Gate City Divides and Conquers
Published Jun 12, 2009
Race #1: The Rhody 5k – 9:00am - June 7th - Lincoln, Rhode Island
The 10th Annual Rhody 5k was held on June 7th and 30 GCS-Triad Racing Team members made the trip down to the Ocean State for the first half of our Sunday double dip! At the end of a very productive day, our Mens Veterans team came home as USATF New England 5k Champions and Our Womens Seniors & Womens Masters Team each took home the Second Place prize (less than 2 combined minutes from First!). GCS currently sits 3rd overall in Club Scoring (out of 28 teams) and a mere 7 points from second place CMS in the 2009 New England Grand Prix Series.
This race was the fourth of seven New England Grand Prix Races and was the last one of the Series that is more than 45 minutes from Nashua. Ethan Crain was again our fastest male runner. He finished in a time of 15:35 (5:01 pace) which was good enough for 14th place overall (out of 441) and first on the Mens Open Team. Joe Rogers was the next fastest GCS-Triad runner after Ethan finishing in a time of 17:07 which was just enough to hold off first-timer Dan Moriarty (17:52) & iron-runner Michael Wade (18:15) for first place on the Mens Masters Team. Mike Merra finished first on the Mens Seniors Team with a personal best time of 18:47 outpacing Jim Hansen (19:31) & Peter Davenport (20:49). And, John Lewicke led the way for the Mens Veterans Team again with a time of 20:59 which was good enough for first on the team just ahead of Rick Stetson (21:37) & Brad Johnson (22:58).
On the womens side, Cathy Merra followed up her phenomenal Bedford 12k performance with another awesome run here in Rhode Island. Cathy completed the Twin River double loop in a time of 19:14 which was good enough for 1st overall in her 50-59 age group and first on the Womens Seniors Team ahead of Fiona McDonnell (23:08) and Deborah Roy (27:51). Next behind Cathy was Karen Long who finished first on the Womens Masters Team with a time of 19:52 ahead of Karen Pattelena (20:05) & Tammy Gaffey (20:29). For the Open Women, Peggy Lai again led the way with a 20:15 which was good enough for 1st in her 19&under age group and just ahead of Julie Hanover (20:46) and Donna Pitts (21:16).
Complete race results including pictures can be found on the Coolrunning website here. Full GCS-Triad Racing Team results for the Rhody 5k can be found on our website here.
After Rhody, The New England Grand Prix Series takes a bit of a summer vacation before returning for The Ollie 5m in Boston on September 12th. Unfortunately, this is also the same day as another NHGP race - The Alliance Against Cancer 5k in Manchester. So, we’ll need to have another strong showing at both races to maintain our position. For additional race information on the Ollie 5m, including a course map and directions to the start please check out the race website here.
Any current club member can run any of the seven New England Grand Prix races free of charge regardless of the number Grand Prix races you're able to run. And, the race entry fees will all be pre-paid by the club so that there are no up-front costs for you. Just show up and run! It couldn't be easier! If you would like to join the Team for another great GCS-Triad Racing event please e-mail Michael Wade right away and let him know.
Race #2: The Smuttynose 5k – 11:00am - June 7th - Newmarket, New Hampshire
As the their fellow GCS runners were cooling down from their 5k race in Rhode Island, 35 Triad Racing Team members toed the line in Newmarket, NH for the final race in the “Will Run for Beer” Series – The Smuttynose 5k. Smutty was also the third event in the 2009 New Hampshire Grand Prix Series. And, as we have already seen earlier this year, the battle for this year’s NHGP Series Team Title is proving to be a tough one. As they did at Foothealth, Greater Derry once again came out in huge numbers (62 runners total). However, our small (but swift) team of runners more than held their own against the GDTC onslaught. Finishing with a very respectable 123 points, just 30 points shy of Derry’s 153 winning point total and 6 ahead of the 117 points picked up by Granite State.
Newcomer Alex Brown was our fastest male runner finishing in 7th place overall in a time of 16:48 (5:26 pace). Of course, Alex finished 1st in his 29&under age group and first on the Mens Youth Team ahead of Dan Ferreira (17:27) & Benjamin Platt (20:49). Denis Tranchemontagne came out of hibernation and was the next fastest GCS-Triad runner after Alex finishing in a time of 17:12. Denis’s time put him in 2nd in his 30-39 age group and was good enough to claim first on the Mens Open Team head of Kurt Berna (19:07). Next across the line was Tim Burke. Tim finished in 17:20 which gave him 3rd in his 40-44 age group and was enough to hold off Justin Platt (19:52) & Tom Richotte (23:04) for first place on the Mens Masters Team. Rich Galera finished 4th in his 50-54 age group and first on the Mens Seniors Team with a time of 18:24 outpacing Tom Kolb (20:21) & Tom Conley (22:05). Denny Leblanc led the way for the Mens Veterans Team with a time of 22:23 ahead of Brain Sanborn (25:12). And, Shu Minami (who was a team of one) finished in 24:55 which gave him 2nd place in his 70+ age group.
On the womens side, Bonnie Richotte paved the way finishing in a time of 20:05 which gave her 2nd in her 30-39 age group ahead of Yuki Chorney (20:35) and Liz Fay (24:07). Hot on Bonnie’s heels was Sarah Burke who finished in 21:21 good enough for 3rd in her 29& under age group (even though she’s just 14) and first on the Womens Youth Team. 2 seconds ahead of Sarah was Janice Platt who finished in 21:19 which was good enough for 4th in her 40-44 age group and first on the Womens Masters Team ahead of Lisa Klasman & Heidi Havron who finished neck and neck in times of 22:21 & 22:22 respectively. First across the line for the Senior Women was Barbara Joy in a time 23:22 just ahead of Linda Madden (24:34) & Lisa Christie (26:14). Finally, Jane Levesque finished in 28:09 and took the uncontested first place spot on the Womens Veterans Team while finishing 3rd in her 60-69 age group.
Complete race results including pictures can be found on the Coolrunning website here. Full GCS-Triad Racing Team results for the Rhody 5k can be found on our website here. The preliminary NHGP Team Scoring for the year drops us back into second place with 384 points - 24 points behind Greater Derry who has 408 and 35 points ahead of Granite State who has 349.
Our next New Hampshire Grand Prix race is The St. Anne’s Lake 5m on July 25th in Hampstead, NH. As luck would have it, this is yet another hometown race for our rival Greater Derry. So, we’ll need to have another strong turnout if we want to take back first place in the overall standings. Fortunately, this is the only event on our racing schedule for that day, so we should be able to bring a full team with us to accomplish this task!
For additional information on the St. Anne’s race including a course map and directions to the start please check out the race website here.
More from NEGP
The up-to-the-minute list of GCS-Triad Runners who have signed up to run (and had their entry fees paid by the club) for the FINAL New England Grand Prix Race of the Year.
The up-to-the-minute list of GCS-Triad Runners who have signed up to run (and had their entry fees paid by the club) for the 6th New England Grand Prix Race of the Year.
On the weekend of July 17th & 18th, the GCS-Triad Racing team had a rare “double-header” race weekend. See who ran what and how we fared.
A current list of GCS-Triad Racing Team Members who ran at least one New England Grand Prix Race this year including individual & total points scored in our Intra-Team Competition.
58 Striders served up some home cooking for the 36th running of the Bedford Rotary 12k. Check out how we did and who's responsible for burning the competition!
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