Another week of limping on an arthritic ankle. Haven't been able to shake it (yet). I reached the Mendoza line (8 min miles) near the end of the week. Felt very good running on the Rockingham rail trail and balanced that with feeling terrible the next day on the Freeman rail trail. Such is the way of things. Had another very nice ride on Sunday, really enjoying the time on the bike. Hoping to ride the Lamoille on vacation.
Week - 84
Month - 84
Year - 1,846
Life - 168,846
30 years ago – June 1996: I raced four times during this month. Two mountain races and two road races. I started the month (06/02/1996) with a win and a course record at the Pack Monadnock 10 mile. My 59:13 knocked 17 seconds off of my record from 1992.
1 59:13 Dave Dunham M 32 Bradford MA CMS
2 1:01:28 Mike Casner M 33 Parts Unknown CMS
3 1:06:27 Ed Sheldon M 31 Manchester NH
4 1:07:00 Kevin Hynes M 31 Wells ME CSU
5 1:07:55 Steve Peterson M 30 Chelmsford, MA CMS
The following weekend (06/09/96) I took on the hills of Litchfield (CT) and the 7.05 mile course. I picked up $75 for my 7th place (35:41) on a hot and humid day. Admitted drug cheat Eddy Hellebuyck finished one second ahead of me. Attempts to get the cash he stole from me have gone unrewarded. Next up (06/15/96) was the Mt Washington road race. I ran alone after 3 miles as Daniel Kihara ran uncontested to an amazing 58:21 despite 20-30 mph breezes and a windchill of 33 degrees on top. My 62:24 brought me home 1:20 ahead of teammate Eric Morse.
The final weekend of the month (06/29/96) I headed up to Northfield-Tilton NH for a 5k with a little bit of cash. It was humid but only about 60 degrees. Teammates Gary Gardner and Dan Verrington took it out hard. I caught them after the mile and went on to win ($100) and set a course record ($50). My course record held up until 2017 when the course was changed.
1 Dave Dunham 15:01
2 Dan Verrington 15:15
3 Gary Gardner 15:25
4 Scott Clark 15:31
5 Justin Freeman 16:06
35 Years ago - I raced six times in June of 1991, mixing it up with races from 5 to 26.2 miles and from the big fields at Mt Washington and the New England Athletic Congress (now USATF NE) 10km to the small (96 finishers) field at the Goffstown Gallop. I started the month with a win at the Nipmuck trail marathon. My course record from that day still stands (although the race has moved to the fall).
1 Dave Dunham 3:01:51 2 Keith Turner 3:10:45 3 Rich Fargo 3:11:44
Six days later (06/08/91) I hit the roads with a third place finish at the NEAC 10k in Winthrop. This was the only race I can think of that was named for a hockey player (Mike Eruzione). It was a very hot day in the 90’s and a huge pack went through the 5k together. It was a two loop course because Winthrop isn’t big enough for a single loop 10k! Ed Sheehan took the win in 30:47 and I was three seconds back.
1 Ed Sheehan 30:47
2 Rod Ellsworth 30:49
3 Dave Dunham 30:50
4 Bob Hodge 30:53
5 Scott Clark 30:58
The following week (06/15/91) I picked up $600 for finishing second at Mt Washington. Derek Froude won the race in 1:00:36. I finished in 1:02:07 and noted in my training log “felt lousy, fifth place at the mile, passed Hodge (3rd place 65:32) at 2 miles”. It was a muggy day with temperatures in the 60’s at the base and a 17 degree wind-chill at the summit.
The next weekend I doubled-up, running a 10 mile on Saturday (06/22/91) and a 5 mile on Sunday (06/23/91). I won at the Montpelier 10 mile running “as easy as possible to win” in 53:32. The next day I raced in Lowell MA at Cappy’s Copper Kettle, taking on Dennis Simonaitis, Craig Fram, Paul Hammond, and Buddy Bostick (among others). Dennis took the win, breaking 24 minutes and I was second ($300) in 24:02.
Montpelier – GLRR top team (1 Dave Dunham 53:32, 3 Art Demers 54:00, 5 Dave Lapierre 55:58)
Kappy’s – 1 Simoniatis 23:55 2 Dunham 24:02 3 Fram 24:14 4 Bostik 24:47 5 Hammond 24:47
The final race of the month was the Goffstown Gallop, which is a long running New England standard. Back at the 12th running, I took the win over the 5.2 mile course in 27:19. I don’t remember much about the race except that it was very hot that day and I went straight from the finish into Glen Lake.
