Brooks 6th in inaugural Boloco Heartbreak Hill Grand Prix
Newton, MA – The men’s and women’s team raced together in the inaugural Boloco Heartbreak Hill Grand Prix; the course featured the iconic Heartbreak Hill most famously featured every April in the Boston Marathon. Initially intended to be a 5mi circuit, the race was shortened to 2.5mi at the last minute, which caused the Women’s 1/2 field to be integrated into the Men’s 3 field for a 73 rider strong race.
Several moves tried to get away through out the race but nothing stuck, David Chiu patrolled the front to make sure NEBC was represented incase anything went but moves that went before the hill were caught on the fast run in to the start/finish line, and anything that went on the fast run in was brought back on Heartbreak Hill.
John Broussard made a strong late move in the race hoping to catch the field off guard. John was able to get more of a gap than anything earlier in the day, but was eventually caught on the final time up Heartbreak Hill.
The race came down to a fast bunch gallop with Scott Brooks coming in 6th place wishing he had one more gear! Brooke O’Connor was the top finisher of the women.
Roy Van Cleef, Peter Bradshaw, and Jason Sears stuck it out in the P/1/2 race which was cut short due to torrential down pours, which magically disappeared as quickly as it appeared right after the finish.
A huge thanks to J. Alain Ferry, the Town of Newton, Boloco, and all the sponsors of this race. It was a fantastic event and an excellent race course, we’ll certainly be back next year!
Photo courtesy of Velocity Results