and I tried my best to chase him down over the last few minutes of the race. I was moving well but just couldn't find the gear to reel him in over the final mile and Rich finished in 20:12, 7 seconds ahead of me in 20:19. Jose finished a few second back from me for third and in the money. Results here.

Straight out for a 4 mile cool down on a cinder path near the start. 11 miles and a solid race, I'll take it! Had a good time hanging out at the Winner's Circle afterward as the bar showed video of the entire race accompanied by free Smuttynose. Headed out to meet a friend for disc golf in Devens and return home to call it a day.

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