All-Terrain-Runner Series

 I was happily surprised to find that I finished in second place in the USATF New England All-Terrain-Runner (ATR) series.  I was helped by some top competitors not doing four races and by a couple doing only four and missing out on the higher scoring races.  The series has a quirky scoring system based on the number of finishers in each event.  Typically, that means you (or at least I) score a lot more points at the bigger races (Wachusett Mountain and Doyle 5 mile).   To contrast that the smallest race (Old Goat) would garner most a lot less points.  Mark and Matt Rabasco are good examples with both beating me in the 5 mile (and one at Wach and one at Rachel’s) but my missed race was a low scorer (Old Goat) so my best four narrowly beats both of them.  Fun series getting people out of their comfort zone and trying various disciplines.

Rachel's Run

I ’d had Rachel’s Run on my calendar since it was announced as the “trail” leg of the USATF NE All-Terrain series. I’d only missed the XC race in the series with my injury back in August.  Oddly, Rachel’s has been in the series in the past as the XC leg.  Looking at the course it makes sense as you might call the course a rough cross-country race or an “easy” trail race.  I was a bit worried as my ankles and knee took a real beating after the XC race the previous weekend. I hobbled through my runs for a few days before things started to loosen up.  The short week (six days) turnaround is a little less than I need now into my 6^th decade of racing.  I was a little encouraged that I was feeling a lot better by Friday.  Part of that may have been finally getting back to work after 5 weeks out due to the Government shutdown.  It was good to get back to work and get back to my normal rhythms.

On race morning I headed out before sunrise for an easy 3 miles to loosen up a bit.  The 9:45 start time for the race is at the early end of when I’d attempt a morning run first. I got to Tyngsboro at 8:30 and grabbed my number and said “hi” to many familiar faces.  Such a nice community and so many of my fellow Greater Lowell Road Runners present (I would be wearing GLRR colors for this race).  

I met up with CMS teammate Paul Bazanchuk and we headed out for a preview of the course. Paul noted that it was a bit more “rooty” than he had remembered.  There is also a tough little hill and a tougher (for me) downhill. The course was 1.6 miles and you did the loop twice.  Paul joined me for 2 miles then headed off to finish his prep as he was also returning from injury.  I completed two laps then quickly changed into Hoka XC flats and headed out for another loop.  I like even mileage and although 1.6 miles is a bit more than I’d usually do right before the start it would get me to an even number for the day.

 

I got back to start with just enough time to get a quick drink and head to the start.  It was 42 degrees and drizzling as nearly 100 runners toed the line.  I’d call it ideal conditions for a trail/XC race. I had trouble getting going and 100 meters in had to carefully make my way around a couple of 9-year-old kids who had shot out quickly.  Soon after Trail Troll Dave Hannon sauntered by and noted “I’m not sure what shape I’m in”.  He had beaten me here last year and my hope was to keep him in sight.  I could hear Kara Haas behind me as she chose to wear spikes and the distinct clicking gave her away.  I felt pretty decent getting up and over the hill and thought I was moving well as I neared the end of the first lap.  John Barbour and then Kara both blew by me as we hit the baseball field at the end of lap 1.  John had beaten me by 1:30 last weekend so I was also just hoping to keep him in sight.  I made it up and over the hill again in decent shape and even got to within a couple of steps of Kara by the bottom.  That left about 1 kilometer to go and John and Kara both kicked well as I struggled to just keep from falling apart.  I crossed the line in 23:05 and could not complain with only losing 15 seconds to my time from last year.  I took first in the 6069 age group (but Barbour was 24 seconds ahead winning the 7079). I was surprised to find later (when I finished the scoring for the ATR series) that I ended up taking second in the series!

 

I finished the morning with a nice 4 mile warm-down and then hobbled around the rest of the weekend as my right ankle and right knee became swollen and painful.  It seemed to be not as bad as the previous weekend, so I’m hopeful I can turn it around and race again this week.

