Boston -31 -- Sat. Mar. 20

The weekend of St Pat's Holyoke was spectacularly nice--sunshine and 70 degrees Saturday, and Sunday was pretty good too. Carpooled with Ken, leaving a bit later than expected at 10:45, and stopping at DnD on the way, we arrived in Holyoke by 11:30, and parked in the same spot I did last year (handy!). Then walked down to remind ourselves where the start and finish were, and checked out the growing crowd, then back up to the car. Ken decided to do a small warm up later, but I wanted 3-4 miles, so headed out up the hill into Holyoke, using church towers and steeples as waypoints, ending up in the cemetery, then round and back via the finish area (reststop) and back up to the car. That got me nearly 4 miles, so put on numbered shirt and headed back to start sipping gatorade. Crazy mob scene: found a way over the barriers in near the front, and stood for the 10 minutes it took till start time. Countdown chant from 10 instead of a gun (at least I didn't hear a gun), and then we're off.

Managed to break out quite quickly this time and shake free of the most crowded bit, amazed all the while by the crowd numbers and noise. Realize that the first mile is gentle down hill and very fast, so try to hold back: goal is 6:45s for first 4 miles, to make sure leg/back are okay. Look for people to pace on, but noone I know, so just wing it. Very hot, and fortunately water tables everywhere; at the end of mile one we're starting uphill, and then I just settle in for the slog, trying to keep pace mild, keep hydrated (alternate drinking with pouring water on head), and not lose too many slots. All the way round the crowd is amazing, and I'm feeling mainly okay; very happy to reach the end of mile 4 a bit ahead of schedule and with no numbleg. Then the downhill, flying quite nicely, but so's everyone else, so no ground gained. Little uphill at the start of mile 6 and I'm pushing a bit, when I see Billy R ahead--start to work on catching up w/ him as some guys I've recently passed regain position: everyone's in last stretch mode, and then April's mum yells encouragement as I pass her at the same spot she was last year too. I call out to encourage Billy as I don't think I'll catch him, but then as we make the last turn I push hard on the slight uphill and get alongside, say go for it to him, and pass him almost, then he digs deep and pushes back--I'm done, trying to make sure I won't heave at this point, so can't fight back, and he gets a place and a second on me as we cross the line. Queasy for a bit, but then okay. First, here are the official results:

gun (official) time: 40:25
official pace: 6:31s
net time (startline to finish line) 40:20
finish place: 78
of male runners: 73/2665
by age group: 13/568 M4049

For the record, I calculated my position by net-time too: reordered the first 100 runners by net times, and found I came in with the 85th-fastest time. Some people had two minutes difference between official and actual (distance based) time; for offiial results, you really have to get up to the front and fight out of the crowd quickly to do well. Live and learn.

My digivice had it thus:

Time: 40:25
Distance: 6.28 miles
Pace: 6:26s

After the controlled start, miles 5 and 6 were 5:54 and 6:08, quite a shift up.
After a watering, I went off down to the canal and over the river for a cool-down mile, coming back to meet up with Ken; we grabbed ice coffee samplers, then jogged back to the car and headed out. Total war-up/cooldown mileage: 5.1 miles in 43 mins @ 8:25s. All in all, a satisfying but somehow not very dramatic outing; my mind is really on Boston. Got a slight sunburn -- something to think about for Boston too. . .