USATF Club Cross Country Nationals

Mark Reeder making it look easy.
Photo courtesy of Michael Scott.

The USATF Club Cross Country Nationals were held at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA on December 13th.  Greater Lowell sent down 17 runners.

We had two podium finishes (at a National level!!).  Mark Reeder was second male 55-59 in 35:10 for 10K, as well as 4th overall age graded among the men.  

Trish Bourne was third female 50-54 in 24:36 for 6K.

Trish smiling and crusing.
Photo courtesy of Michael Scott

A special shout-out to Emily Stover -- who showed the open girls what an angry chicken can do.  She took down at least four of them gals in the last 100m.  She was on fire!

Emily kickin' it.  Photo courtesy of Michael Scott.

 Another shout-out to Bob Kearns - who was recruited last minute to complete masters team and ran quite well - despite no real training.

Bob getting it done.  Photo courtesy of Michael Scott.

The Men's Masters (with Bob's help) were 26th and the Male Seniors were 10th (with an injured John Barbour gutting it out for 5th man).  The Lady Seniors were 7th with Trish, Liane, and Mary.

Full results can be found here:  http://www.usatf.org/Events---Calendar/2014/USATF-National-Club-Cross-Country-Championships/Final-Results.aspx.

GLRR Heads to Club XC Nationals

Trish and Katie pushing hard.
Photo by Dave Connally

GLRR fielded six teams at the USATF New England Cross Country Championships on November 9th at Franklin Park.  The open ladies team was led by Candice Gagnon with a 23:46 for 6K.  Trish Bourne, Katie Gessler, Emily Stover, Liane Pancoast, Mary Casey-Gorman, and Amanda Maffei rounded out the team that finished 6th.  The team of Trish, Liane, Mary, and Amanda finished 5th for masters and 4th for seniors.

On the men's side, the male masters team was led as always by Mark Reeder with a scorching 28:12 for 8K.  The team of Reeder, Shawn Conway, John Barbour, Mark Odell, Chris Hancock, Keith O'Brien, and EJ Hrynowski finished 5th overall.  The seniors team of Reeder, Barbour, O'Brien, Hrynowski, Peter Lagoy, Tom Peters, and Glenn Stewart finished an impressive second.  The veterans team of Barbour, Peters, and Stewart was edged out by 1 point, finishing in second.


The Nationals are being held in Bethlehem, PA on December 13th.  We are currently sending 15 runners but need a few more to round out scoring teams.  If interested, contact John Barbour at mcbarbour@verizon.net.

2014 LDR Grand Prix Results

The USATF Long Distance Running Grand Prix wrapped up on November 2nd with the Manchester City Marathon.  Here's how the final results ended up shaking out.

Team Results

The old guys led the charge here.  The male vets led from the start at Jones and never looked back.  They won every race but Manchester en route to a 14 point win over second place CSU.  The not quite as old male seniors finished second only one point back of perennial winner Whirlaway.  Maybe 2015 is our year!

Mens' Open -      8th

Mens' Masters -   5th

Mens' Seniors -   2nd

Mens' Veterans -  1st

Womens' Open -    8th

Womens' Masters - 6th

Womens' Seniors - 4th

Full Results: http://usatfne.org/road/results/2014gpt.html

Individual Results

GLRR had several top 10 finishers in the 5 year age categories.  Tom Peters was our lone champion, winning the 60-64 division on his way to another Ironrunner jacket.  EJ had another strong season, finished third in his age group and missing second by only 3 points).

Mike Girouard -  8th - M40-44 (scored in 4/7 races)

EJ Hrynowski -   3rd - M50-54 (scored in 6/7 races)

Mark Reeder -   10th - M50-54 (scored in 2/7 races)

Jim Garcia -     4th - M55-59 (scored in 5/7 races)

John Barbour -  10th - M55-59 (scored in 2/7 races, aged out)

                 5th - M60-64 (scored in 3/7 races, aged in)

Tom Peters -     1st - M60-64 (scored in 7/7 races)

Chip Mann -      4th - M60-64 (scored in 5/7 races)

Glenn Stewart -  9th - M60-64 (scored in 3/7 races)

Nick Kanaracus - 6th - M65-69 (scored in 4/7 races)

Bill Dixon -     7th - M65-69 (scored in 2/7 races)

Denny LeBlanc -  5th - M70-74 (scored in 6/7 races)

Kristen Allen -  4th - F40-44 (scored in 3/7 races)

Trish Bourne -   6th - F45-49 (scored in 2/7 races, aged out)

                 6th - F50-54 (scored in 3/7 races, aged in)

Lynn Graham -    9th - F50-54 (scored in 3/7 races)

Liane Pancoast - 5th - F55-59 (scored in 6/7 races)

Nancy Dorn -     8th - F55-59 (scored in 4/7 races)

Patty Foltz -    6th - F65-69 (scored in 1/7 races)

Johanna Riley - 10th - F65-69 (scored in 1/7 races)

Full Results: http://www.usatfne.org/road/results/2014gpi.html

Ironrunners!

