On Sunday, March 21st, a group of the fastest Heartbreakers raced for spots on the team's top seeded Magic Horse Marathon Relay team (sign up here). Gathered at the famous (or infamous) Harvard Tempo Loop, the men challenged each other over 7 laps of the flat & fast ~1200m loop. Stephen Bourget, Jonny Phillips, Jarred Iacovelli, Fitch Henry, Drew Kiracofe, Sam Seekins, Sean Edelman, & Tim Lillehaugen lined up at 3PM under blue skies with Dan Fitzgerald, the Heartbreakers team founder and van driver, officiating the start.
They got out quick running 3:23 for lap 1 and kept the heat on over all 7 laps. By lap 3 a pack of 3 emerged (Stephen, Jonny, & Jarred) chased tightly by Fitch then Drew and the rest of the crew.
Stephen was the early favorite. Captain Conor Cashin said early on that he was betting his chips on Stephen. In the 5th mile, Jonny made a hard move and took the lead. On the back side of the stadium, our VISION21 architect & Olympic Marathon Trials, looked strong but lacked that extra gear he needed. Jonny is also Stephen's coach and Stephen is a Providence Marathon Champ, Bay State marathon champ, and 2:19:02 marathoner.
The young Jedi Stephen found the speed and dashed past the master in the last 400m to snag the lead back and the win (24:09) by 3 seconds over Jonny (24:12), chased by Jarred in 3rd at 24:24.
This firms up the men's side of Magic Horse Marathon Relay team. Get your own crew of 5 and get ready to rock & roll with the Heartbreakers. The women will race for their two spots in April. Registration and information can be found at heartbreak.run/magichorse.