The updated USATF NE mountain series standings are posted here.
I've updated all of the stats for the Mt Wachusett road race. Check it out here.
Next up was a return to the Capital Area Race Series (CARS). My calf was feeling much better and on Wednesday I tested it out a little with a couple of quicker half-mile repeats. I had no adverse reaction so thought it would be time for a full test with a race. The “Over the River and through the woods” was set for Sunday. I got a migraine on Saturday and woke up on Sunday morning feeling tired and hungover. Not exactly ideal for race morning.
My goal for the day was to stay on my feet and avoid reinjury to the calf. I got out to a slow start and wasn’t in the top 30 as we went into the festively lit “Root Canal” tunnel. (pictured below before the race)
A couple of 90 degree turns had us climbing up over the highway then a little 180 turn had us on the narrow bike path that leads over the Merrimack River. I had moved up a bit by then and had my sights set on a little pack not too far in front. I was encouraged by my ½ mile split of 3:17 which was quicker than I expected. I caught the second place woman as we exited the bike path and hit the mile in 6:36 (3:19 split). As I turned into the cross-country section of the race (1+ mile of mildly rooted and somewhat twisty trail) I was passed by a younger guy in full sweats and a winter hat! He would be the only one to pass me during the race. I kept the couple of guys in front in sight and even closed a bit despite the uneven footing. A 7-flat mile got me back onto the road safely. I slowly reeled in a youngster in front of me and got him with about ½ mile to go. Doing the math in my head I was thinking I had a shot at breaking 21 minutes, but I forgot the course was a little long and rolled through the finish with a final 6:37 mile (3:21 & 3:16 splits) for 20th place overall. I ended up taking the win in the 60+ win Dave La snagging third and I also held onto third place in the age graded results. I was happy with the result and even happier with an excellent warm-down of sorts getting in a nice 2 hours on the bike.
M60+ results
Div/Pl Name Age Division Time City, State
1 Dave Dunham 62 M6069 21:05 Bradford, MA
2 Vincent Perelli 62 M6069 22:22 Hopkinton, NH
3 David Lapierre 62 M6069 22:51 Amherst, NH
4 Richard Clymer 65 M6069 23:19 Concord, NH
5 Christopher Baerman 60 M6069 25:31 Laconia, NH
6 John Tuttle 69 M6069 25:55 Alton, NH
7 Michael Quinn 62 M6069 26:48 Arlington, MA
8 George McGrath 63 M6069 28:10 Hopkinton, NH
9 Paul Horvath 67 M6069 28:46 Somersworth, NH
10 Dominic Geffken 62 M6069 29:16 Concord, NH
AGE GRADED CARS RESULTS
Place Time Agtime Agegrd% Name Sex Age Hometown
1 17:42 15:47 81.22 Dave Beaudoin M 48 Manchester NH
2 18:24 16:24 78.13 Mike Veilleux M 48 Weare NH
3 21:05 16:44 76.61 Dave Dunham M 62 Bradford MA
4 18:35 17:06 75.01 Corey Girard M 44 Pembroke NH
5 24:59 17:07 74.92 Bob Lemaire M 75 Wolfeboro NH
6 20:57 17:39 72.61 David Saarinen M 55 Bedford NH
7 19:30 17:40 72.58 Michael Martinez M 46 Manchester NH
8 22:22 17:45 72.22 Vincent Perelli M 62 Hopkinton NH
9 23:19 18:01 71.16 Richard Clymer M 65 Concord NH
10 21:26 18:03 70.98 Benjamin Strauss M 55 New Boston NH
11 22:11 18:04 70.94 Darin Brown M 59 Madison NH
12 19:32 18:06 70.82 Nicholas Gosling M 43 Bristol NH
13 22:51 18:08 70.69 David Lapierre M 62 Amherst NH
14 22:55 18:40 68.67 Bruce Dyke M 59 Chichester NH
15 25:55 19:17 66.50 John Tuttle M 69 Alton NH
Not a terrible week despite struggling with ankle arthritis and then a nasty migraine on Saturday. I managed a workout (short) on Wednesday to test my calf and then completed the race on Sunday. I also managed to keep some steady miles with an 80+ mile week.
Week - 84
Month - 330
Year - 1,762
Life - 168,762
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| Game face on before the CARS race (Over the river and through the woods) |
