2021 Run for the Pumpkins 8K

Westerly, RI

Saturday, October 16, 2021

This was the 7th year that Run for the Pumpkins was managed by WTAC (co-hosted with Town of Westerly Recreation), and not coincidentally the 7th year it was run on trails.  I have written many times on how the town approached us to take over the management of the race after the road version they ran had dwindled to 17 runners, so this year I'll just jump right into the "good stuff" - the race itself!

Warm-up:  (I thought I said I'd jump right into the race?  Yeah, almost there ...)  Arrived at 7:30am, got my feet soaked (poor baby) while setting up the field portion of the course in the grass wet from dew, and around 8am our trusty course marking crew arrived as planned.   Got the new timing company situated with the lay of the start/finish we've used for years, and my "warm-up" consisted of marking the course together with my cohorts Kevin M, Justin P, and Mikey B.  I put down arrows and put up ghosts, while Justin and Kevin did the heavy work of carrying and placing signs and Mikey did the even heavier work of carrying and placing pumpkin markers.  Four plus miles later, arrived back at the field (starting area) to change into dry socks and shoes (a lesson learned a few Pumpkins races back), give some brief RD remarks, and toe the line.

Lap 1:  (First two miles)  Mikey B started us for with a siren blast, right from the start, Brandon Tallardy took off, followed closely by teammate Dave and then Nick.  They went out fast, as in sub-6 fast.  I can let Brandon go, as I know he's "only" running the 5K, but I feel like I have to stay with Dave and Nick even though I didn't want to start this fast.  I huffed and puffed my way up the 100' hill so I could stay relatively close behind Dave and Nick.  After the incline let up a bit, it became only slightly less hard.  In hindsight, I know I was working really hard, because in 71 runs of this 0.8 mile segment "XC Full Climb", this is my fastest yet.  

The 2021 Run for the Pumpkins is off,
with me playing chase to Dave and Nick.
(Pic courtesy of Jana)

Fighting just to stay relevant in this trio.

About one mile in, just before the upper field, I caught up to and went past Dave (Nick had passed and gone ahead to take the lead).  I prefer the long steep downhill bomb on the traditional 8K course, but unfortunately this year the course had to be rerouted due to a wetlands complaint filed against the town by a neighbor.  The course is still good, but definitely adds some confusion as 8K'ers this year (and hopefully this year only, pending a legal remedy) had to traverse the same 1/2 mile section three times during the race.

The reroute involves going on the middle school trail and then back down the same trail we came up.  The impacted not only this race this year, but the two high school meets, and cancellation of middle school meets.  Back to the race ...  Heading downhill again now, Nick is in my sights.  Downhill "gazelling" is my forte, and I use it to my advantage to catch up to him on aforementioned 1/2 mile section.  Just before the 1/2 mile section and downhill ends, knowing that I really want to be ahead of Nick on the next section (which is only 1/3 mile, but the twistiest on the course), I push and go past him here.  I end lap 1 just barely ahead of Nick.

Towards the end of lap 1, trailing Nick
(Pic courtesy of Heather)

Lap 2:  (final three miles)  On the twisty climb up "Pumpkins Connector", at each switchback I could see Nick behind me, but gradually the gap between us grew a bit.  I'm certainly not taking that for granted, so as I exited that section and headed into Woody Hill, I pushed as I figured he's coming back for me.  On a single-track section early in Woody Hill, I came up on a girl running, presumably a 5K back-of-the-packer.  This section was pretty tight, so I called out "On your left!" as I often do.  No response.  OK, a little louder then.  "ON YOUR LEFT!".  Nothing.  "BEHIND YOU!"  Nothing.  OK, then, I jump into and through the bushes to her left.  This finally draws an audible reaction from her, but it's one like I scared or startled her or something.  Is she deaf?  Well, effectively yes, BECAUSE SHE IS WEARING HEADPHONES!!  IN A RACE!!  Why do people do that?  Besides being completely oblivious to your surroundings, it's not fair to the others racing today.  I'm mildly annoyed but move on.

I push it on Hansel & Gretel, where all but one runner gives me room to pass when I announce myself.  Yep, the one runner was a headphone-wearer also and oblivious to my approach.  Coming up on "the rock", I am happy to see the Kearney family (or at least Dad and daughter) going up and over the rock and let me them know so (Sarah [Mom] later came up to me to tell me how much fun the whole family had at the race - makes it all worthwhile!).

OK, final mile.  And I said in my pre-race remarks, it's all downhill.  I'm taking nothing for granted, as I have no idea where Nick is in the race, and I push the final trail mile in a 6:16 average pace.  

Final results:  34:54, 1st overall of 29 8K finishers.  Full results here.

We had a stronger field last year when we were the "only game in town" during COVID, but you race who shows up, and I worked hard and won today.  Happy to see a 1-2-3 finish for me, Nick, and Dave.

It's good to see kids participating in the,
well, in the kids' run!

Another good year of Run for the Pumpkins in the books.  I shared some pics with our land hosts, including DEM, and was pleasantly surprised to get a request from DEM to use some of our pictures in their social media promoting wearing of safety orange.