Goodman and Kramer out front early on, courtesy of Scott Mason Photo.

By Tyler Andrews

While many may still be resting their legs, recovering from the spring Marathon season, 88 runners tested their turnover this past Sunday, May 11^th, in Warwick, RI in the first annual Quahog Mile Road Race. In a world where 5Ks flood the calendar from St. Patrick’s Day to Thanksgiving, 1-Mile road races still find a unique appeal in their relative scarcity.

It was the first year for the Quahog Mile and race director Bob Jackman. Besides putting on a fun event, Jackman had one goal: some fast finishing times.

Two factors helped aid in this. First, the Quahog Mile featured an enticing array of cash prizes for a self-proclaimed small race, with $300 for first and paying through to 5^th place. Second, Jackman designed the course for speed – a gentle dog-leg left with a generously downhill final 400m.

And did the carrots pay off?

They sure did. Jackman had said 4:10 would win the race, but when the winner (David Goodman of NE Distance) crossed the finish line, the clock read 4:05. Just behind him was Will Sanders who also broke Jackman’s prediction, running 4:06 (full results here).

Goodman for the win! Courtesy of Scott Mason Photo.

The pair had run the whole race together, with Goodman leading from the gun. With a quarter mile to go, Sanders tried to press, but Goodman maintained his lead and would win in an impressive wire-to-wire run.

Behind them were Dan Kramer (NB Boston) in 3^rd in a time of 4:24, Dan Hawkins (Tuesday Night Turltes) in 4^th in a time of 4:33, and Mike Pezzullo (Tuesday Night Turtles) in 5^th in a time of 4:53. Kramer got out with Goodman and Sanders and fell off halfway through. We’ll forgive Kramer for not holding on. After all, he did win the 3000m at the New Balance Boston Twilight Meet the night before (Kramer ran an 8:39.07 and dominated the field).

The women’s race also featured a near-photo finish. Lindsay Willard (BAA) took the early lead before being passed by Katie Moulton (Rhode Runner) in the first half. Kailin Collins (Unattached), stayed right with Moulton until the three-quarter-mile mark, when she moved by and made a bid for glory. Moulton responded well but didn’t have quite enough. Collins crossed the line in 5:03 for first with Moulton two seconds back in 5:05 for second.

Behind these two were Willard (3^rd, 5:19) Kim Chula-Maguire (Ronald McDonald House of Providence RC) (4^th, 5:21) and Miranda Fani Srour  (5^th, 5:22).

All in all, the race was a huge success according to Jackman, who hopes to make the race an annual occurrence. After seeing how fast runners were able to cover the 1-Mile course this year, Jackman is confident that next year will be even faster.

“If the race is a go for next year, I expect a sub-4,” he told The Level.

We’ll have to wait until May, 2015, but we’ll be sure to watch and see if the runners can beat the predictions once again.

Thanks to Bob Jackman for contributing to this!