Bridgton Four on the 4th

July 4^th marked my fifth consecutive year participating in the Four on the Fourth in Bridgton, Maine. I’d gotten a little faster every previous year and hoped to continue the trend in this installment. The nice thing about running the same course year after year is that it serves as a fitness yardstick. I’d been feeling good about my running after an apparent 5K PR a few weeks ago, but that was on a course I’d never before run, so this would be the first true test.

As has become something of a tradition, I’d done an anti-taper in the week before the race. This year, while staying at my parents’ house in New York, I’d gotten overly enthusiastic about the wonderful trails there and had run 6 out of 7 days for the first time since college, totaling 53 miles in that stretch, also a post-collegiate high. It was worth it – I had a wonderful time – but my legs were tired heading into our trip to Maine. I took three easy days prior to the race and was ready to go on race morning.

Race day got off to a less-than-ideal start. The novelty of sharing a room with us meant that our kids woke us up a dozen times in the night and finally for good at 5 AM – far earlier than I would have preferred. But all was forgotten by the time we hit the road to Bridgton with our friends.

Upon arrival, my buddy Mike and I did our usual warm-up out and back on the first ~3/4 mile of the course. We commented on how it wasn’t as humid as in the past but was still warmer than we’d expected. We made the joint decision to go shirtless*, and I felt invigorated as soon as mine was off.

*Note: I had made a point to pack my 1996 Team USA Olympic jersey for this race, but I stupidly forgot to bring my suitcase when we loaded out stuff in the shuttle van in California. I was thus without my jersey (and all of my other clothes) during this three-week sojourn east, making the decision to bare my chest that much easier. 

I saw a few fast familiar faces on the starting line and hoped there weren’t too many unknown others to bump me out of a podium position. I’d just squeaked in the past two years, placing fifth of the five-deep race prize awardees, and I knew that a single random new guy could displace me this time.

My strategy was pretty simple – I wanted to run a little faster than last year in miles 1, 2, and 4, and really blast mile 3, which includes the last stretch of the long uphill followed by a solid descent. My analysis of my previous years’ results showed that I tended to give away too much time in mile 3, and I knew the cause was probably mostly psychological.

Mile 1

The first mile starts on a gradual downhill and then remains mostly flat the rest of the way. Halfway through, I was in 9^th place, running with a few other stragglers five or ten seconds behind a large lead pack. My breathing was ragged and took longer than usual to settle into a regular rhythm. I drew even with the 8^th place guy (a youngster) right as we hit the mile mark in 5:17. This was slower than I’d hoped for but not too far off. Still, I knew I’d have to keep the pace snappy heading into the challenging second mile.

Mile 2

I moved into seventh on the first hill of the second mile (which rises 100 feet over half a mile) and then was quickly passed back by the young guy I’d been with at the mile mark. The hills in this mile are relentless, and I made sure never to let up, especially where the others did as we crested each one. I recalled reading that Chris Solinsky or Matt Tegenkamp or some such fast guy of my generation would force himself to take 20 quick steps after reaching the top of a hill in a cross country race to ensure he didn’t let up. I was inspired by this memory to do the same, and it really made a difference. I was able to drop those guys and eventually get myself into 6^th place by the end of the mile, which I reached in 5:37.

Mile 3

I was feeling strong heading into the final hill and could see the top five guys (Moninda Marube, Jim Johnson, Silas Eastman, Nate Richards, and someone else) spread out in the 100-150 meters in front of me. I also knew Kevin Tilton was somewhere behind me, and I worried about him on the hills. Watching the stride and pace of those ahead of me, I was fairly certain I would catch at least one more, but it would take some work. I continued to push the final hill and then really put some effort into descending quickly. I caught one guy and then set my sights on the next one – a college kid who’d beaten me in 2015. This was the make-or-break mile for me, and I wanted to make sure I stuck with my game plan. I caught the college kid, moving into fourth place right around the mile marker, running a 5:19 third mile, 15 seconds faster than I’d run it last year.

Mile 4

The ol’ legs were starting to feel the effort, but I really didn’t want to lose any places I'd gained. I also discovered that I was closing on the third place runner, another college kid, who’d won this race a few years ago. We were moving well down Main Street, which was lined with fans shouting for the guy in front of me (he was a local kid) to hold off the old man chasing him. I came within maybe two seconds of him as we rounded the final turn onto the long straightaway. I was glad when he turned on the afterburners and started to pull away, because I wasn’t relishing the thought of dueling it out with the guy all the way to the finish. This was a weak thought, and I’m not proud of it, but it’s what my tired brain was thinking. I crossed the line in a big PR of 21:12, with a final mile of 4:58.

Half-mile to go, trying to catch third-place. (Pic from mcclellandmiscellanea.com)

I'm apparently scanning the sidelines for sneak attacks. None came. (Pic from mcclellandmiscellanea.com)

Forcing a smile as I finish up the race. (Pic by Katie)

Third place vanishes into the distance. (Pic by Katie)

I was thrilled with my time and place, as it verified my fitness. For my efforts, I took home a Food City gift card to give to my in-laws and a New Balance gift card to give to myself. Mike also had a PR, coming through in 23:45, despite running little more than 3 miles at a time in slow circles on the track during his training.

During the award ceremony, the top 5 men and women, as well as past race winners, had the unusual opportunity to blow out a candle on a cake honoring the 40^th anniversary of the race. That was pretty cool!

See separate write up here. Results here.

The past three years have had similar split patterns, with 2016 just dipping below the others throughout the race.

My goal of putting a charge into mile 3 is evident when viewing the splits this way.

The two patriots post-race. (Pic by Katie)