Gate City Striders

32 Triad Racing Team Members competed in this years Baystate Marathon. Here’s what seven of them had to say about their experiences. In their own words!

Andrea Pierce:
It was my 31^st marathon and I have to say I was never more cold and wet than when I ran this one!  John Lewicke and I were near each other at the start, since he didn’t want to go out too fast. I saw some Striders out on the course, like Denny Leblanc at the Tyngsboro Bridge, speaking of which that was kind of scary going over. It was wet footing and moved up and down like the Verrazano narrows bridge when I ran the NYC marathon due to the cars going over it. Also nice to see Steve Moland out on the course on his bike cheering us on, and also getting nice and wet too!  Best of all, my friend Jim Ecke was at 17.5 miles and ran me in the rest of the way. My goal was~ 4;00 hours or 9 min per mile, and I nailed it right on according to my chip time, despite the weather. After finishing, I ran into the UMASS Lowell athletic complex and into the lady’s dry sauna, since my fingers were just like ice, and was able to change into a dry shirt, thank God. The bottom line, it was a marathon not to be forgotten due to the terrible weather. I am glad I did it, but wasn’t too happy about being soo cold when I was running it!

Jennifer Mack:
I’m sad to report that I only made it to mile 17 on Sunday. Unfortunately my leg gave out on me and I couldn’t finish. I was disappointed. But, it only gives me more incentive for next year. I was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis 6 weeks ago. I was hoping to be able to make it. But it wasn’t meant to be. Good news is for me I made it to mile 17 and had a really good pace until my leg gave out. I am already thinking ahead for next year!

John Lewicke:
My race wasn't much to write about. The first couple of miles were a little slow, but not bad, particularly since the weather wasn't bad...yet. I caught the 3:40 pacer, and decided I wasn't going to pass her until the second time over the Tyngsborough Bridge. Gulping down GU and Lorna Doones, kept me going pretty well. A hello from Michelle Poublon and Dave Salvas brightened up my first trip over the bridge. I saw Shu and Mary Minami several times, so I knew I wasn't far behind Yuki. However, on the second trip to Tyngsborough, my lack of mileage started to hit. Around the same time the rain started getting serious. I fell back from the 3:40 pacer, gulped more food, and then after the bridge I tried to push harder. Instead I kept getting slower. My objective then became not getting passed by the 3:50 pacer. That goal fell at around mile 23. I walked for a little bit on the Tech hill, and then kept on crawling. When I got over the Aiken St. Bridge, Laura Rallis was yelling for me from the stadium. On the hated baseball diamond I managed to hold my place. Then in the last fifty feet some whippersnapper decided to make a move on me. He got by, but I got back in front of him by the finish, however, his chip shoe must have been in front of mine, because Coolrunning shows him beating me. Fortunately, it seems that the pacers were "pushing the pace". I finished at 3:51. That was good enough for a Boston time, and better than I expected after getting passed by the pacers. After the race I found Karen Pattelena and Laura Rallis. We were all pretty hypothermic. We got some food, and I went to my car to change. Each time I tried to take off my left sock a muscle in my hip would cramp, so it looked like a cupcake was growing out of my hip. I finally gave up on the sock and went to the Brewery Exchange sockless. Karen Long, Michelle Poublon and Dan Dugan were there, and we survivors finally started to get warm.

Jim Velino:
I would like to thank Steve Piper, Karen Long, Mike Wright, Michelle, Jim Ecke, and any other Striders I saw there giving support. The weather got worse as the day went on.  Many runners who finished started to shiver a lot.  I was concerned about them getting hypothermia. BTW; I am going to run Boston.  I am looking at it as my reward for this.  I plan to run it for fun and soak up the atmosphere. 

Justin Platt:
Sorry to say, I was a DNF. I was running a strong and comfortable 7:03 pace through 16, but between 17-18 I pulled my left hamstring pretty badly. Not sure why, although I didn’t warm up the way I wanted to, and while I had compression shorts on, my legs got wet and cold from the weather. I stopped a few times to stretch- about every .5-1.5 miles- but my miles kept slowing. Finally, after jogging in a lot of pain at about 9:30 pace for 2 miles I pulled out at the med tent at mile 22. By then enough Striders passed me that I knew I wasn’t needed to score, and I didn’t want to cause any long-term injury. I caught a ride to the finish with Deb Velino and cheered on the team at the finish - Jim Velino, Karen Pattelena, Cathy Merra and my wife Jan. Mike Wright ran most of the race with Jan in training for Manchester next week. The day really turned ugly after 9:30- heavier rain and very cold. The wind wasn’t too bad, but we were all shivering over our soup in the stadium at the end. Much kudos to all the Striders along the course cheering us on- Karen Long, Dan Dugan, Mary and Shu Minami, Denny Leblanc, Michele Poublon, Mike Merra, Mike Wright- probably others that I missed. I had a great sense of pride having them cheer me on out there - it truly is a team effort. And more kudos to Mike Merra and Karen Long for taking good care of us at the end. They made sure we got some food in our bellies and warmed up a little.

Tyler Brannen:
It was good for me for 24.5 miles. I actually felt good enough to pick up the pace at mile 22. A really dramatic change when I died. I assume it was caused by the flu. I don't think I've ever slowed down that quickly before. Other than that, I dropped a gel a couple miles into it and turned around to pick it up and almost took out a couple people. No hard feelings though. I ran with Cathy Merra for a few miles maybe half way through. I was running about a 6:50 pace at that point. Not too bad a race. I did get really cold right after finishing and it seemed like a pretty long walk back to the car. I plan to run Boston again in 2010.

Yuki Chorney:
This was a very emotional marathon for me as I ran in memory of my next door neighbor Kim Cates who was murdered recently and for the recovery of her daughter Jaimie who was seriously injured in that vicious attack.  Kim loved to run and Jaimie had planned on joining the track team this year. I ran on Sunday to pay tribute to a wonderful mother and to honor a brave little girl. I looked Jaimie in the eyes the day before the marathon and I promised her that I would run it as fast as I could. My 3:31 was not my PR, but my heart was in this race more than any other marathon I have done because it was not for me, it was for Jaimie. For those who are interested: Two charitable funds have been established to assist the Cates family. The first was opened by St. Joseph’s Hospital. Donations can be sent to the Kim Cates Memorial Fund at 172 Kinsley St., Nashua, 03061. The second fund is a non-profit established by Mont Vernon’s welfare officer Richard Masters called Neighbor 2 Neighbor. Checks can be sent to the Mont Vernon Town Hall at P.O. Box 444, Mont Vernon, NH, 03057. There is also a collection box at Town Hall. Also, here is a link to an article from the Telegraph regarding the tragedy in Mont Vernon and the two charitable funds listed above.