After the first mile, it was clear who the top runners would be by the finish of Friday's Blessing of the Fleet 10-Mile Road Race.
With about three miles remaining, it was also clear who would be the first to break the tape in the popular Narragansett event.
Opening up a sizable gap in the late stages with a series of sub five-minute miles, former Warwick Vets runner Matt Pelletier cruised to his fifth title with a winning time of 50 minutes, 1 second. The 35-year-old Pelletier, a onetime U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials competitor with a 2:17 best to his credit, defeated runner-up Brian Doyle, 22, by more than 250 meters. The Bishop Hendricken grad and current Providence College senior crossed the line at 50:46.
A pair of former high school stars from Connecticut occupied the next two spots with Julian Saad (Trumbull) and defending champion Sam Alexander (Waterford) finishing third and fourth. respectively. Saad, 22, a PC graduate student and a 4:01 miler, was timed in 50:56. The 24-year-old Alexander, an assistant coach at Central Connecticut State, his alma mater where he was a low 29-munte 10K runner, finished in 52:06.
Ideal conditions greeted the more than 3,000 partipants that answered the gun for the early evening start with sunny skies and a slight breeze
"You know the Blessing depends on the weather," Pelletier said. "The weather was perfect. There was no wind at all."
For the first few miles of the race on Ocean Drive it was Pelletier that was doing the pace-setting, but he was surrounded by small group that included Doyle, Saad, Alexander and ex-PC standout Patrick Moulton (fifth, 53:20), who dropped from contention by the third mile. Just before making a right-hand turn onto Knowles Way, about 3.5 miles into the race, Saad took control with Alexander by his side. The slight surge opened a few-meter lead on Pelletier with a patient Doyle back in fourth, a good 40 meters behind.
"I talked to (Saad) after and he said, 'I felt bad you are doing all the work so I jumped in front,'" Pelletier said. "To me, if someone jumps in front of me, that's a move. That move made the race. I figured I either better go with them or get gapped. Julien's a 5K guy so I don't know how he's going to fare on mile six or seven."
The five-time champion, who last won in 2012, never let the tandem break away and assumed control around the sixth mile on Rt. 108. From there, he kept increasing his cushion. With a 4:54 mile, he passed the seven-mile mark at 35:09. He rattled off a few more sub-fives his last three miles. He went through mile eight at 40:08 and was 45:02 at the ninth mile.
Former Providence College All American and two-time Irish Olympian Marie Davenport claimed the women's crown. The 39-year-old Davenport was 31st overall in 1:00.26. Jackie Burr, a recent graduate of Westerly High, was 68th with a time of 64:19.
Matt Bouthilette, a junior-to-be from La Salle Academy, was 43rd overall at 1:01.31.