Long weekend in Arizona

 Back in August I was feeling great and foolishly decided to sign up for some races.  One of those was the Tucson 50k.  My knee never got better so the 50k was out (as was all the other races I signed up for). The trip however was ON!

I got in some nice runs on the Santa Cruz River Trail in Tucson. Climbed to a fire tower on Bigelow Mountain. Ran on the last few miles of the 50k course. Visited a Geocache in a nice little park in Benson. Hiked to a cemetery near the ghost town of Fairbank.  Ran on the Fairbank loop trail (sandy and slow). Visited Tombstone and the OK corral and Boothill Cemetery. Stayed in Kratchner state park and enjoyed a great fire while watching SO MANY satellites zipping overhead.  Woke up early to see the ISS.  Ran the very rocky and twisty Foothills trail. Ran a very hot 6 miles on the Desert Classic trail. All-in-all it was a terrific weekend.

December 2020

  

5 years ago (December 2020) Not a bad month, tied for 3^rd most miles in a month for 2020.  I got in a couple of races and even did a couple of workouts.  I’d been fortunate to stay relatively healthy this year.  I hadn’t missed a day of running since 01/06.  Finding races was a challenge! 

 

I started of the month with a return to Northwood for the “Run to Fall” which had been postponed (four times!).  I thought for sure it would be postponed again as we got heavy snow the day before.  Northwood ended up getting 4-6” of snow but Tim Cox and his crew of volunteers did a fantastic job clearing trees and packing down the course in order to make the course “run-able”.  I met up with Dan Verrington and we checked out the course as a warm-up. The fields were very slow and the woods was a bit faster with somewhat packed down snow.  We only saw one other guy out warming up on the course.  Next up were some tough decisions on what to race in.  I went with shorts, two tops, and gloves and Inov-8 trail shoes.  I tried to settle into a good pace and by ½ mile had passed Tim.  I tried to focus on the guys in front of me and kept in mind that this course is sneaky tough and if you go out too hard you really pay the price.  After the mile I couldn’t hear Dan behind me but didn’t want to look back which would let him know I was worried.  I had nothing left as we hit the track (deep snow) for the final 150 meters.  I ended up crossing the line in 21:57 which was 2:28 slower than I’d run three weeks ago (under much better conditions).  Dan came in two places later and 47 seconds behind me which gave me a slim victory in the age graded masters and got me $50. In all only about 1/3 of the people who originally entered turned up on, probably due to the multiple postponements and the tough conditions of the day.  Fantastic job by the volunteers and a lot of fun!

   

Slick trail running!                                                     DD & DV – the rivalry continues

 

Run To Fall 5k – Top 5 Age Graded Results  - December 6, 2020   5 Kilometers       Northwood, NH

Place Time    Pace  Name           Age/Sex City/state   Age %     

    1   21:57  7:04 Dave Dunham            56 M             Bradford MA              70.42 CMS

    2   22:44  7:19 Dan Verrington          58 M             Bradford MA              69.10 CMS

    3   24:45  7:58 Michael Barry   64 M   Northwood NH        66.72

    4   25:05  8:05 Amy Tkaczyk             46 F             Northwood NH           63.21

    5   22:54  7:23 Timothy Cox              47 M             Northwood NH           62.98    CMS

11  24:55  8:02 James Pawlicki             46 M             Lynn MA                    57.46    CMS

 

Run To Fall 5k – Top 15

Pl       Time   Pace   Name            Age    Gend  City/St No.

1        18:06  5:50   Luke Tkaczyk 17      M        Northwood, NH       4

2        18:44  6:02   Lars Hogne   17      M        Strafford, NH 9

3        19:12  6:11   Ryan Lafrance         23      M        Gilford, NH    3

12      21:57  7:04   Dave Dunham         56      M        Bradford, MA 23          CMS

14      22:44  7:19   Dan Verrington        58      M        Bradford, MA 21          CMS

15      22:54  7:23   Timothy Cox  47      M        Northwood, NH       18          CMS

23      24:55  8:02   James Pawlicki        46      M        Lynn, MA      49          CMS

 

It has been very difficult to find racing opportunities under current conditions so when events become available, I’ve jumped in.  Such was the case when USATF NE (Steve Vaitones) sent out word about a cross-country relay.  I was excited to get back to Franklin Park but the distance (1.3+ miles) was going to be a challenge.  That is super-short, and I find it takes me a couple of miles just to get up to speed.  The team aspect with 8 teams per start window (to stay under the 25 person capacity limit) meant we’d get to warm-up with our teammates and cheer on our rivals.  Dan Verrington and I teamed up with new CMS member (I’d recruited him) Scott Grandfield.  We got together and headed out for a couple of laps around the course to ensure we all knew where we were going.  It was a pretty simple loop that included the “Wilderness” section of the Park.  Dan and I have raced here many times over the last 35 years (and my first ever race against Dan was across the street in the golf course where cross-country races were held in the 1980’s).