Eleven Chickens ran all seven races in the series to earn their Iron Runner jacket.  Congrats!

Allyson      Casey          GLRR
Antontio     Febo           GLRR
Candice      Gagnon         GLRR
Michael      Girouard       GLRR
Ken          Goodin         GLRR
Kerri        Haskins        GLRR
E.J.         Hrynowski      GLRR
David        Penn           GLRR
Thomas       Peters         GLRR
Dennis       Price          GLRR
Robert       Rivard         GLRR

Full List: http://www.usatfne.org/road/results/2014iron.html

GLRR Youth Team Heads to Nationals

GLRR 7-8 year old boys team
Photo by Joe Ferris

The Greater Lowell Youth Team, led by Coach Joe Ferris, are once again headed to the Junior Olympics Cross Country Nationals after a strong showing in the Regionals.  The Regionals were held in Augusta, ME on November 23rd.  The 7-8 year old boys followed up their win in the New England Championships with a 2nd place in the region.  The team was led by Seamus Tully, who finished 11th overall with a 9:04 for 2K.  These 7 boys will be joined by 4 young ladies who qualified with their individual efforts.  The top finisher was Cassidy Paige, who finished 5th in for 7-8 year old girls with a 8:57.

The Junior Olympics Nationals will take place on December 13th in Myrtle Beach, SC.

JO Regional XC Championship Results:
http://meusatf.org/

JO NE XC Championship Results:
http://www.usatfne.org/cross/results/14-11-16-ne-jo.html

Lowell Sun Article:
http://www.lowellsun.com/youth/ci_27034096/local-runners-qualify-junior-olympic-nationals

Portland Marathon Trip & Race Report

By Jill Trotter

Jill after her Baystate 2012 finish.
Photo by Jimmy Shelton.

Portland, OR Marathon, #19 in the books. 3:18:55. My splits tell the story: 1:32, 1:46. 27^th female, 3^rd masters. Simply put, the pieces did not come together for me and I missed my goal by 13 minutes. As deflated as I still feel many days later, I know this happens. It is just hard to accept when I flew all the way across the country and left my family for 4 days. Hindsight is everything – I made quite a few rookie mistakes.

Before I could leave for Portland and even begin to think about the race, I had my work cut out for me. I had created a master schedule document for my husband that outlined the kids’ schedule, carpools, soccer games, basketball tournament, and activities for 4 days. I was also going to be meeting up with my friend and former coworker Krista, who lives in Bend. She planned to come on Saturday and Sunday. I left Westford on Friday morning. One car ride, one bus ride, two plane rides, and one train ride later, I arrived in the beautiful city of Portland. I spent Friday afternoon getting settled into my hotel room, walking over to the expo to get my race packet, getting some groceries, and going to grab some dinner at Pazzo. My plan was to stay on Eastern time since it was pointless to adjust by 3 hours when I needed to be up early on Sunday and Monday, so I was asleep by 7:30. I figured coming home and getting back on my regular schedule would be much easier. I was awake very early the next morning. I had some breakfast and waited for daylight so I could get a quick run in. I ran a 3 mile loop across the river and back, did some strides, and walked back and grabbed some coffee and then some yogurt and granola a bit later. I spent the morning lounging around reading and watching a movie (a huge treat!), and getting my race gear ready. I spent the afternoon shopping for little gifts for my family. I sipped watered down Gatorade throughout the day to stay hydrated. I loved that I could walk everywhere. I went out for a quick bite to eat at a fantastic and authentic Italian restaurant called Mucca Osteria. The chef (straight from Rome a few years ago) was clearly annoyed with me because I asked for the pasta sauce on the side. I’m always careful about eating foods that are plain and familiar for the 2 days leading up to a marathon. I went to sleep around 8:00, and did actually get some sleep. It was very broken up, but I probably got about 6 hours, which is a bonus for the night before a big race. I got up at 4:30, got some coffee from the lobby, and had PB&J and a banana for breakfast along with watered down Gatorade. I got dressed and tried to stay relaxed.

