2011 Great Cow Harbor Race 10-K Race Report
After I ran my first Cow Harbor Race 10-K four years ago, I made a goal to run a sub 60 minute 10K. Last year became known as my 1 min over disappointment, and since then, I promised myself that this was the year! It was a little cool in Northport, New York, waking up to a 58F morning, but the stars did align and...I DID IT!!! (My official time clocked in at 57:27.2) I'll admit that the the calve guards by 2XU also helped me push for a fast time. They felt AMAZING! The course record, set by Ryan Hall in 2006, was even broken by five seconds by Mo Trafeh, who recorded his third straight year of Cow Harbor Race wins!
The big deal this year, for me, was that one of my best friends, Matthew Pitfick, was chosen to design the Cow Harbor Race t-shirt. I'll admit that the shirts of past years were only bed worthy, but I knew with him at the drawing board, the design would actually be wearable (it was also his intention). Bottom line, the shirt came out awesome and you could hear people talking about how great it was to have a shirt that looked good. His family even had a half page article in the Observer, a Northport newspaper. Matt also designed a great poster which is going to be hanging in my house but unfortunately, the poster, which should have been showcased, was not. Signed and numbered, and even priced reasonable, I was disappointed that it wasn't more of a big deal. Matt showed me posters from the first few years of the race, and it's just an overall shame. I'm sure that people would have been lined up to buy them! Maybe next year?
Take a look at the poster!
Another big deal for me this year was that I was able to finally get my wife, Adelle, to come out and race. Cow Harbor Day and the race in Northport has actually become something that I look forward to every year because I get to spend the weekend with a bunch of some of the nicest people I know. Given the fact that they are invested in the race and town, makes it just an overall good feeling time. I'm really happy that she got to experience race day!
And one other awesome thing about this year's race was that our good friend Esther ran it too! It was her first race and she freaking ran fast clocking in at just over 51 minutes! Congrats to her and Adelle!
To go with the race, here's is my Garmin data! Check out the climbs. Fun times all around and I can't wait to try and make it under 55 minutes next year!
I do hope that next year they have a starting time mat and halfway mat. It'd be even more cool if New Balance, who is a primary sponsor, help with the shirts and make 'em tech t-shirts!
