Pineland Farms 25K 2023

 
New Gloucester, Maine

Saturday, May 27, 2023

Third year in a row making the Memorial Day weekend trip to New Gloucester, Maine.  Besides the Trail Festival, I'm not sure what would attract one to New Gloucester.  Pretty sure I'd never heard of it prior to running the race two years ago.

The four of us (Jana, Matthew, Brady, me) came up the night before and stayed in the Merry Manor in Portland.  Decent hotel, not great, but clean and not a bad value.  Got to Pineland Farms with plenty of time to check in and go for a warm-up.  Unfortunately, despite the irony of having a canicross race there the next day, dogs are not allowed at Pineland Farms.  Fortunately we found a shaded spot and Jana would be with him and also take him off-property for walks during the race.

Two years ago we had great running weather (43° at start), last year we had hot weather (66°, 90% humidity, and temps rising fast).  This year was still warm, but not as bad as last year, with 62° and 50% humidity.  After a mile and a half warm-up, we toed the line.

At the starting line, ready to go.  Nobody wanted to take
the front row.
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(All pics courtesy of Jana)

A twisty course is in store

Having run this race before, I feel not a lot remarkable to write about.  Much like the last two years, I saw Matthew for almost a mile and then he was gone.  At times last year, it just happened that at switchbacks on the course or portions that doubled back on itself (see above course trace), I was able to see Matthew, but not this year.

And we're off ...

I'm on right, bib #149 (blue Block Island singlet and cap)

Once the dust settled, I was in 4th place and stayed there for a few miles before a much younger guy came up and easily passed me.  The same exact thing happened last year, when I was also in 4th place, and the very same guy passed me to put me in 5th!  

The rest of the race was pretty unremarkable for me.  Or is that just because I am writing this three weeks in arrears and can't remember much?  The only people I passed were those running either the 50K or 100K, and no one passed me.  At the aid station about Mile 9, I remember there were so many white pollen things falling that it looked like it was snowing.  Going into the farm fields I found the grass to be uneven and tough to run on.  I had many places to look back and see the competition behind me, but I seemed to have a pretty good lead.

Finishing strides

Unlike last year, I felt good the rest of the race.  Until I crossed the finish line and felt like death.  I found a shaded spot under a canopy to lie down on the grass.  I was very dehydrated, despite taking water at every stop and a gel every 45 minutes.

Collapsing in the shade

Final result:  1:52:16, 5th overall of 168, 1st in age group.  Full results here.

One minute faster than last year.  Two minutes slower than two years ago with the cooler weather, which was probably unusual.  The final line in last year's race report that I wrote was "This race is nice, but after two consecutive years, I'm ready to move on and try something different.".  Let's see what next year brings.

Post-race lunch along the water in Portland