 

 

Place  Time   Name            Gen/Age City St                 Div     Div/Tot          Pace

1        19:08  Jacob Wormald        M30    Nashua NH    M3039 1        5:59

2        19:44  Mark Rabasco          M31    Greenfield MA          M3039 2          6:10

3        19:52  Peter Caron   M27    Nashua NH    M2029 1        6:13

4        20:06  Willem Khoo  M19    Medway MA  M1319 1        6:17

5        20:35  James Bernard        M19    Uxbridge MA M1319 2        6:26

6        21:39  David Richardson M42       S Weymouth M4049 1        6:46

7        22:10  Chris Smith   M59    Woburn MA   M5059 1        6:56

8        22:14  John Paquet III       M31    Lowell MA     M3039 3        6:57

9        22:41  John Barbour M71    W Roxbury MA        M7079 1        7:05

10      22:45  Dave Hannon M54    W Roxbury MA        M5059 2        7:07

11      22:52  Kara Haas     F55     Chelmsford MA        F5059 1        7:09

12      23:05  Dave Dunham         M61    Bradford MA  M6069 1        7:13

13      23:42  Andrew Bragg         M56    Pepperell MA M5059 3        7:24

14      24:32  Trish Bourne F61     Tewksbury MA         F6069 1        7:40

15      24:45  Declan Rowley        M9      Westford MA M0112 1        7:44

 

 

Week Ending 11/23/25

 This was a week of changes as I headed back to work after 5 weeks of Government shutdown.  Unfortunately, the locker room/shower is closed until further notice due to some damage and that meant changing in the car and quick “showers” in the bathroom.  If it were summer I’d do the go-to gallon jug shower in the parking lot but with 26 degrees for most mornings, I’ll pass on that.

 

It took me a few days to get my ankles back to a point I could run comfortably.  XC racing apparently is not good for my ankles or knee.  Luckily most of my training is on the flat paved rail trail.  I managed to visit the highest point in my 100^th MA town and 300^th New England town during the week. I also got in 85 miles and raced again.  Along with that I had a great week of viewing the ISS with 5 consecutive days of sightings.  I also put in 2 hours on the bike despite temps in the 30s.  All-in-all it was a good week!

 

Week – 85

Month – 281

Year – 3,751

Life – 166,527

At the town high point in Methuen

Looking Back - November 2020

I spent some vacation time spent bagging towns in Vermont and a few races along the way.  I really wanted to do some longer racing but there have been few chooses out there.  I was reluctant to enter the Manchester half marathon as the entry fee ($102!) was a bit out there.  I submitted a projected time of 1:24 which I felt might be a bit aggressive considering the hilly nature of the course.  With two runners starting every 10 seconds I figured I'd have people to work with.  I ended up seeded 30th in the half-marathon and 22 marathoners also were seeded ahead of me.  The biggest drawback to the time trial start is that you can't race head-to-head so you can be beaten by someone you never see (I lost by 1 second to someone who started WAY behind me).

I saw my prime competition Jeff Walker who I'd beaten by a scant couple of seconds at the 10 mile.  He'd be starting a minute plus behind me so hopefully I wouldn't be seeing him. My goal was to get through the first 5 mile section on the West side of the Merrimack River in control. This course has a LOT of tough long uphills with absolutely brutal SHORT downhills.  I kept thinking "get to the 5m mark and see how you feel".  The tough little hill heading up to downtown got me to 5 miles right at 32 minutes which had me right on goal pace.

At 3 miles           At 9 miles

Six to 8 miles had some tough ups and another steep downhill leading into Livingston park.  I probably pushed it a bit too hard and was really feeling it on this section.  I hit 10 miles in a step over 64 minutes so I was still on pace  I got past Derryfield and was relieved by the downhill on Mammoth road.  I had nothing left so I didn’t have much of a kick.  I was happy to see that I was .4 under my projected time with an official time of 1:23:59.6.  I waited at the end of the chute to see Jeff Walker come in.  He got me by 10 seconds! 

 

Results M50+

1 1:23:49.4   Jeff Walker   M56    Westerly RI

2 1:23:59.6   Dave Dunham         M56    Bradford MA

3 1:29:20.8   Sean Snow    M54    Dunbarton NH

4 1:30:00.8   John Stanzel M59    Manchester NH

5 1:32:59.1   Mark Hecox   M56    Salem NH

After the race I visited “the folks” and dad surprised me with five pair of gloves!  What a funny coincidence!

Next up was the Run to the fall 5k cross-country race at Coe Brown academy in Northwood NH. The race was postponed due to an outbreak in Northwood.  Scott Clark sent out an email asking the "gang" who was up for meeting for a run.  I suggested that we meet up and race the course with whoever from our little group might be interested.  I met up with Scott at 6:30am at Tim's house and was happy to see Senior runners Jay Smith and Mike Barry turn up as well.  We did an easy mile jog over to the course start and dumped our race flats before continuing on for a 2 mile course preview that covered the basics of the multi-loop course.  The footing was very good, but WOW the course was tough with 250' of climb/descent.  We gathered up at 7am with temps in the mid-20s as the sun was just starting to get above the horizon.  It felt pretty fast as we zipped across the field and headed into the woods.  Tim went to the front and Scott and I hung on.  Tim was moving well and although in sight for the most part, I knew he had the win.  It was good to have him out front as the carrot and that helped me gap Scott.  I managed to keep it together and hit the 3 mile mark as Tim was crossing the finish line.  I managed to hold on with a 19:29. Scott came in about 30 seconds later and I got some finish pictures of the guys before we headed off for another 2 miles for a warm-down.

