Whale of a race at New Bedford

Matt McDonald (B.A.A.) and Katie Kellner (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) led the fields at the New Bedford Half Marathon on Sunday.  It was the first running of the race through the Whaling City in three years, and the weather provided ideal conditions for strong performances,  The often windy conditions and colder temperatures were replaced by a nearly calm day, temps in the 50's with early fog and late race sun. Organization under the Friendly Sons of St.Patrick didn't miss a beat from their 2019 operations. The race had over 1900 entrants. 

McDonald, who won the USATF-NE 4 mile championship in February, led from the gun with a 4:48 opening mile; his finish time of 1:04:17 is the fastest winning time since 2009.  He noted running solo was a challenge at times but was good practice to push on mentally.  Kellner, a 2020 Olympic Trials qualifier, took over the women's frontrunning from teammate Annmarie Tuxbury around 8 miles and recorded a personal best of 1:13:51 in her first New England championship victory.  Both will be toeing the Boston Marathon starting line in a month. 

Each of the top Masters male and female finishers placed in the top 10 overall, with Alex Taylor (42, BAA) seventh in 1:07:09 and Karolyn Bowley (52, B.A.A.) eighth in 1:18:39.  Bowley's age graded performance of 96.59 is world level.

The Open club rivaly continued with Boston Athletic Association leading Tracksmith Boston Hares in the men's ranks, and the two trading positions in the women's standings. Twenty-eight USATF-NE member clubs had at least one scoring team, 
Individual and Team Grand Prix standings after two events.

Overall results are found at iresultslive.com/?op=division&eid=5124
Check the interviews with the winners at nerunner.com

The Grand Prix series continues on May 27 at the Vermont City Marathon.