It wasn’t much. It was a small, local event. It was slow by my standards. But it was a race in the sense that, unlike Boston which I saw as a ramble, I pushed the pace. Like Boston, the resulting time was slow for me, but the barbeque afterwards tasted just as juicy. It’s good to be back.
A half-dozed of my club-mates joined together to invade Leominster, Massachusetts, and descend on the Bill Gibbons “Against All Odds” 5K, which raises funds for scholarships for challenged kids. My club had picked this as the first in our summer club series, so this was serious business. Points were on the line just for showing up!
The race was slated up against the popular Groton road races, and as a result it only drew about 40 runners and perhaps another 20-30 walkers. As a result, the sight of six of us decked out in our matching club duds made a notable impression. I wouldn’t say we struck fear in their hearts, but at least we generated some amusement at our fashion sense.
Not that we burned up the course or anything. The sun had already done that, pushing the heat to the low 80’s by the start. Hot, but not awful, but not something we’re acclimatized to yet in April in New England. And while the course was short, it made up for its lack of distance with a healthy collection of hills. All in all a good challenge, though I wish they’d posted a map. I’m like that.
In the end, I managed 5th, narrowly beating out my nearest club-mate, and knowing that had he made a challenge, I would have conceded. Adjusted for the distance, it was one of my slowest 5Ks, but like Boston last week, I just didn’t care. I was happy to be out there again. And the burgers were indeed sweet.
Two of our ilk scored hardware: Liz taking 3rd for the women and Elaine – a Strider spouse – taking 3rd for the walkers. I think she was a bit taken aback at the size of the trophy relative to the size of the event! We didn’t win any of the plethora of raffle prizes, but race director Bill McDermott sent us home with a dozen extra shirts for the club to say thanks for our support and to garner interest for next year.
A fine event all around.
Just to make it a full day, I cranked out some intervals with the kids on my daughters’ track team in the evening. I prefer to be a player coach. If I’m going to dish it out to them, I’d better eat the dog food, too.
And on a final note, I’m seeing Dr. Foot Doctor today. Umm, yeah, I ran Boston. Umm, yeah, I raced yesterday. This ought to be interesting!
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