My 5 Most Memorable Relay Legs

The other day I was thinking back to the olden days and began to think about relay races. With all the relays that take place nowadays it made me want to list my top 5 most memorable relay legs. Its not a very impressive list but its all from memory because I have no running logs.

5. Mill City Relays 1988 leg # 1. Ran for the Greater Lowell Road Runners (GLRR) and ran the Nashua leg and had a good battle with Greater Boston's Gary Wallace as I out leaned him at the handoff for leg #2. I think I handed the baton to Art Demers. Someone may have more info on how we finished but I think we won never relinquishing the lead. I ran the inaugural Mill Cities way back when for the Merrimack Valley Striders and anchored in the first ever championship. Those results are somewhere in some serious archives.

4. Lynn Woods 10 mile relay (4 x 2.5 cross-country) 2009. Ran leg # 3 in 14:03 and handed the baton to Dave Dunham who took the CMS Master's team into victory with a course record time. Team members were Joe Shairs (low 13 minutes. Dan Verrington, myself and DD). DD has all the splits and total time. The course has since been changed but the race is still run every summer.

3. 1981 dual meet versus Lynnfield HS. 4 x 440. Cinder track. Meet hinged on the result of the mile relay and I ran the 3rd leg. I had run the 2 mile earlier but given that I was probably not pushed (10:30)I was ready to bust out a 55 and overtake some burly Lynnfield kid who had pushed me as I took the baton from my teammate. Bill Sullivan anchored us in to victory which made for a sweet bus ride home.

2. Plymouth to Provincetown relay (final year I believe) 1988. Again running for the GLRR and again given the first leg. 7 am start pouring rain, 10 mile leg over hilly course. Had a tremendous battle with Wayne Levy and Pat Gilhooly. No clue as to how fast we ran that leg in but it was fast. I remember running through massive puddles and having my shoelace come untied towards the end of the leg. Gilhooly and I sprinted to the finish and I think a second separated us at the handoff. We would finish 3rd as a team.

1. 1980 Class C State Relays. St. John's Prep. Danvers MA. Distance Medley Relay. As I type this I am having trouble remembering the members of the team. 440 leg. Senior Mike Prattt (team Capt), 880 John Costello (Junior) 1320 leg Bill Sullivan (Junior) Mile David Quintal (Junior). Damn I hope that is accurate. I received the baton 5 seconds behind in 2nd place. Now I wasn't the best miler but that day I ran a 4:35 to overtake the lead as I began my final lap. It was my only Mass State Championship but to do it with teammates was very cool.

HASLAW Manchester Mile (downhill)

Sunday 7/3/11 I took my two youngest boys to Manchester NH to participate in the 1st annual HASLAW Manchester Mile. This race was put on by Millenium Racing directed by running guru and legend John Mortimer. Mortimer was interested in putting together an elite field to race down Bridge St which features 188 feet of drop during the mile race. Using his contacts in the running world, Mortimer gathered some fast dudes which resulted in a winning time of 3:43.99 by Brian Gagnon (Lowell, MA/ UConn/ Adidas). One other highlight was watching former ULowell mile record holder, Kevin Alliette (Whirlaway) take both the 1/4 mile and 1/2 mile bonus and still record a 4:07. My race went pretty well as I found the early going tough with a limited warmup and not running both Friday and Saturday leading into the race. I finished in 4:39 and was 3rd in the 40-49 division. Giovanni also placed 3rd in 7:31 for the 10 yr olds and Julian won his 6 yr division with a time of 8:09.

Week ending 7/10/11

Mon 7/4/11 AM 61:42 (8.5 miles) Prep loop PM 59:30 (7 miles) out and back to Island Pond Rd

Tues 7/5/11 AM easy 50 minutes (6.5 miles)

Wed 7/6/11 AM Steady 55 minutes out to route 28 via Goodhue and back (7.5 miles) PM 38 minutes w/ MQ up and down the street of Tower Hill (4.5 miles)

Thur 7/7/11 32 minutes quick city run from Oxford Street powered by a Stroh's (4.75 miles)

Fri 7/8/11 AM 53:43 steady and at times quick feeling lighter and more responsive (7.2 miles)

Sat 7/9/11 AM very easy 60 minutes (7 miles)

Sun 7/10/11 PM 82 minutes out in 43 min and back in 39 minutes. 11 miles. Hot.

64 miles for the week and that is a good week for me. I am trying to somehow show up at the starting line for the Stowe 8 miler next Sunday.

Week ending 7/3/11

Mon 6/27/11 PM 36 minutes (5 miles)

Tues 6/28/11 AM 45 minutes (6 miles) PM 45 minutes (6 miles)

Wed 6/29/11 AM 45 minutes easy

Thur 6/30/11 PM 60 minutes w/ JJ. 8 miles

Fri 7/1/11 no run

Sat 7/2/11 no run

Sun 7/3/11 limited warmup / mile downhill in 4:39 (no splits) / no cooldown

Mount Washington Road Race 2011

I thought it would be a good idea to post about this race before the USA Mountain Championships take place this morning in North Conway, NH at Cranmore Mountain. Unfortunatey, I cannot race so I will quickly share my MW experience. Going into MW I had low expectations due to my limited mileage (since 5/1), lack of racing (3 races since 5/1) and hardly any track work (1 workout). However, my fitness has improved of late and the nagging left hammy has improved as well. Someone asked me what my goal time was and I said I would take sub 1:16. I find it difficult to guage or predict a time for this race because I have only raced it a handful of times and mostly as an aging master.

After a 3 mile warmup in the rain, I put myself in the 3rd row (every year same place) and waited for the start. I felt decent, fairly rested and well hydrated. As the gun went off, I just took it out tried to remain relaxed. Shortly into the race, my legs stiffened up and felt horrible. I told myself to relax and not worry but knew it may be a difficult run. As we hit the climb, I could see many runners who I wanted to be with and tried to hang as best I could. However, as we hit the 2nd mile, my left calf was really not responding well and it was becoming an issue. I was not in oxygen debt and felt great otherwise but the calf would not allow me to increase my pace. I basicallly slugged along and as I hit 3 miles (sorry no splits) and actually turned around and started running down the mountain. It was at that moment when Reno Stirrat passed me and offered encouragement to continue. I wanted to run down and just end it but turned around and went into a one minute power walk until I got the balls to run again. I am glad I did because the calf loosened up and from the halfway point to the summit, I actually raced and felt good. I wish I could find my splits on that tiny piece of paper but it doesn't matter. I finished in 47th place with a time of 1:17:52.

Week ending 6/27/11

Mon 6/20/11 PM 37 minutes ( 5.5 miles)

Tues 6/21/11 PM 40 minutes (5.5 miles)

Week ending 6/19/11

Mon 6/13/11 AM easy 36 minutes (4.5 miles) / PM 42 minutes up and down Spickett Hill with JJ (5 miles) 9.5 miles

Tues 6/14/11 AM 4.2 miles in 35 minutes

Wed 6/15/11 AM 40 minutes (5 miles)

Thur 6/16/11 AM 52minutes (6.5 miles)

Fri 6/17/11 AM 30 minutes easy (4 miles)

Sat 6/18/11 AM 3 mile warmup / 7.6 mile Mt. Wash 1:17:52 / 7.6 miles down untimed 18.2 miles

Sun 6/19/11 PM 65:58 solo out to Drew Rd. loop felt sore early and did not push any pace just wanted to shake things out...towards the end I started to feel pretty decent (8.5 miles) 52.7 miles for the week