The following week (11/21/20) I headed back to Manchester for the “Jingle Bell 5k”.  There have been very few chances to race this year, so I've tried to take advantage of any opportunities.  This was another event managed by Millennium racing and would feature the time trial start format.  I've been seeding myself at the fast end of what I thought I could do figuring it someone caught me that'd be incentive to try to go with them.

I arrived a little early to give myself plenty of time, got my number and headed out to run the course again.  I switched into racing gear and did another easy mile before heading to the start line.  I was seeded 5th so there was only a 40 second wait after the start and I was off.  From the half to the mile I reeled in the 4th seed and passed him as I hit the mile in 5:48 which was about where I'd hoped to be.  I hit 2 miles in 11:32, but had trouble reading my watch and thought it was 11:42.  I was hurting but tried to work the slight downhill.  I was disappointed when I looked at my watch and saw "18:14".  It wasn't until after I'd done the course again for a warm-down and looked at the results to find that my watch actually read "18:04"!  I was shocked to see my official time was 18:02.5.  Damn!  I'd just missed breaking 18.  This was my fastest (non-downhill) time at 5k since September of 2018.

Jingle Bell Run 5k

1 17:03.4 Sean McCauley   M28    Canterbury, NH

2 17:19.6 Kevin Crowley    M35    Concord, NH

3 17:21.5 Mark Evans        M45    Bedford, MA

4 18:02.5 Dave Dunham    M56    Bradford, MA

5 18:26.5 Heather Stover   F33     Rochester, NH

6 18:48.7 Mark Laprade     M48    Bedford, NH

 

Next up was one of my favorites, the Chelmsford (and friends) Alumni Cross-Country race.  This was my 10^th time running over the last 15 years which ranks this 13^th on my list of “most times raced”.   Keith O’Brien has a lot of fun putting this race on and I’ve enjoyed meeting up with friends/rivals over the years.  I headed over a little early in order to run the course as a warm-up.  Scott Grandfield (who I’d invited) joined me as we checked out the figure 8 course.  O’b lined us up for the socially distanced pre-race photo and we were off.  Scott shot out to the lead and I tried my best to hang close.  My goal was to run around 6-flat pace.  Tony Ly (Lowell Tech & GLRR) was right behind me as we looped the soccer fields.  A few times I had to call out “left” or “right” to Scott as he was indeed having trouble staying on course.   Tony went by me around the mile (5:53) which is always the quickest mile with it being flat or down.  I reached 2 miles in 12:14 but was feeling ragged. I kept it together for the final loop around the school and reached 3 miles in 18:20 and with a kick of everything I had I hit the line in 19:30 for 6:06 pace over the 3.2 mile course.  I was pleased with the effort if not quite the time I wanted.  Scott had a solid run finishing over 30 seconds ahead with Tony half-way between us.  In all 19 finished the race which is pretty typical numbers for this race.  The awards ceremony is always interesting as O’B gives away a lot of unusual items.  I picked up 4 rolls of toilet paper.  Others got cookies, chips, soap, discount steaks, and a box of paper-clips. 

 

Here are a couple pictures from my random travels in Vermont this month

    

 

Looking back - November 2015

10 years ago (November 2015): I only raced twice this month as I began my comeback after prostate surgery.  I signed up for my ninth Winner’s Circle “Wild Turkey Trot”.  This was the third time I’d done the race at Pipestave (instead of Maudslay).  A little over 300 runners lined up on the baseball field for the “Braveheart” style start.  It is always a little crazy at the start with a 200 meter on the field before a sharp 90 degree turn. I lined up on the far left and took the first turn wide, staying out of trouble. By ¼ mile I found myself in 10th place and by ½ mile I’d moved up to 6th place.  Alliette moved into the lead and powered away from the field to win by 20 seconds.  I got really tired and struggled on all of the uphill sections (and there are a lot). I can’t complain with an 18:35 over this tough course, and I took first in the 50-59 age group.  Mom ended up winning the 70+ age group for the second year in a row.

