Gaspee Days 5K

Cranston, RI

Sunday, June 14, 2025

First time ever running Gaspee Days, motivated by the race included in the RI Grand Prix this year.  In fact, I had never even run on these roads until just two weeks prior when WTAC joined the Tuesday Night Turtles (TNT) for a 50th celebration run and post-run pizza and drinks.

WTAC / TNT group run in Warwick, June 3

Met up with Justin Pearce and Matt Sweeney at the Ashaway Park 'n Ride, where we carpooled from there, with me driving.  Was made aware of traffic and parking restrictions, and studying options, opted to park at Fay Memorial Field, about 1/2 mile away from the bib pickup and finish via trail.  Arriving, I noticed many of the Newport Run Club opted for the same parking option, with one telling me that he runs this race every year and finds this to be the best parking for ease of avoiding closed roads, getting in and out quickly.  Vindication!

I've been having some trouble accepting slower times this year, and although I ran a 17:45 in March of last year, I cautiously set an arbitrary goal of sub-19.  After ~3 miles of warm-up, I was ready to go.  There were frequent announcements that unless you were going out in 5-minute pace or faster, you didn't belong on the front line.  That didn't stop a bunch of kids from occupying the front line.  I lined up with Matt maybe three rows back, and was ready to run.  64℉ and cloudy, so pretty good weather for mid-June.  

The course was basically an OAB on Narragansett Ave,
except for a short neighborhood turnaround midway
(much better than a cone turnaround!), and pulling off
onto a quiet side street at finish.

Race start and first half:  The gun went off, and it seemed instantly so many runners had sprinted out ahead of us, some legit of course but many not.  I felt I spent the first 1/4 mile doing a fair amount of weaving, before I was able to run unimpeded and in a straight line.

I ran a 6:09 first mile.  Not the 5:40s/5:50s splits that I ran in the past, but this isn't the past.  I thought the support lining the course was great, but a few folks that run this race regularly said there are usually many more fans out there, but it was lighter this year due to the weather (off and on light rain).

I'm not a big fan of OAB courses, but at least it was a 0.2 mile lollipop turn on local roads instead of a cone turnaround.  It was also fun to watch the leaders in this race coming towards me on the return.

I was warned ahead of time about the "hill" on the return, but it's only a 40' climb, so it didn't really affect me at all.  The race really went by quite quickly, and as we made the final turn and the finish line came in sight, I see rival Norm Bouthillier just ahead of me.  I had the element of surprise going for me, but unfortunately just couldn't close ahead of him in time.

Norm in front here, and you can see me as
the next runner coming up, but I couldn't 
close the gap.
(TNT Facebook page)

Final strides to the finish.
(TNT Facebook page)

Final result:  18:59.  69 of 1769 overall, 2nd of 58 in age group.  Full result here.

Gun time 19:03 (see clock in pic), chip time 18:59.
(Snippet from race video)

I was hoping I would get lucky and Norm wouldn't be in my age group, but unfortunately he just turned 60 recently.  He got the $50 first place prize, by 3.5 seconds!

I dropped from 2nd to 3rd place in the RI Grand Prix Masters Division, as Adrian Massie ran an impressive 16:40 (he's 47 years old) for an age-graded 85.3, as opposed to my age grade for this race being an 83.3.

Overall, this was a good race that I would come back to, and I had fun out there.  I made my arbitrary goal today of sub-19 with an official time of 18:59. Unfortunately missed out on winning my age group, but really happy with how consistent my splits were at 6:09 / 6:11 / 6:09.  Fun and well organized event.