I had a 5 minute walk from my hotel to the start, and arrived about 20 minutes prior to the 7:00 start. I was happy to see a friendly and familiar face in my corral - CMS runner Barbara McManus, who was there to run her 39^th marathon (wow)! Barbara asked me if I saw Shalane. No, I hadn’t, but she JUST had. I looked all around and could not see her. I had been hoping to catch a glimpse of her sometime that weekend since she lives in Portland. I jogged around for about 5 minutes then lined up to sing the National Anthem and send off the wheelchair athletes. It was still a bit dark out when the race started shortly after 7:00, and we were off.

My initial goal was 3:05. That is what I trained for, and that is the pace I ran for my marathon pace workouts. Once I saw the weather forecast (warm, reaching 80s by the afternoon), I knew I had to be careful and thought realistically I could run 3:08, which would mean a 1:34 1^st half. It felt like low to mid 60s so far. I started off and made sure my running felt easy and relaxed. I missed the first mile marker, and asked the gentleman next to me what his pace was and he said 6:59. Too fast. My second mile was also fast (under 13:53 for 2 miles). Mile 4, which had some downhill, was 7:30. Too slow. That should have been my first clue that the mile markers were not all accurate. I do not typically run a marathon with a GPS watch. I use a no frills timex and click off my own splits, which gives a more realistic account of pacing during the marathon. I have never before questioned mile marker accuracy on a USAT&F certified course, and did not realize that I should not be relying on the mile markers until mile 11. Mile 11 was 8:00 and mile 12 was 6:17. I was definitely working harder than normal to run even pace (which usually comes easy to me) throughout the first half of the race. I did not realize I was setting myself up for a too fast and erratically paced 1^st half. I hit 13.1 in 1:32:15. Shortly after the half, I could see the St. Johns Bridge up ahead. It looked like it was dangling from the clouds high up in the sky, and I began to dread the mountain that I would need to climb from mile 16 to 17 to get to the bridge. The hill was pretty steep and long, and I slowed considerably. I thought that this must be what climbing Mt. Washington must feel like (note to self: never enter the Mt. Washington lottery). Once I got onto the bridge and over the crest, I could feel my quads start to ache. I looked forward to the downhills that were ahead and hoped to make up some time. Throughout the race, I had been drinking the ultima replenisher drink that was offered about every 2 miles. It tasted like chalk. I knew that it tasted terrible ahead of time. A few weeks before the marathon, I checked out the race website and saw that they would be serving ultima, and that it could be purchased at Whole Foods. I did buy it, and used it on a couple of my harder long runs. I did not encounter any problems with it then. Although I did not like the taste, I knew I needed to drink it because it was a warm day (eventually reached the 80s that afternoon). At about 18 miles, my quads were becoming increasingly heavy and my toes (yes, my toes!) started to cramp up. Although not show stoppers, those little buggers were highly annoying and I was not looking forward to 8 more miles of trying to wiggle them around inside my shoes to get the cramping to stop. I started to slow to around 7:20 – 7:30 pace. Around mile 20, I began to feel nauseous. I tried to think of anything but how awful I felt and just hung on. Just after the marathon foto guy who was stationed at mile 24, I pulled over and got sick. I think I lost about 4 minutes time. I am thankful that he did not photograph me! If he did, none of those photos were included in the link they sent out. I felt better when I got going again, and I just focused on putting one foot in front of the other to the finish. A volunteer handed me a barf bag, but I am proud to say I talked myself out of throwing up at the finish. Krista and I heard a few people complaining about the mile markers, so my suspicion was confirmed. Later on after I cleaned up and rehydrated, I went for a celebratory burger and beer at Rock Bottom Brewery, and then later on to Henry’s Tavern to catch some of the Pats game.

In a final twist of fate, when my flight left PDX early Monday morning, the plane took off towards the St. Johns Bridge, and made a tight turn around it to head out East. I was forced to see the entirety of the bridge and remember that that was where the beginning of the suffering began. However, it was very cool to have such a close aerial view of the course up and down the river. Overall, the course was beautiful and the city is fantastic. It truly is a walking city and very environmentally conscious. There are coffee shops, pubs, great little restaurants, and lots of shopping (a 3-floor Nordstrom and a Nordstrom Rack!) all within close proximity. The train from the airport to the city was very convenient and cost $2.50. The race was well organized and the volunteers were great.

Ever wish you could have a do-over? Maybe some day I will return! And hopefully they will be serving Gatorade.

Youth Team Update

By Joe Ferris

The youth team is transitioning from a very successful track and field season to what will hopefully be a cross country season that culminates with a return trip to Junior Olympic Nationals in December in Myrtle Beach.