1 1/3 TOP3-M Kevin Alliette           Methuen MA        34 M 17:22.3 5:36
2 2/3 TOP3-M Alex Demeule          Merrimac MA       18 M 17:43.7 5:43
3 3/3 TOP3-M Quinn Parker           Hampton NH       22 M 17:47.6 5:44
4 1/24 M1829 Andy Scott               Merrimac MA       24 M 17:57.8 5:47
5 2/24 M1829 James Macvarish       Braintree MA       20 M 18:09.7 5:51
6 1/36 M5059 Dave Dunham          Bradford MA        51 M 18:35.1 5:59
7 1/16 M1317 Kevin Bonanno         Topsfield MA       17 M 19:07.7 6:10
8 3/24 M1829 Bryce Parker            Hampton NH       20 M 19:16.6 6:13
9 2/16 M1317 Ryan Ducrow           Amesbury MA      16 M 19:26.1 6:16
10 1/23 M3039 Keith Leblanc         Amesbury MA      37 M 19:28.9 6:17
 

Next up was the Chelmsford Alumni XC race. Although I went to Billerica which is the fiercest of rivals for Chelmsford, I had the great fortune of befriending a number of Chelmsford runners. Keith O’Brien (CHS class of 1982) hosts this great little race on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Typically he gets 10-30 runners from the Merrimack Valley to come out and have a friendly race.  The traditional XC course features multiple loops around the ball fields, soccer fields, and the school itself. It comes out to exactly 3.25 on my Garmin. The race typically goes out at a reasonably easy clip then the tempo increase each mile until someone decides to race for the finish. I moved to the front and upped the pace to see who was up for it and O’B and Jason Bui went with me. By 1.5 I had dropped 5 seconds back I knew for sure I had no chance but I kept the effort “hard”.  I held on to take third place in 21:00.

1 Jason Bui                     20:24
2 Keith O'Brien                20:25                Chelmsford 1982
3 Dave Dunham            21:00               Billerica 1982
4 Bob Kearns                  22:00
5 Jim Burke                     22:13
6 Kyle O'Brien                 22:22                Chelmsford 1985
7 Mark Gallagher             22:31                Chelmsford 1982
8 Glen Turgiss                 23:12                Chelmsford
9 Richie Blake                 23:18                Tyngsborough 1990
10 Mark Blaisdell             23:28                Wilmington 1975
11 Scott Graham             23:55                Chelmsford 1976
12 Mark Suprenant           24:09
13 Steve Sartori               24:27                Lexington
14 Lee Panas                  24:44                Chelmsford 1980
15 Amy Molloy                 25:07
16 Kevin O'Brien              25:15
17 Melissa Joyce              26:06
18 Frank Georges            26:18                Lowell
19 Jill Lohmeier               26:25
20 Angie Anderson           27:10
21 Jim Rhoades               27:15
22 Jim Stronach              27:56                Tewksbury 1975

Looking back - November 2010

15 years ago (November 2010): I headed out to Oregon for the USATF trail marathon championships at the beginning of the month.  I spent a good part of the morning in the car trying to stay warm.  I went out much more aggressively than I normally would in a marathon.  After a couple of miles, I found myself alone churning out the climb as the miles slowly ticked by.  I must have been as high as 5^th or 6^th place when we hit the top because only a few guys passed me during the last 13 miles.  After the climb I tried to keep a steady pace as the trail was mostly flat for three or four miles before we started the long drop back down to Ashland.  I caught teammate Tim Van Orden just after 18 miles, he was struggling with an injured Achilles tendon and when I caught him, he was jogging backwards!  Tim gamely hung on and finished in a solid 3:08.  I was very happy with a 3:03:25. The bonus for me was winning a gold medal in the 45-49 and even better was taking 10th in the USATF overall. 

1 Max King M 30 2:41:24 M-Open
2 Mario Mendoza M 24 2:47:04 M-Open
3 John Tribbia M 28 2:47:55 M-Open
 
10 Dave Dunham M 46 3:03:25 M-45-49 CMS
13 Tim Van Orden M 42 3:08:03 M-40-44 CMS
14 Scott Dunlap M 41 3:09:00 M-40-44
 

Next up was a cross country race in Freeport Maine, the Whoopie Pie race.  The course was great, with lots of twists and turns.  I warmed up on the course and felt pretty decent doing some strides.  It was just above freezing and the wind was blowing when about 75 of us took off.  The local high school team took off; their knowledge of the home course and the narrow trail may have caused them to go out a bit too fast (or maybe just youthful exuberance).  I was in about tenth place when we hit the woods about 400m into the race.  Todd Coffin went by me about 800m into the race and I tried to keep him close.  I got as close as three or four seconds with less than 800 to go, then at 400 to go Todd glanced back and took off.  He was gone and increased his lead back up to ten seconds.  I was pleased with taking third in 17:38. 

