We saw the pics from Krissy Kozlosky taken at Sunday’s Hibernian 5k in Lynn, MA and noticed a couple of guys sporting the Level singlet out front. One of them was Dan Vassallo, and after thanking him for wearing it he replied with:
“Wore the Level because CMS was still in the wash. I stunk so badly in New Bedford that I had to wash it twice.”
We’ll forgive him for not having it be at the top of his rotation. But seriously, he ran a 1:08:54 so that clearly wasn’t enough to stink up anything (beyond the typical race laundry). There’s that grinder mentality that we love, and Dan was right back to work with a 16:05 5k win in Lynn.
Joining him in the winner’s circle was his wife Katrina, who ran a 19:11 and came in 9th overall. Both enjoyed similar margins of victory. In all, it was a good day for the Vassallo’s.
After seeing husband and wife rack up another win, we had to get a couple of quotes:
How’s training been going?
Dan: Hey, Eric, and thanks for reaching out. Training is okay. It had been a little bit difficult to get out of bed while looking at constantly dismal weather forecasts. That’s partially why we decided to race: it was a choice between 15 miserable solo miles in the cold and wind and breaking up the misery by racing down the street in Lynn.
Katrina: Hey Eric! Thanks for your message. Training has been decent, though I’ve spent more time on a treadmill than I’d care to admit and I’m excited for spring weather to finally be here (as I look out at the pouring rain).
What did you think of the effort?
Dan: Effort was good. I wanted to ease into it because I ran an hour at 5:15 pace on a treadmill the day before to benefit the Torigian Family YMCA. Dan Chruniak, who is sneaky fast, stuck with me for a mile and a quarter before I dropped the pace for the second half of the race. Would have liked to get a bit closer to last year’s time, but that’s life.
Katrina: Sunday’s race was fun, minus the fact that, as DV mentioned, it was cold and windy. I’m essentially racing my way back into shape after a winter of hibernation, so I can’t say that this race felt great or that it was a strong effort. But I do feel like I’m starting to resemble a runner again.
How tough were the conditions?
Dan: Conditions were cold and windy and the first mile of the course is rather hilly, but that applies to everyone. Really makes me appreciate Fullerton’s performance here last year. [Note: Fullerton ran a 15:05 for the win in 2014, followed by Dan in second with his 15:31.]
Katrina: With regards to the “marital double,” the cool part of being married to a runner is that he’s totally on board with deciding, on a whim, to spend part of the day at a road race. Though I do sometimes wonder what normal people do with their weekends.
Yeah, just what do normal people do on weekends? We just assumed everybody raced. Or went to races to watch. Lastly, here’s Jim Pawlicki also reppin’ the Level. Jim ran a 17:37 and finished 3rd.
Check out Krissy K’s photo album from the race!
