By John Shimer
NEWBURYPORT — Imagine coming off fractured ribs and only having three weeks to train for the Provident Bank 49th annual Yankee Homecoming 10-Mile Road Race. Then picture you fracture a bone in one of your toes a week-and-a-half from the starting gun-shot, and your goal remains finishing as the top New Englander and in the top five of some 1,700 runners. Sound doable?
Running on a "throbbing" pinky toe, Warwick, R.I., teacher Matt Pelletier not only accomplished both feats, but took the torch from three-peat champion Alene Reta (2005-07), winning in a time of 50:59 to become the first American winner since Patrick Moulton of Pelham, N.H., won in 2004.
On the women's side Sebleledt Kasahun of New York won in a time of 57:46, beating last year's winning time of 58:50 set by Claudia Camargo.
"I've been injured," answered Pelletier as to how his summer training has gone. "I fractured two ribs the last week of school in a faculty vs. students softball game, which was stupid, and I just got over that three weeks ago.
"Then Monday of last week, I broke my pinky toe walking on the beach, just catching it and rolling it over," said Pelletier of his injury woes. "It was all swollen and black and blue. I couldn't put my shoes on for three days. It hurts, right, it's throbbing."
Due to the injury and some heavy rains, Pelletier put off his training runs until the 10-Mile Blessing of the Fleet Road Race in Narragansett, R.I., which he proceeded to win.
"Wednesday I was supposed to do a workout, but I couldn't put my shoes on and it poured so we moved it to Thursday. Then Thursday it poured again, so we moved it to Friday night and did the 10-mile Blessing of the Fleet as a tempo run," Pelletier explained, after running a 5:06 mile pace in Newburyport. "I won that, too, but I felt I put too much effort into that to come here and do well."
After a fast start, Pelletier was gunning simply to keep up with Patrick Moulton's brother, Casey, for top honors in New England. As the race progressed, runners slowly dropped back one by one until there were only three left: Pelletier, Dereji Hailegiorgis, and Joseph Ekuom. By the end, Pelletier was all by himself for a lonely finish cruising to a 35-second victory.
"There was a big pack at two miles, but one by one they fell off until there was three of us," said Pelletier. "At five miles we hit an uphill, I kept the momentum going, and I guess they relaxed on the hill, which moved me right into the lead. They responded to it for a while, but as soon as we hit another uphill around the sixth mile I pulled away."
Intimidated by the field when he first saw the list weeks ago, Pelletier said he thought the top runners simply did not account for him, which worked to his advantage.
With a modest teacher's salary, Pelletier can put the $500 prize money to good use.
"I'm a teacher," said Pelletier, who had no idea how much prize money he was due. "I'm going to pay bills."
According to top local finisher Ryan Spinney, who finished in a time of 58:58 — good enough for 71st place — Pelletier's performance was just the icing on the cake to a perfect day weather-wise for the 49th 10-miler.
"He's just a gutsy guy, and obviously one of the best in the region," praised Spinney, who ran a smart race, closing with 5:40 final mile. "It takes a lot of guts and a lot of heart to do that. Just outstanding."
Top 5
Yankee Homecoming 10-mile
Men
Place Name City Time
1. Matt Pelletier Warwick, RI. 50:59
2. Dereje Hailegiorgis New York, NY. 51:34
3. Josephy Ekuom Bronx, NY. 52:03
4. Brendan Callahan West Hartford, CT. 52:15
5. Matt Ely Natick 52:21
Women
Place Name City Time
1. Sebleledt Kasahun New York, NY. 57:46
2. Stephanie Reilly Whitensvilee 58:07
3. Sara Donahue Boston 59:33
4. Jen Toomey Salem 59:46
5. Amy Gosztyla Dover, NH 1:01:13
