Kevin Forde took second to John Hinton in the elite men’s race at Hartshorne on Saturday night in Ithaca, New York, but was especially proud of holding off world record holder and world masters champ Anselm LeBourne. Thanks to the miracle of Google’s blog search, I can pass along Kevin’s account of his Hartshorne experience. Kevin wrote of his finish: “I’d worked too damn hard to relinquish second now and (despite) the fact I was about to run 4 seconds faster than I did last week at The Armory I held him off to claim second in 4:29.46 while Anselm clocked 4:29.59.”

Kevin wrote:
10:38:39 PM EST
Feeling Ecstatic
Hearing The Pogues Dream Mile
To write just about my actual race would only be telling half the story so here’s the whole weekend. Dispite Mapquest’s claim that it was a 3 hour 39 minute drive from North Wales to the Best Western in Ithaca we got there in 3 hours thanks in part to my team mate Scott “Lead Foot” Landis who had no problem hitting the 100mph mark as we made our way to Up State New York.If the last few days had been ber in Philly then it was double ber up here, I know it was below freezing I just can’t recall how much below,but trust me it was ber!!!It,s not everyday you not only get invited to an invitational event but also get you,re entry fee waived and get your hotel paid for,I really was feeling like an elite athlete.Rooming w/ Scott again brought back memories of Nationals,hanging out w/ Scott is always a giggle but the fact it was him who spoke to Tom Hartshorne to get me into this race meant a great deal.
It wasn,t just Masters runners who,d been invited to this the 40th running of the Hartshorne Masters Memorial Mile in an eight race event there were races for both men and women at 40-49,50-59,60-69 and 70-79,milers from across the country and Canada had been invited.We were invited to dinner at a nearby restaurant Friday evening and it felt like a nice way to prepare b4 the following days races.I knew some of the runners present,Harry Nolan and Tony Plaster from Shore AC,John Hinton who I,d met and raced against at Nationals in August,Fred Robbins a Canadian legend who I,d seen at Nationals and Pete Taylor,the voice of Masters track.
Saturday,race day I already had a race plan in mind thanks to reading Diane Sherrer,s article in yesterdays Ithaca Journal,following breakfast myself,Scott, Lorraine, Julie and Lorraine,s husband Pete braved and I do mean braved the 14 degree temps and biting wind to get into Scott,s van and drive a mile to Barton Hall,we,d been fortunate enough to get in there yesterday afternoon and run a few laps on the track and get familiar w/ the track,I recall doing like wise upon arrivial in North Carolina in August.We arrived between 10.30-10.45am,the first race went off at 11am,w/ Lorraine and Jules racing at 12.30pm and Scott and I racing at 12.45pm.After checking in I was still looking at two hours till race time but w/ races going off every fiveteen minutes the time seemed to fly by.At 11.45am I began my stretch routine and took a few warm up laps as I braced myself for my race.
It,s not every race you get introduced to the crowd but again this was another element of the magic of the Hartshorne Mile,I took my call and waved to the crowd as Pete Taylor worked his way down the line to the #1 seed John Hinton.Seeded 7th of originally 12 runners we were now down to 10 as the gun went off and the rabbit took off w/ John Hinton in tow,I knew I couldn,t live w/ John,s speed and evidently the rest of the field felt the same way.By lap 2 of the 8 I,d moved my way into 5th right behind the chase pack of Anselm LeBourne,Gladstone Jones and Allains Boucher,my plan was to sit behind Allains,in my heart of hearts b4 the gun went off I believed I would be racing Allains for third,I expected John to win w/ Anselm second……600m into the race my plan went out the window,I felt I was chopping my stride and my cadence was being thrown off sitting behind the pack,so rather than sit behind them or move out into lane two I moved to the front of the pack,w/ 1,000m to go I,d shown my hand early and put a target on my back but I,d also put myself in control of my race.I don,t recall my splits,I neither focused on the clock nor listened to the time keeper as the laps rolled by.W/ 500m to go round the top bend I felt Anselm clip my foot,I knew he was right there but I wasn,t panicing….or about to let him pass me period,much less w/out one hell of a fight.At the bell I knew I had the juice left to run a great final lap and I also knew I was going to have to ,as John Hinton crossed the line some 8 seconds ahead of me I began to repell Anselm,s challenge,coming off the final bend I saw him come up on my right shoulder….no way,I ,d worked too damn hard to relinquish second now and dispite the fact I was about to run 4 seconds faster than I did last week at The Armory I held him off to claim second in 4.29.46 while Anselm clocked 4.29.59.
Several different emotions crossed my mind,I,d held off a 4 time World Masters Games champion,I,d finished second and not only broken my newly set pr of 4.33.09 but also broken the 4.30 barrier,meanwhile Scott finished 6th in a new pr time of 4.38.37.Here,s another first for me….I was interviewed by Diane Sherrer for Monday,s Ithaca Journal,I could get used to that and I look forward to reading here article tomorrow.While my track exploits were over my day wasn,t following a shower and Villanova,s win over Texas on tv we were off to the banquet dinner where I not only got to watch all the races on video{eventually we,ll each own a dvd of the races} but got to mingle w/ alot of the runners who I realized through their speechs had been here for several years.When it was time to give my speech I talked about how guilty I felt about not knowing as much about the history of this not only great race but great event,but how I hoped to be back again next year,and for several more years to come,I also made sure to thank both Scott for talking me up and to Tom Hartshorne for extending an invitation to allow me to run.
Sunday was the three and a half hour drive back to Philly,the elite Masters miler experience was over……for another year,following my usual post race phone call to my mum,I had some chores to take care of,got props from Seebo who,d gotten another of Chuck,s emails proclaiming another of my pr,s and club records and finally got to do what I wanted to do all day….go out and get my training run in,it was too bloody cold up in Ithaca this morning but I wouldn,t feel right not going out and putting in my 6 miler to round my weekly milage to 40 miles.An unforgettable weekend.