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Bunston Burner at Falmouth Mile
Falmouth MA August 17
While the World track schedule is reaching a rousing crescendo in August, late summer track has not been a staple of New England, or the US for that matter, for decades. Most local tracksters only carried through the Olympic Trials or to local events in mid-July, but director John Carroll assembled a quality field on August 17 at Falmouth High School's Kalperis Track for the second annual Falmouth Miles. Several hundred fans were treated to a Falmouth Road Race appetizer of races on the beautiful 400 meter Mondo covered surface which feels fast just walking on it.
The women's mile, a duel between Christine Gentile and Olympic Trials 1500 meter finalist Alisa Hill, led off the mini-meet. A late scratch had reduced the field to just the two so the final placing prize money would be saved for next year.
Hill took the lead at the gun, but a first quarter of 68.5 ensured that neither record nor time bonus would be paid out today. Hitting the 1/2 in 2:20, Hill forged a lead as Gentile fell of the pace. Hill had a breeze to battle and broke the beam in 4:41.00 with Gentile 10 seconds back.
The men's field of ten toed the line next with a goal of sub 4:00. The entire field was within a stride or two early on, as Dan Maas led the pack through a 61 second quarter. Coming down the straightaway to complete the second lap, Canadian Jason Bunston went to the front and hit the half way in 2:01. He proceeded to stride out to a 20 meter lead in the next half lap, noting afterwards, "I had a lot of energy and no one else was pushing the pace." The Canadian record holder at 5000 meters reached the bell in 3:01, holding pace as the field strung out behind him. Yet in the final turn Johns began making up some distance, the lead dwindling meter by meter. Down the homestretch, Bunston held on for a one second win in 4:01.22, as the first three bettered Erik Nedeau's year old meet standard.
Despite his national record in June and credentials of double all-American placings at the NCAA nationals, Bunston was not a selectee for the Canadian Olympic Team. The Arkansas grad admitted to doing minimal training in the past few days which was understandable, as he had won a 5K/10K double at the Canadian nationals last week and this was the end of his long season. He complimented the track and the fans, appreciating the noise and the closeness of the spectators.
Wheeelchair ace Craig Blanchette, in town for the road race, asked whether a wheelchair mile could be added to the abbreviated schedule and noted that a world record could be in the cards. John Carroll had no problem offering him a chance to prove good on this, as Blanchette had previous success in the region; five years ago at Northeastern University in the USATF New Engalnd Championship, he had pushed to the first sub 4:00 clocking.
The firm Falmouth track may make a new record probable, though a sub 3:30 would be required. Pacesetter Tom Ferand of Hartford led through 600 meters and Blanchette was then on his own to chase the time. Splits of 1:46.7 and 2:36.9 after 1/2 and 3/4 put him on target for the desired clocking. Head down and arms churning down the final straight, the digital clock indicated it would be close. A review of the FinishLynx image showed that he indeed lowered the World record to 3:29.68. Not bad for a spur of the moment decision. And while the mile took something out of those runners who doubled back on the roads on Sunday, the track was merely a warmup for Blanchette, who also set a road race record.
1. Jason Bunston, new balance/Canada 4:01.52 $500
2. Martin Jones, New Zealand 4:02.23 $300
3. Mike Michno, new balance/Ohio 4:03.78 $100
4. Sandu Rebenciuc, CMS/SpringfieldMA 4:05.44
5. Jason Cullinane, new bal/Falmouth 4:08.08
6. Danny Maas, Colorado, 4:11.07
7. Lou Francisco, Westchester TC/ NY 4:13.05
8. Sean Livingston, CMS/Pawtucket RI 4:15.05
9. Carl Buena, Federal Way, CA, 4:23.49
Women
1.Alisa Hill, NY, 4:41.00 $500
2.Christine Gentile, NY, 4:51.32 $300
Wheelchair
1.Craig Blanchette, WA, 3:29.68
