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Ethan's got wheels in case anyone out there is unfamiliar. Before the race, I was talking to Bob Wiles and he told me that Ethan was around somewhere...so I knew it wasn't going to be an easy day. As we lined up, the weather was already VERY hot, and looking around, I knew it would be a 4 man race between Bob, Me, Ethan, and Colin Ingram. The gun went off and immediately, Ethan went to the front but didn't really push the pace. I settled in right on his shoulder and there I stayed. The mile markers were way off so I won't even bother laying out the splits like I normally do, but we went through what was setup as Mile 1 and it was 5:32. Bob yelled 'slow!' from right behind Ethan and I. Ethan let out an expletive and laughed a bit before picking up the pace just a tad... It was the four of us (with Colin) through about 1.5 before Ethan and I put a little distance on the other two. Through 2, the clock read 10:18 (or a 4:45 second mile according to my watch)...again, the 10:18 may have been closer to accurate, but the splits were obviously off. I didn't get the 3rd mile split, but at 3 I was right on Ethan's shoulder and we just cruised into the last turn, at which time he waited until I crept up a bit and then he turned the jets on. He's got a pretty nice kick and I didn't have the wheels to react. The race tactics played out in his favor for sure, and I know we probably could have gone out harder and salvaged a faster time, but it is what it is...and another sub 16 is always welcome in my results.

I cooled down with Ethan after the race and got to talk to him for the first time...very nice guy who lives just far enough away up in Maine that I won't cross paths with his kick too much in the near future ;)...

For winning my age group, I got a $60 gift cert to Bicycle Bob's Bicycle Outlet in Portsmouth (good for a tuneup) and a $100 gift cert to Anneke Jans in Kittery, ME.

On to Ascutney tomorrow (I think...).