This last Saturday marked a momentous occasion for the Martha's Vineyard Hurricanes Cross Country Club... we hosted our first race! The Pinkletink Pace 5k was the first annual event hosted by the Hurricanes and it was a great success for the club and most importantly for everyone who ran the race.
The certified course (which I've mentioned in a
previous article) started at the West Chop Club, located at the end of West Chop in Tisbury, and traveled south along Franklin St. before turning onto Daggett Ave. and out onto Main St. which it followed along the water back up around the chop and to the West Chop Club. The course is characterized by a series of three hills along Main St. which start almost immediately after the turn off of Daggett Ave. and and continue in succession along Main St. culminating in a short steep climb right before the club. These three hills and the false flat leading up to the first mile marker make for a tough and not particularly fast course, but one which is scenic and interesting to run.
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| Ready to go! |
Race morning went pretty smoothly for us with registration and set-up proceeding without a hitch, additionally timing (provided by Joe Schroeder) was was set-up early and didn't require a lot input from the Hurricanes coaches or volunteers. Good organization on the part of Kim and Reean (Hurricanes coaches) meant that I was able to temporarily forget my own coaching duties and sneak out for a warm-up with Rene Silva prior to the race start.
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| Rene and I just before the one mile marker. |
Lining up for the race was slightly delayed as we had a few last minute sign-ups that we wanted to accommodate, however even with these minor delays the race started at 10:05 AM. As would be expected with a youth focused event Rene and I found ourselves behind a mass of young runners at the start, but within the first 200 meters most of these had dropped back and a the race was reduced to Rene, Jack (one of our faster youth runners), and myself. By about 800 meters into the race Jack decided to drop back of the pace and Rene and I proceeded on together through mile markers one and two before Rene began to slip back a few strides.
Leading into the final mile of the race I tried to keep the pace even and just maintain until the last hill when I planned to kick hard into the finish if needed. Upon getting to the last hill I briefly peaked over my shoulder and didn't see Rene right behind me so I decided to pick up the pace gradually rather than really kick it in as hard as I had originally planned. In the end I crossed the line in a time of 16:31 with Rene coming in shortly thereafter in a time of 16:48. Jack became the first youth runner to finish and third overall with a time of 18:56.
Rene, Jack, and I stuck around for a few minutes after the race finished to catch our breath and congratulate the other finishers coming in, including women's winner
Corinna Black who finished in a time of 24:57. After watching the other runners come in Rene, Jack, and I headed out for a short cool down run along Franklin St., as always running with these guys was a pleasure and we got to share war stories and plans for the season for a bit away from the confusion and excitement of the finish.
The awards ceremony was a lot of fun with a number of excellent prizes being distributed to deserving runners. As an organizer of the event I decided against taking any prizes and my winnings were passed down to second place finisher Rene. While it is always fun to race and especially to run a solid time this race was notable mainly for how rewarding it was to watch the kids I coach succeed in running a race that they had all trained so hard for! Also it was a pleasure to spend some time hanging around with various members of the running community on the island and talking to people whom I rarely get to spend any serious time with.
For further info and more complete results see the MV Times article on the race here.
