New Haven, CT
Monday, September 5, 2022
For this year's fall marathon, I was considering two races as a tune-up: New Haven 20K and Surftown Half. It's been a number of years since I've run Surftown, and it's certainly conveniently located to me, but factors that led me to choose New Haven this year over Surftown included:
- I had never run New Haven before, so it would be new and interesting
- New Haven was cheaper at $70* versus $91
- Surftown date conflicted with Newport Tri (which I will be doing), whereas there were no conflicts for me with New Haven
- New Haven 20K is the USATF National Championship, which brings a fun vibe
*Full disclosure: After I had already decided to run the race, I serendipitously received free entry into the race. My employer, from whom I recently retired, was sponsoring the race and had a few complimentary sponsor entries to give away.
Arrived New Haven on race morning with what I thought was plenty of time. Parked at the designated race parking area, which was a commercial parking garage about 1/3 mile away from the start line. Caught up with a few runners at the Mohegan Striders tent, then picked up my bib and shirt and returned to the car. Went on a 2-mile easy warm-up in the soupy conditions (73°F and 93% humidity) before returning to the car and changing into race shoes and race singlet, the latter tip being a page out of Matthew's book to at least start the race drier.
Back to the New Haven Green to use the facilities one more day before the race. Uh-oh. Long lines and not much time now. Fortunately there was one construction porta-jon that was not being used. And for good reason. Picture one of the most disgusting porta-jons you've even seen. Add smeared feces all over the seat. And then make it worse. Oh, and the door lock is broken off. Under any other circumstances, I would have avoided it. But it's mere minutes to race time now. So I do what I have to do. And yes, someone does walk in on me while I'm relieving myself. Life goes on. My business is done, and I run quickly to the start (the 20K and half share the same start, but that is different than the 5K start for Matthew). I feel a little disrespectful as I move up through the crowd while the national anthem is playing, and I try to be as unobtrusive as possible.
The anthem finishes and the race starts. Had I stayed in the long regular porta-jon line, I would have missed the start. Yes, it's a chip start, but I'd be weaving around many runners.
First three miles: At the end of the national anthem, the band moved off the road and the gun went off. So starts the sweaty slog. About half mile in as the crowded field thins a bit, I can see a cluster of Mohegan Strider red singlets just ahead. At the end of the first mile, as we're making a right turn, I catch up to them: Dave Goodrich, Juan Chacon, Becky Snelson, and a guy I don't know (Michael Stadolnik). Mile 1 will be my fastest all day at 5:52.
I slowly but surely pull away from the group, and Juan is the only one that goes with me. He and I ran together the next two miles, but I am already drenched and feeling sub-par. I ask myself, "Why do you continue to run these hot and humid sufferfest races?" Miles 2 and 3 were 6:05 and 5:56, respectively, and for the rest of the race all my splits will be slower going forward.
The rest of the race: After Mile 3, the paces ticked upwards. I had to let Juan go. I regretted it, but he was able to maintain close to 6-minute pace and I wasn't. At least he wasn't in my age group. I saw Juan in Miles 4 and 5, and then not again until post-race. I remember lamenting that I felt similar to this about this same point in the Beach to Beacon race, but that was "easy" to gut out, because it's only 10K, not 20K. This kind of thinking is NOT helping!
By Mile 6, my pace was up to 6:22 pace. And this was a flat mile! Ugh. In Mile 7, the course comes very close to the race start/finish again. And there I see and hear a few Striders, including President Al and Way cheering me and others on. And then right in that area I got repassed by a couple of Striders that I passed way back at Mile 1. This is not good. I had slowed so much that others were catching and passing me. Enough of this; I'm not going out without at least a fight.
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| Mile 7: Getting passed by a Strider that I had passed six miles earlier. What a defeating feeling. It turns out he's not quite in my age group at age 49, but I didn't know that at the time. And what's with the puffer-fish face? It must be some advanced race technique for maximizing oxygen intake. (Pictures by Kim O) |
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| Trying to stay relevant in the race. Note the kid in front of me is wearing the exact same shoe model and color as me: NB Super Comp Pacer |
By Mile 8, I am able to pick the pace back up a little at least in a 6:11, but it is fleeting. I put my Strider competitors back in the rear-view mirror and saunter on. In Mile 9, we go through a rough area in sharp contrast to the nice downtown green area. This is rough both physically and metaphorically. The street is in rough shape with cracked and uneven pavement, and the rundown neighborhood here leaves a lot to be desired. There is zero fan support here, and I can't help but notice the person staggering on the sidewalk adjacent to the race course. I'm fine running here today with police officers at intersections and many runners on the road, but I don't think I'd be comfortable running here on my own.
Mile 10 was a slow uphill, followed by a fast Mile 11 downhill on fresh asphalt from East Rock Park. The course split for the first and only time, as 20K'ers went left and headed home, while half-marathoners went right and further out. While they were only adding ~0.7 miles, the fact that they were adding anything at all, not to mention an OAB with a cone turnaround, gave me a small sense of relief. I resisted yelling out "Suckers!" although I certainly thought it. A mile and a half on flat non-descript streets and I'm done.
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| Finishing strides |
Final results: 1:17:46 (chip), 1:17:51 (gun), 91st out of 456, 1st in age group Full results here
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| Just after finishing. Absolutely drenched. No cool down for me. |
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| Changed out of my disgusting sweat-soaked running clothes, inside these fancy changing tents at the Mohegan Striders tent |
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| Age group winner award: a glass, a $20 gift certificate to a local running store, and a champagne split |
Won my age group by a mere 22 seconds. This race had some similarities to Beach to Beacon 10K, in that both are well known popular New England races that attract top competition. Unfortunately the weather was horrible at both races, but that's always a crap shoot with summer races. The venue was nicer and prettier at Beach to Beacon, but the race and parking logistics at New Haven were much easier, not to mention only being an hour drive from home. A year is a long time away, but I would say I am likely repeat at the New Haven 20K next year. Maybe I can even improve my time ...
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