NE Running Company 10-Mile Race

June 21, 2015: Recap by Mike Pelletier

The prospect of thunder, lightning, and heavy rain deterred all but nine Striders from running the NE Running Company 10-Mile Race on Sunday, June 21, 2015. This 10-Mile Race was the 7^th race in the NSS Grand Prix.

For me personally it was the most fun running in the rain since I ran the 1997 Ocean State Marathon, a point-to-point course that started in Narragansett, RI and ran along the coast into the teeth of a major Nor’easter with 20-30 mph winds. In 1997, a cold (47^o) drizzle at the start turned into heavy rain from miles 10 to 23, before it lapsed back to a cold drizzle.

On Sunday, the promised thunder and lightning never materialized, but a warm (63^o) drizzle at the start turned into steady rain interspersed with very heavy rain and then drenching rain from miles 0.5 to 9, before it lapsed back to drizzle. If you ran in this race, you got as wet as if you jumped fully clothed into a swimming pool and with all that water in our shoes and clothes it felt as if you had put on 20 pounds in the course of the race.

Kate Gage, fresh off of running a Boston qualifying time at the Vermont City Marathon only three weeks before, was first Strider woman and Gary Freedman was first Strider male.  Kate was also 2^nd in her age group while Gary and I were first in our respective age groups. Observant Striders will notice that I was the only one in my age group. That’s because nobody else over 70 was dumb enough to run 10 miles in a monsoon.

Rosie, Mariellen, Neil (recovering from a recent kidney stone), Denise and I formed a loose pack, shifting positions within the pack, until Rosie finally pulled ahead for good in the last few miles.