USATF New England 10K Championships – 9/30/18 –
Contributions from Mike Pelletier and Linda Desjardins
After a summer filled with too-hot and too-humid races, we were all looking forward to a taste of autumn running and Gloucester’s Good Harbor Beach gave us a whole buffet of metaphoric tasty treats in today’s 10K race. The air was as clear as it ever gets and the race start temps were in the 50’s. Very nice. A revamped route had us running up that initial hill, like we do for Back Shore vs. starting atop it as in the past. But once we crested the hill, the sapphire-blue ocean with waves rippling and splashing on the rocks gave us eye and ear pleasures and the view of all the bright colors on the runners was dazzling. We went inland after a couple miles and circled around making about a mile loop. There were several rolling hills but atop one was a sign saying the elevation was 58 feet and this was the highest point on the route. That was encouraging. Back out to the shore road and a return to the starting point but with 1.2 more to go we took a right on Thatcher Rd. and ran that comparatively boring stretch to the lot entrance and the last .2 sprint to the finish. We all agreed it’s more fun to run down the hill we started on and then see the finish line. But with the altered course, eliminating the gated community loop, we needed another mile to make 10K. It was convenient, though, not to have to trek through the sand to get to the post-race festivities and have refreshments right at hand.
This race was not only part of the NSS Grand Prix series, it was the USATF New England 10K championship. The winning times in each category were mind boggling. Nevertheless, the Striders represented well both in quantity and in running some great times. Mike earned enough points to earn the designation 2018 Men’s 75-79 USATF New England Champion. Here are the stats, courtesy of Mike.
Lone Gull 10K 2018
| Lauren Hamilton | F5059 | 49:02.9 |
| Art Clay | M4049 | 50:50 |
| Bryan Cunningham | M4049 | 51:44.8 |
| Jennifer O’Neil | F5059 | 52:28.6 |
| Jill Page | F5059 | 54:50.3 |
| Siobhan Stoney | F3039 | 55:40 |
| Tom McMahon | M6069 | 57:08.2 |
| Allie Vered | F4049 | 57:47.3 |
| Mariellen Hayward | F6069 | 58:03 |
| Michael Pelletier | 3rd M75-79 | 1:00:18 |
| Adrienne Gordon | 2nd F70+ | 1:01:49.7 |
| Linda Desjardins | 3rd F70+ | 1:02:11 |
| David Newhall | M7099 | 1:04:47.2 |
| Cheryl Welsh | F6069 | 1:04:47.6 |
| Maureen Kelly | F5059 | 1:20:47.8 |
| Denise Young | F5059 | 1:20:48.2 |
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