Nearly 1,000 runners complete Hampton Beach race
By Dan Doyon
Hampton Union, October 8, 2013
[The following article is courtesy of the Hampton Union and Seacoast Online.]
The first wave of runners hits the 1-mile mark during the
Smuttynose Rockfest Marathon at Hampton Beach on Sunday.
HAMPTON BEACH — It had been nine years, but Jason Eddy hasn't lost a step when it comes to running marathons.
The 34-year old from East Bridgewater, Mass., dodged raindrops and a stiff ocean breeze to comfortably win Sunday morning's Smuttynose Rockfest Marathon in a time of 2 hours, 38 minutes and 17 seconds. The field of 941 finishers made the 26.2-mile race the largest marathon in state history.
"It was windy; it was luckily not too hot and the rain actually felt good," Eddy said. "I wanted to get under 2:40 and felt good at (mile) 13, and just wanted to try to keep consistent splits between 5:30 to six minutes. I fell off that the last three or four miles, but was able to hold on nicely."
Lars Sauvola, 38, of Rindge, finished in second (2:49.11), while Brendan Corcoran, 36, of Ridgewood, N.J., placed third (2:50:26).
Christine Irish made the trip from North Yarmouth, Maine, to win the women's division. The 38-year old crossed the finish line in 2:56:28, which was good enough for ninth overall.
Irish was followed by Nataliya Tereshchenk, 37, of Nottingham (3:00:01), while Christina Wickson, 30 of Southbury, Conn., placed third (3:06:55).
"It was a perfect day for it," Irish said. 'It was a nice, fast start. I pretty much ran even splits. It was a nice, flat course and I felt pretty strong the whole way."
Eddy is a 2002 graduate of Bryant (R.I.) University and his last marathon was the Bay State Marathon in 2004, which he ran in 2:40:00. He gave up running to concentrate on his career as a certified public accountant and got back into training last year.
The rust wasn't apparent on Sunday, as Eddy jumped out to a steady lead and maintained his pace.
"I was feeling really good through 13 (miles), but I ran into a tough spot around 14 and was running in the high five (minutes) until mile 20," Eddy said. "But I've been doing a lot of training and my body was ready for the last 10K.
"I knew I had a good-size gap, so I was honestly doing a lot of it off my watch and trying to keep it consistent," he added. "I do a lot of training on my own, so I feel comfortable running solo."
Eddy has won seven races throughout Massachusetts over the summer, including a half marathon in which he ran 1:13. Eddy is expecting the birth of his second child within the week. His goal is to qualify for the 2015 Boston Marathon.
"I knew I was in decent shape for this, so I'm very happy with this performance," Eddy said. "I'm going to take a little break, do some fall races and aim for Boston."
Irish ran this race two times before and was aiming to break three hours. She shaved nearly eight minutes off her sixth-place finish a year ago, where she ran in 3:04:13. She also finished third in 2010 with a time of 3:19:41. It also marked Irish's p.r. in a marathon.
Following Eddy, Sauvola and Corcoran in the men's top 10 were Justin Bentley (2:51:05) of Ashaway, R.I.; Jeffrey Walker (2:51:57) of Westerly, R.I.; Austin Susmann (2:53:37) of Wellesley, Mass.; Daniel Button (2:54:32) of Acton, Mass.; Christopher Chidley (2:55:09) of Somerville, Mass.; J. Patrick Kennedy (2:58:29) of Cohasset, Mass.; and Andrew Pacholec (2:59:13) of Gloucester, Mass.
Irish, Tereshchenk and Wickson were followed in the women' s top 10 by Tamara Lovuolo (3:08:59) of Marshfield, Mass.; Lauren Sischo (3:12:06) of Southborough, Mass.; Danielle NcNiff (3:14:45) of Hingham, Mass.; Deidre Lowe (3:15:46) of Salem, Mass.; Danielle Skillin (3:17:50) of Cumberland, Maine; Jennifer Piesik (3:17:51) of Cumberland, Maine; and Summer Cook (3:18:35) of Madbury.
Male age-group award winners were Sussmann (16-29); Bentley (30-39); Walker (40-49); John Stanzel (50-59, 3:01:14) of Manchester; and Vasilli Manikas (60-69, 3:23:58) of Rockland, Mass.
Female age-group award winners were Sischo (16-29); Lowe (30-39); Lovuolo (40-49); Linda Jowett (50-59, 3:40:57) of Atkinson; and Janet Parkinson (60-69, 3:59:48) of Portsmouth.
Half Marathon
There was also a half marathon that had 3,821 finishers. Jon Chesto, 42, of South Boston, Mass.; won the race in 1:16:53. He was followed in the men's top 10 by Aaron Chelate (1:16:56) of Saco, Maine; Shaun Dever (1:17:55) of Meredith; Mike Juurlink (1:19:07) of Oakfield, Nova Scotia; Michael Fraysse (1:19:04) of Derry; Matt Alexander (1:19:26) of Lebanon; Brian Stewart (1:19:42) of Buffalo, N.Y.; Aaron Colman (1:19:55) of Rye Beach; and Jeffrey Norcia (1:20:07) of Gilford.
Alexis Juurlink, 34 of Oakfield, Nova Scotia, won the women's division in 1:24:37. She was followed in the women's top 10 by Carolyn Durfee (1:25:41) of Portsmouth; Colleen Barry (1:27:22) of Lowell, Mass.; Theresa Fritz-Endres (1:28:14) of Carlisle, Mass.; Saeger Fischer (1:27:58) of Portsmouth; Elizabeth Izzo (1:29:31) of Durham; Emma Spencer (1:30:34) of Somerville, Mass.; Kathleen Rooney (1:30:37) of East Boston, Mass.; Allie Yanikowski (1:30:49) of Montpelier, Vt.; Megan Feran (1:30:54) of Amesbury, Mass.; and Erin Linthicum (1:31:22) of Cambridge, Mass.
Male age-group award winners were Jake Hastings (19-and-under, 1:27:36) of Phillipston, Mass.; Jordan Parkinson (20-24, 1:21:37) of Portsmouth; Shaun Dever (25-29, 1:27:55) of Meredith; Norcia (30-34); Juurlink (35-39); Fraysse (40-44); Doug Deangelis (45-49, 1:22:38) of Ipswich, Mass.; Chip Pierce (50-54, 1:22:05) of Newport, Vt.; Ernst Linder (55-59, 1:25:21) of Durham; Perry Seagroves (60-64, 1:30:17) of Concord; Salvatore Multa (65-69, 1:50:57) of Wesport, Conn; and Ram Satyaprasad (70-and-over, 2:15:10) of Burlington, Mass.
Female age-group award winners were Kelsi Schanlaber (19-and-under, 1:41:46) of Lancaster; Fritz-Endres (20-24); Fischer (25-29); Rooney (30-34); Amy Khulvaug (35-39, 1:31:35) of New York City; Jennifer Elsinger (40-44, 1:31:41) of Richmond, Vt.; Lisa Williams 945-49, 1:37:03) of Concord, Mass.; Joyce Morgan (50-54, 1:39:04) of Boonton, N.J.; Patti Laliberte (55-59, 1:45:03) of Merrimack; Janice Brooks (60-64, 1:52:01) of Wolfeboro; and Margaret Engroff (65-69, 2:27:33) of Patten, Maine.