Gate City Striders
http://www.gatecity.org/gcs_Big_Med/bm/Competition/nhgp/shorthanded-at-foothealth.shtmlShorthanded at Foothealth
Thanks to critical contributions from some unlikely sources, the GCS-Triad Racing Team was able overcome some overwhelming odds and hang on to first place in the 2009 NHGP Team Competition. See what it took to keep us there.
25 GCS-Triad Racing Team members toed the line in Derry, NH this past Saturday for the 18th annual Foothealth 5k. Despite forecasts to the contrary, the weather was picture perfect for this quick race around the Lake. Foothealth was the second event in the 2009 New Hampshire Grand Prix Series. And, if this race is any indication, the battle for this year’s NHGP Series Team Title is going to be a tough one. While GCS had some great individual performances, our team kind of took one on the chin this week finishing third behind the host club Greater Derry and our northern neighbors the Granite State Racing Team.
Ethan Crain was our fastest male runner and the class of the field as he won going away in a time of 16:28 (5:18 pace)! Of course, Ethan finished 1st in his 30-39 age group and first on the Mens Open Team as he was the only TRT member in that division. Dan Ferreira was the next fastest GCS-Triad runner after Ethan finishing in a time of 17:48. Dan’s time put him in 1st in his 20-29 age group and was good enough to claim first on the Mens Youth Team head of Ben Platt (20:43). Ben finished 2nd in his under 15 age group. Next across the line was Michael Wade. Michael finished in 18:14 which gave him 2nd in his 40-44 age group and was enough to hold off Dan Houston (20:16) & Paul Hadley (21:57) for first place on the Mens Masters Team. Rich Galera finished 3rd in his 50-54 age group and first on the Mens Seniors Team with a time of 18:53 outpacing Trevor Ward (19:34) & Jim Hansen (19:40). Roy Dennehey led the way for the Mens Veterans (as a team of one) with a time of 29:35 and Shu Minami (who was also in a class by himself) finished in 25:11which won him 1st in his 70+ age group!
On the womens side, Liz Hall paved the way finishing in a time of 20:09 which gave her 1st in her 30-39 age group ahead of Suzanne Barker (24:16) and Laura Rallis (25:49). Hot on Liz’s heels was Amber Cullen who finished 14 seconds back in 20:23 good enough for 2nd in her 20-29 age group and first on the Womens Youth Team ahead of Stacy Beaudoin (26:29) & Taylor Studley (28:05). Not far behind Amber was Janice Platt who finished in 22:02 which was good enough for 4th in her 40-44 age group and first on the Womens Masters Team ahead of Laurie Kofstad (22:58) & Beth Whipple (27:37). Finally, Jane Levesque finished in 29:30 and took the uncontested first place spot on the Womens Veterans Team while finishing 2nd in her 60-69 age group.
GCS-Triad Racing Team Individual Results for the Foothealth 5k can be found here under the Race Results section.
The preliminary NHGP Team Scoring for this race has us in third place with 115 points. GSRT took second with 124 points and GDTC took first with 174 points. Greater Derry worked very hard to earn the top spot as they had 86 runners take part (to our 25)! So, I guess you could say we got kicked in the Derry air! After two NHGP races, we’re still clinging to first place overall with 261 points just 6 points ahead of Greater Derry (255) and 29 points ahead of Granite State (232). Complete NHGP team results including overall standings and individual point scorers can be found here.
Our next New England Grand Prix race is The Bedford Rotary 12k on May 16th in Bedford, NH. This race is always highly attended amongst Club members and this year will surely be no exception as it’s our opportunity to show the rest of the region what NH running is all about! For additional race information, including a course map and directions to the start please check out the race website at: www.rotarybedfordnh.com/brmrr.html
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.