Ollie Road Race

Today I met Mark Miller and his wife at their place in Keene. We headed down in the rain and hoped it would let up. It didn't before the start of the race but during it seemed to be quite manageable. I warmed up with the CMS crew and anxiously waited for the gun to go off. My goal today was to drop the watch again (I didn't want to know how fast or slow I was going), and run up front no matter who was up there and for as long as I could. At about a mile and a half in, Miller made a move going up the only hill on the course. I was surprised because he told me he was going to wait until mile three, but I guess he was excited. I couldn't believe how many people were in the lead pack. Even after the surge. As far as I could tell at least 30 people answered the call. By the time we hit a parking lot and hair pinned around a turn Joshep Koech made another move. This time it seemed to thin things out because we all lost contact with him and ended up in single file for a while. By 3.5 miles Me, Mark Miller, Mathew Kiplagat, and Patrick Mellea formed a chase pack. I tucked in behind Matthew and Patrick across the bridge and was able to avoid most of the wind. I felt like this was my chance to go for it and made my one and only move the whole race a little after the 4 mile mark. Unfortunately Patrick was ready. We pushed hard fighting each and reeling in the leader. It was going to be close. All three of us crossed the finish at almost the same time. Joseph held on and kept the lead and I couldn't stop Patrick from passing me at the very end. To me it was the most exciting finish I have ever been involved in. I wish the distance of the course wasn't screwed up, but I feel I ran as best I could and am still very excited to have run so fast (for me). Next up is the Lone Gull 10K.