Impromptu Podiums

I ran a few unexpected, last minute sign-up races early this fall. A race director friend and my youngest both got me to register just a week or two before each race. I did well ...

The first, a 10-mile "trail" race that covered fire roads through the Southeastern MA Bioreserve, the United We Move Trailfest was Saturday, October 17, 2026. I had run this race twice in the past, finishing 2nd overall in 2023 and 1st overall in 2024 (after another runner inadvertently cut the course and finished far ahead of everyone). This year was no different; I quickly found myself in second place on the causeway after the downhill start running well below my expected pace so decided to settle in and follow the leader up the hill and through the woods. On the way back in the woods at about mile 6.5, I made my move and ramped up to my threshold pace to run the last 5k in around 20 minutes. I finished first overall with a time of 1:09:54.

The second race was another I had run in the past. A costumed Halloween 5k. My youngest heard about it in school as it was to benefit the education foundation so signed up and asked if I would too. Of course I did! The Somerset Berkley Education Foundation Halloween 5K was on Saturday, October 24, 2026. During sign-up I recognized students on the Somerset Berkley Regional High School cross country team so figured this was going to be a fast one. A chilly morning, but I decided to ditch the hat and when all was said and done, I should have run in short sleeves, but instead rolled up my sleeves to get it done! As expected - a fast start - I was running sub 5:30 min/mi for the first quarter mile to get around the congestion of runners at the start. It quickly thinned out and I slowed to just around 6:00 min/mi pace for the next half mile; still a bit too fast. A slight uphill corrected and I ran the rest of the race around 6:20's - 6:30's - "comfortable" pace for a 5k. I hit the 180-degree turn-around and uphill sprint to the finish and was able to bring it in under 20 minutes. I finished 7th overall, 1st in my age group (50-59 M) with a time of 19:55.