Bottone Mile 2018

Nick Bottone Mile
Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Race background:  The Nick Bottone Track Mile was conceived on a muggy summer evening in 1993 at the Westerly High School track.  The mile format, with multiple heats, continued every year* through 2017, with some editions at Westerly High School and others at Stonington High School.  (Note:  the 2009 event was cancelled due to track flooding.) 

Declining attendance:  As shown in the graph below, the numbers really declined, especially from 2010 on.  It is often difficult to pinpoint the direct causes for declining race participation, and over the last few years, on multiple occasions, numerous efforts were made at restoring a higher number of participants.  These included:

• Moving the race from mid-July to June (when hopefully the track wouldn't be so hot)
• Changing the day of the week (from Tuesday to Friday to Wednesday)
• Heavy promotion
• Incorporating and promoting as part of Fun Run series

Time for a change:  The changes did not pay off.  In fact, the 2017 edition saw a record low 26 runners in the mile, despite multiple efforts.  It was time for a change.  We moved the mile from track to road, placed as last run in Fun Run series, and finally, this change was successful!

 The 2018 race: course  The "easy" route would be to take the 1-mile course of the Fun Run and run that.  In fact, that's what many thought we were doing. With eight turns that seemed to constantly having you turning, while any road course will be slower than a track, the eight turn road route was far from optimal.

Less turns, longer straightaways, faster course.

My sister-in-law and three year old niece finishing up the Kids' Run.

Race time:  A record 93 runners toed the line!  I had the unpleasant task as RD of removing one runner who despite repeated warnings that people need to register for the free race, sign a waiver, and wear a bib, he wanted to argue with me.  After that minor unpleasant dialogue, with bib numbers arranged in ascending order by self-seed times, I seeded the starting positions for the fastest 10 runners.  Given that we would have only heat, and the race is only one mile, that seemed to me the fairest thing to do.

Too many little ones in front and the faster guys (and gals)
stuck behind.

Much better after reseeding the front line.

And we're off...

SNERRO started the race and we all took it out towards Atlantic Ave for the quick turns before the long Crandall stretch.  I had entered a projection time for myself of 6-flat, but I really had no idea what to expect.  My PR is 5:10, but that's on the track and 8 years ago.  Factor in almost no running in the last two months, and zero speedwork, who knows.  Is 6-minutes even realistic?

1/4 mile in on Crandall Avenue I was feeling pretty good.  Watch showed 5:45 pace or so.  There wasn't a lot of jockeying for positions around me.  I passed WHS runner John Turo on the long straightaway and he passed me back just before the turn.  I glanced at my watch at the turn and my average pace had slowed to 5:59.  Ugh.  I would really, really like to finish just sub 6-minutes.  About .4 miles to go, stop looking at the watch and and just pick it up and hang on to the finish.

Finishing up, one second ahead of John Turo.

Just before the final turn, I re-passed John Turo and sprinted it to the finish line.  Colby Makin and Brandy LeClair were ahead of me, but I wasn't catching them.

Final results:  5:43!!  11th overall.  Given my injury and lack of preparation, I was stoked.  Full results here.

With my partner in crime.
Does that singlet make me look fat(ter)?