Really fast results at the Westfield 5k Run; according to the results posted by LevelRenner on Twitter, the winner ran 13:19, with Alistair Cragg running 13:26. Kim Smith also ran 14:48....
Anyone have the scoop on this course? is it short or downhill? Also, interesting to see Cragg racing in Mass more - he ran 29:xx (i think) at the Holyoke 10k on March 16th.
Alistair Cragg is now living in Providence, because Amy Hastings moved to Providence to train with Kim Smith again. That is why he is racing in Massachusetts -- and also in Rhode Island, where he won a local St. Patrick's Day 5k.
Times were fast because fast people showed up, although the web site says it is a flat, fast course:
$5000 for the winner (Kim!) and $3000 for second place (Amy!) makes it well worth showing up.
It's a fast point to point course with a definite elevation drop. Only have to make a turn twice, once near the start and another near the finish. A bit of a tailwind today. Regardless, some excellent times.
Kim (is bossy) Smith has a race schedule that's....busy?
Top 5, all under 13:51. Just nuts.
Looks like the course climbs a little before dropping towards the finish (overall downhill).
Course certification:
http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=MA13002JK
Top 5 all time womens 5km road race performances.
14:46 (1) Meseret Defar (ETH) 18 Nov 1983 09 Apr 2006 Carlsbad CA/USA
14:47 (1) Lornah Kiplagat (NED) 01 May 1974 28 Mar 2004 Brunssum NED
14:48a (1) Kim Smith (NZL) 19 Nov 1981 30 Mar 2013 Westfield MA/USA
14:50.4 (1) Paula Radcliffe (ENG) 17 Dec 1973 14 Sep 2003 London ENG
14:51 (1) Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH) 01 Jun 1985 03 Apr 2005 Carlsbad CA/USA
Data from ARRS + Kim's time.
Was Smith paced by her husband in this race? He finished one place and two seconds in front of her:
17 Patrick Tarpy Providence RI 14:46 4:45/M
18 Kimberley Smith Providence RI 14:48 4:46/M
I suppose it's possible that Smith and Tarpy, who is now a competitive age-group triathlete but was once a 13:3x guy, were actually racing each other, but I'm not sure that I would choose a race with a competitive field and a $5000 first-prize to try to establish who in the marriage is faster.
So Kim is the fastest nonaftrican and Cragg is the fastest...European born in Africa?
Nice there was no snow --?-- on the roads of Westfield.
As for pacing given that Kim dropped out in NYC a few weeks ago that would seem unlikely.
Per Twitter, he didn't pace her. She was trying to chase him down, couldn't quite, and will now be doing the dishes for the next week.
Course is point-to-point, net downhill. Drops about 150 ft. Only 2 turns as well. Definitely a very fast course.
Here is an APPROXIMATE course map :
http://gmap-pedometer.com?r=5870729
(couldn't remember the exact start and end point).
I've run those roads hundreds of times. There's definitely a drop as you head into downtown (passed the cemetery and hospital), but otherwise very flat.
travis pastrana wrote:
Course is point-to-point, net downhill. Drops about 150 ft.
Not quite that much drop. From the course certification it drops 92 ft (28 m), or 5.6 m/km.
For comparison, the overall drop per km in the San Diego RnR Half Marathon is 4.1 m/km. So a little bit more downhill percentage wise than that, but nothing like St. George Marathon with a 18.5 m/km drop.
Glad to see them both running well again.
Fast masters times also at Westfield with no real prize money
Sheri Piers 41 16:29.9 (AG 91.62%)
Emily Bryans 45 17:02.7 (AG 92.62%)
Solid races for marathon training...
Both women has masters PR's and are entered in the EWS at Boston Marathon. 40 open women and 16 masters women make up the field.
On the men;s side:
Kent Lemme 46 15:13 (AG 91.84%)
It is kind of funny how the money is so deep for other groups but not masters. The third place Westfield resident got the same as the masters winner. On the men's side, the masters winner finished just ahead of the 3rd Westfield guy too.
Resident money can be hit or miss, but at least here there was some competitive times for Westfield residents. In the future they should probably offer some more money to the masters.
In response to some of the earlier posts, it doesn't appear to be a short course. It's a net drop, but you actually gain about 20 ft of elevation in the first mile before coming down through the finish. Most of the runners said the same thing: slight downhill course with a slight tailwind. Nobody seemed to think it was short, and the couple of GPS readings I heard seemed to confirm that.
In speaking to Hastings & Cragg after, they both really expressed a desire to be more involved with the community and loved racing in the area. Amy seemed genuinely excited to be living out here now. There is certainly no shortage of races in this area so they'll get their chances.
I just posted interviews with Cragg, Smith & Hastings (along with Zach Hine and Simon Ndirangu) if anybody is interested: