Race #41 - End of Summer Classic - Hingham, MA - 34:04

I was in the Bay State for the 2nd time in the last 20 days, but this time to drop my son Bobby at his home for the next four years and not for a vacation. He is attending Boston University and Ro and headed up on Friday morning so we can get an early start for him on Saturday. Of course I found a Friday night race which I just had to run. I was hoping to get my son to run or possibly Mike Mulka who lives in Boston, but both declined. They missed out because this race was very nice with a great post race party afterwards.

The was the 2nd "End of Summer Classic" and according to the race director, it doubled in size. I predict this race will grow immensely in the coming years. I ran this race after a 7 hour drive in the rain to Quincy where we were staying for the night. My legs were certainly stiff so I needed plenty of warming up.

The race was held at Bare Cove Park and was run along the roads as well as some trails. I am not familiar with the park, but part of the course was run along the water which was very nice. There was also the Bare Cove Fire Museum near the start which was extremely cool.

positioned myself at the front of the pack, more for a picture opportunity than to get a jump on the runners. I was hoping to run sub 7's with an outside shot to got 6:45's. I wasn't sure of the course, but if it was flat I thought I could go fast, mainly because it wasn't hot or that humid. It wasn't flat, but not too hilly either.

At the front, this very fast looking young girl asked me what my pace I would be running, which flattered me, and I quickly responded, "hopefully 6:45's". She said she didn't know what pace to run, but she obviously figured it out because she won outright, beating all the men as well. Not a huge surprise, but that doesn't happen much in these races.

I hit the first mile in 6:33, but some of it was downhill which was nice, but I figured I would to tackle it on the way back. My 2nd mile was 6:50, 3rd at 6:58 then a 7:03 but I finished with a 6:45 but it was a fast downhill. There was one women in front of me that I just couldn't catch the first 4 miles and a guy behind me that was closing in on me. I was determined not to let the guy behind pass me which helped me pass the women in front. I sprinted past her in the last 100 yards finishing in 34:04. It was good enough for 5th in my age group.

The post race fare included hot dogs, pasta, watermelon, and ices. The was also a band and lots of tents handing out information on various running related items.

Ro and I didn't hang there to long because we had Bobby back in the room and we were meeting her cousins who live in Boston.