three wins and a first place.

KVAC CHAMPS!
Eastern Maine, this is our state.

The course was muddy and a mess, as were the people

We were ready though, we have been training for these weeks since August 16th, and this past Monday, October 11th we had completed our hardest workout of the year, intense workouts that all added up to 16 miles.

Standing on the line, we knew we had a job to do. It was my job to run a good race, and if possible, catch and beat EL's Faisal Noor. Nick and Jake had the job of catching Hussein of EL and Nick Demo needed to try and catch as many of the EL kids as possible. and our 5 Nate was going for Bourget. We were all trying to beat as many EL kids as possible. Luckily, our 6 and 7 are faster than any other teams 6 and 7 which means that if it ever comes down to a tie we win.

The race was tough. Going out, I was in a pack with Harlow (Mess), Eben (EA), and Faisal (EL) eventually they kinda dropped and it was Harlow and I going out, it felt kinda slow to me, but I knew the second mile would be a pain. Stupidly I looked at my watch shortly before the mile mark and thought I was going too fast, so I pulled up a bit behind Harlow and that's when I broke. After that even though I knew I should have been going faster, mentally I was having issues. I kept with Harlow until we got to the field at the top of the hill, then I got a bad cramp. As I came through the 2 mile I knew it was going to be a tough race. As we went back up the hill on the other side right before the blueberry fields Eben and Faisal got around me, I tried to stick with them but I was dead. When Evan caught up with me I knew I couldn't let him get around me. I ran with him and didn't let him pass. Luckily when we came out of the woods for the last 3/4 of a mile or so, my cramp got a little less worse, and I was able to increase my pace, as we crossed the football field I pushed myself into a fast fast run, almost a sprint. when I crested the little hill after the football field I realized Faisal was dying and I took off, I made sure to sprint through the line completely, and ended up losing to him by .2 of a second. Nick Parsons beat Mt. Blue's Jaron Jones but not Hussein. In the end it didn't matter, we beat all the other teams.

On the girls side we also won, by a ton! 27 points to the runner up of Brunswick 75 points.

For the JV races, our girls team also won, and on the boys side, while our team didn't win, we did have the individual winner of Senior Peter Burtt.

We got 3 plaques out of a 4 plaque meet, I'd call that a success.

four wins and a record.

Look out Maine here we come.

Yesterday we had the Mt. Blue Relays. Both our Boys and Girls A teams were going for the record, boys 58 minutes, girls about 70 minutes.

For the boys, this meant averaging about 11:33's per person, we were hoping this wouldn't be too hard, since I was going for a sub 11, and Jake was going for around 11 flat.
Starting off, Harlow Ladd, Will Lundquist, Chase Brown and I were running together. Lundquist led for the first 3/4 of a mile or so, I then made a move and got around him, with Chase right behind. I went through the mile around a 5:04, which I was happy with, and knew that if I could repeat it I would break the individual course record easily.
Coming down the grass slope shortly after the mile is when Chase Brown managed to get around me, I tried to go with him, and succeeded for a bit, but then he managed to get away. I did manage to hold on Harlow Ladd as we battled for 2nd. A couple of times going up the hill we gained a bit on Chase, but it wasn't enough, and as we all sprinted the last 200 meters or so, Chase managed to come in with a winning time of 10:43, I came in behind him with a 10:49, and Harlow right behind me with a 10:50. I handed off to our number 2 Nick Parson, and went over to receive my other number (a 2) because I also had to run the second leg on our d team.

My coach wanted my to run about 10-13 seconds slower on my second leg than my first, but I ended up just going out and taking it kinda easy and running about a 12:38, which wasn't too bad I thought.

When our number 4 Nate Mackenzie handed off to our number 5 Jake LeTourneau at a little after 46 minutes. this meant that Jake couldn't dilly daddle, and would have to run about an 11 flat. Unfortunately, Jake came in with the final time of 58:23, just 23 seconds off the record, if we had all run about 6 seconds faster, we would have been set.

On the girls side, our last runner, Emma Wood, came in at 68 minutes, 2 minutes faster than the record, breaking it easily.

Overall, both our Boys and Girls, A and B teams won Mt. Blue Relays, Next week, KVACs!

Brunswick

This is a bit late, I'm sorry.

Last Thursday Mt. Ararat ran at Brunswick, against them, Morse, Lawrence, and Mt. Blue. Going into the meet we knew our main competition would be Mt. Blue, they have a very strong 1-2 with the Jones' brothers. 

I started the race going out slightly conservative for the first 200 feet or so, until we reached the downhill, then I took off a bit to gain as much ground on Jaron as possible. I went through the mile mark at around 5:13 which was slower than at MTA, which was disappointing for me. but allowed me to really push through the second mile and go through at a 5:23, only 10 seconds slower. Going through the 2 mile, Jaron was around 9 seconds behind me, however shortly after the 2 mile mark, when you do a short loop that brings you around and back through the 2 mile mark, Jaron took a wrong turn, and ended up running around a 24 minute. At the end of the race going up the hill, I was in a ton of pain, and knew I just had to power through, and I ended up coming across the line at a 16:43, a 2 second PR.

After Jaron went the wrong way, Nick Parsons pulled out an amazing 2nd place running a 17:23. Jonah of Mt. Blue 3rd with a 17:30, and Jake 4th with a strong finish of 17:48.

The boys won the meet, 27 to 58.

On the girls side, Brunswick's Katie McMahon had an impressive race with a time of 19:20, just 2 seconds off her PR, and she was quoted after as saying "It wasn't actually that bad, I could have run faster, but it's tough since I didn't have anyone to push me." Running at FOC for her tomorrow should provide her with plenty of tough competition.

With Emma Wood and Katie Spies finally back, the girls reasserted their dominance to win 30 to 47, proving that while Brunswick might have a strong 1-2, teamwise they don't match up.