Our largest team ever has started the season with two excellent outings, the first being the "Moose on the Loose" relay in Nashua, where we had 3 teams compete against the best relay teams that the area has to offer. Three teams with combined ages of 44, 41, and 37, more than held their own with one of the teams finishing second overall, with the other two teams close behind.  Results

On September 7th, a strong group of talented young athletes represented GLRR at the "Run for the Hills 5K" in Harvard with Lily, 13, not only winning her AG, but being the first overall female in the race. Devyn, 13, finished second in her AG, followed by Makayla, 11, in third place. one of our "veteran" top performers, McKenzie, 12, finished a close fourth in the AG. We had 15 other young athletes compete extremely well, several running their first 5K.  Results

The team will continue to practice as we prepare for a very competitive series of events at the always competitive Wayland cross country festival on October 12th, followed by a return trip to Franklin Park in Boston on October 26th to compete against the best that New England has to offer.

It Takes a Village – or some Angry Chickens

By Susan Bourque

This year was my 4^th time running the 12-hour race around Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, MA. This race is by far my favorite ultra race. I think it has to do with no fixed distance – that you can just run as much as possible within a fixed timeframe. I have found the trail ultra races with a fixed distance much more mentally challenging.

Sue at about mile 54.
Photo by Fil Faria

This year was the first time that I ran this race during the day. The past three years, this race had been run from 7pm – 7am. While fighting exhaustion was always a challenge, the weather was never a problem. And with ample supply of Red Bull (this race is the only time during the year I drink this sh*t), who needs sleep? So, I arrived to the race headquarters on Saturday morning and checked in. The 24-hour race had started the previous night at 9pm, so runners were already on the course. I cannot deny the feeling of impending doom I had while waiting for the race to start. I knew there would be a whole lot of hurt coming my way. I chatted with some runners before the start and felt weirdly like a veteran, as both women I spoke with had never run this race before. I still remember one of the women asking me if you had to run the whole 12 hours to get a medal. I thought that was such a ridiculous question at the time, but then when I saw her about three hours in with her flip flops on and with her gear heading to her car, it all made sense.

So, the race finally starts and we’re off. This has to be the most difficult race to gauge performance in that it is impossible to have any sense of how you are doing relative to other runners. Most of the runners hung together for the first few laps, but as soon as someone stopped to use the restroom or get a drink, you separated from them and likely never saw them again unless you lapped them. I ran with a crazy ultra-runner (who had run a 100 miler about 3 weeks prior and was planning on another 100 miler in the fall as well as other “shorter” distance races) for the first few laps and then we separated and never saw each other again that day. She ended up coming in second.

The author exhausted but smiling.
Photo by Zona Sharfman

Because you have no sense of how you are doing relative to others, you just keep running and hope it’s good enough. There is NO way I could have done that alone for 12 hours. Fortunately, I did not have to. There was so much support out on the course. E.J., Ken, Mike, Dave, Katie, Bethany, Fil, Allyson, Frank, and of course, Zona and Dan who camped out with Fred and helped keep me sane when I was starting to lose it later in the day. I was so lucky to have many of you run with me and I know I was not the best company. Tired, cranky, nauseous, sick of running and running very slow – I was an awesome running partner! Yet, everyone was so great and supportive. The amazing support of everyone is seriously the ONLY way I stayed on my feet and kept running. I recall being surprised towards the end of the race that top runners were dropping out and I have no doubt they did so only because they did not have my secret weapons – Angry Chickens.

I also never would have finished as many laps without supportive runners pulling me along. I remember refusing to accept the idea that I would run any more than 17 laps. This was later in the day and I thought 17 was a respectable number to put up and my brain would not allow me to think about running more than that number. But, when I found out that I was in the lead, I got a surge (okay maybe more like a small blip) of energy and motivation to keep going. I ran the last 2 laps without taking a break (because you have to complete a lap to get credit for it) as I was so nervous that I would not be able to finish the last lap. Dave kept telling me how much time I had left. The only time I took comfort when I realized I could walk and still finish the lap. No walking allowed though. By that time, I just wanted to finish the f*cking race and stop running. So, the best feeling was “sprinting” the last few yards across the finish line and being able to celebrate with so many that had helped me during the day.

Thank you to all who were there that day or who supported me remotely. It all helped. And I can’t wait to do it all over again next year!

[Ed. Note: Sue completed 19 laps totaling 61.1 miles in 11:42:30.  She was the first overall finisher in the 12 hour race, beating the first male by almost 7 minutes.  Full results can be found here.]