1 Josh Zolla M 24 15:54 5:08
2Todd Coffin M 49 17:28 5:38
3 Dave Dunham M 46 17:38 5:41
4 Jorma Kurry M 39 18:03 5:49
5 Bennet Wade M 17 18:47 6:04
 

I followed this up with another cross country race (WRCR), this one at Maudslay State Park. I met up with Dave Quintal and we headed out and ran the course for a warm-up.  The start was crazy, but not as crazy as years past.  I worked my way around some of the kids who went out fast.  I moved up as high as 5^th place and was passed by just one guy (just after the mile).  I had a feeling that Dave wasn’t far behind and I know he has a lot more speed than me at the end of a race, so I kept pushing as hard as I could.  I was a little disappointed with the time (17:37) but happy with the effort.  Dave came in one place and 10 seconds behind me. 

    1 Patrick Ard    16:21  5:15
    2 Tom Leger     16:44  5:22
    3 Tim Murtagh  17:03  5:28
    4 Chris Kealey   17:10  5:31
    5 T Esponnette  17:19  5:33
    6 Dave Dunham  17:37  5:39  CMS 40+
    7 David Quintal 17:47  5:42  CMS 40+
 

Three days later I was headed onto the grass for another XC race.  This year was my fifth time running at the scenic grounds of the Andover Country club.  Temps were in the upper 30’s to low 40’s an hour before the start.  It was cool seeing a bunch of other teams warming up in big groups.  My plan was to try to stick with Jim Pawlicki for as long as possible.  400 lined up for the start and went off like crazy when the gun fired.  Jim pulled away a bit as we moved around the fast starters.  Dave Quintal went by at about ½ mile into the race and I went with him.  On the long back stretch around two-miles into the race I slightly gapped Dave and made a move on Jim. I caught Jim as we rounded the sand trap and green and headed onto the cart path.  On a longish downhill I tried to make a break but just couldn’t quite get away.  Jim caught back immediately and with a little over 800m to go Dave went by. Jim just edged Dave at the line and I rolled in 3 seconds later. 

1 Nate Jenkins    17:30    M30      5:01      SAC
2 Jim Johnson     18:21    M33      5:15      CMS
3 Bob Wiles        18:25    M33      5:16      CMS
4 Mike Quintal     18:30    M32      5:18      CMS
5 Joe Donnelly    19:04    M42      5:28      WRT
6 Ryan Kelly        19:21    M29      5:32      Acidotic
7 James Pawlicki 19:32    M36      5:36      CMS
8 David Quintal   19:33    M47      5:36      CMS
9 Dave Dunham  19:36    M46      5:37      CMS

Looking back - November 2000

25 years ago (November 2000): I was definitely trying to recover during this month after all the marathon’s and the ultra I had done over the previous couple of months.  My goal was to win the Hockomock Swamp Rat series and that meant I needed to be out there doing HSR races.  I kicked off the month (11/04/00) with the Weekend Before Hunting season 10.5 mile trail race in Sandown NH.  I was definitely still feeling the impact of the Cape Cod marathon from six days prior.  I have nothing in my training log about this just that I warmed up with Petey and Rob Smith.  I finished in third place running 1:10:11.  A week later I returned to Tewksbury for the 15k Turkey Trot.  I had the course record (46:37) but was not in that kind of form this year.  I went out with the lead pack (Dan Verrington, Chris Teague, and Eric Beauchesne).  Teague fell off at 3 miles, probably from the effort of winning the 5k (15:17) earlier that morning.  Dan took off at 4 miles and I went with Eric in pursuit.  I fell off after 7 miles taking 3^rd place in 49:29. Next up was the Feaster Five in Andover MA on Thanksgiving Day.   It was cold (23 degrees) and very windy.  I had a slow start out in 6^th place and slowly moved up to 3^rd place by 2 miles.  I closed on Dan Verrington but couldn’t quite catch him (25:12 to 25:14).  Three days later I ran a very icy 5 mile at the Monty Mountain in Leominster.  I didn’t get into an accident but did spin out the car on the way to the race.  I went out with Ramos for the first ½ of the trace but couldn’t stick with him taking 2^nd place in 27:02.