Time was tight and I switched in Inov-8 trail shoes as Dan headed out for a few strides before the start.  I got in another mile before the relay started then did another half-mile with some strides.  I was pretty nervous about trying to run fast.  Five minutes after the start we could see the leader coming back onto the field for the final 1/3^rd of a mile around the border of the field.  The teams were pretty evenly spaced with each one about 10-15 seconds ahead of the next.  There were only four runners over age 50 in the race and college teammate Jason Cakorous ran an excellent 7:34 and Dan was close behind in 7:58. I took off about 15 seconds down on the BAA women’s team and had her in my sights.  I reached the mile in 5:47 and caught her just before that split.  I couldn’t see the next guy but gave it my best right to the line with a 7:55 split.  Scott took off and he closed on the guy in front of him but didn’t quite get him despite running an impressive 7:09 (9^th fastest time of the day and fastest 50+).  Our team took 7^th out of 15 teams.  Team manager Scott Mindel ran all three legs and finished in fifth place!

I’m on the left finishing as my teammate heads out for the final leg

Rank   Time   Race #         Team name

1        21:12  2        GBTC

2        21:40  1        HFC

3        21:48  1        Old Goat

4        21:56  2        Emerging Elites

5        22:12  1        Team Mindel

6        22:54  1        Tracksmith

7        23:02  1        CMS-50+

8        24:16  2        Emerging Elite women

9        24:27  1        BAA women

10      24:41  2        NE elite women

 

Dan Verrington and I have been racing against each other since November of 1980.  We’ve crossed paths nearly 316 times.  With injuries impacting both of us we had only raced each other 21 times in the last 5 years.  The breakdown has been fairly even with me beating Dan 176 times and him beating me 140 times.  Thirty of those races were won by one of us with the other taking second, and since we usually invited each other and carpooled we have no one to blame but ourselves for those losses.  I have won 14 races where Dan finished second and he took the overall win 16 times with me getting second. With Dan retired (from work) and moved to Vermont it may take him a long time to catch up to me on the head-to-head wins.

December 2015

 10 years ago (December 2015): I only raced twice during this month as I began to think about racing on the indoor track.  I was coaching at Gate City Striders at the time and signed on with a GCS 50+ team for a leg of the Mill Cities relay (12/06/15).  As a change of pace for me, I got to run the anchor leg.  This was a relatively fast 4.75 mile leg that had just one hill heading from Methuen into Lawrence.  I managed a surprisingly fast 27:31 (5:47 pace). Our team topped the category by 5 minutes over the Winner’s Circle.

I had three second place finishes during the year but had yet to break through and get a win.  It looked like my winning streak (at least one win every year since 1979) was in jeopardy. The Winner’s Circle “Santa’s Toy Trot” would be my final chance (12/13/15) to get a win.  The race has an interesting format that it is a 2 mile loop and you can choose to stop at 2, 4, or 6 miles.  My plan was to do either 2 or 4 miles and hopefully sneak out a win as faster runners went longer distances.  I went out in 5^th place, but you don’t know who is running what distance.  I was trailing Kara Haas who was running the 2 mile and knew I was aiming for a win.  I caught her at 1.4 miles but three others were still ahead.  I could not drop Kara.  The top 3 guys continued on and Kara and I were locked in a battle with less than 200 meters to go when we both missed the correct way to the finish.  I jumped the curb and Kara followed (so I don’t think I gained anything).  I managed to hold her off by 1.9 seconds for my first win of the year! 

December 2010

 15 years ago (December 2010): I only raced twice during this month, I had been aiming toward the USATF XC national championships since CMS was fielding a master’s team and I hoped to score for the team.  We flew down to Charlotte and had a lot of fun catching up with teammates. Since the race wasn’t until the afternoon Eric Morse and I killed a little time in the morning bagging the Mecklenburg county high point (just a stroll in someone’s front yard). The first loop of the course was mostly dirt “trail”, probably more of a dirt road than trail. It was plenty wide and had no sharp turns to worry about. A form of that loop would be done three times and the only hill would be negotiated three times as well. It was a good 50’ climb over a short distance with the downhill in about 100m or less, rumor had it the course was about 6.3 miles.  The day was ideal with temps in the 40s, a little cloud cover, and no wind.  I saw Jason Cak, Francis, Byrne, and a slew of other fast guys that I knew. It was wild seeing so many fast people lining up. Eric took the line and I got behind him, since everyone needed to line up behind the one runner allowed on the start line.

 

I got out well and hit the mile in 5:39 with Dave Quintal a couple of seconds ahead.  I passed about 10 guys on the first time down the hill and kept DQ in sight as my second mile was 5:45. I began to notice a lot of guys in front of me with 50-55 on their back (we had age group numbers on our backs).  I tried to pick off guys as the crowd seemed to thin as I hit 5km in 17:40. Soon after I saw teammate Greg Putnam standing on the side of the trail.  Greg jumped back in and followed me through a 5:44 mile that included the hill.  No one passed me in the next mile but the gap to DQ was now 15 seconds. I latched onto GLRR’s Mark Reeder and a guy in the 60-64 age group!  Greg went by and I couldn’t go with him.  I crossed the line in of 35:44 which is pretty close to my best 10km time as a master, so I was pleased.

 

The team did well, finishing 13th of 26 teams. I was the fifth man or the final scoring member of the team, but Scott Clark (35:53) and Rod Viens (36:01) were close behind.  We didn’t really stay much longer, just cleaned up a bit and headed for the airport. It was a quick trip but a lot of fun.

                                                           

USATF XC National Championships - Charlotte, NC December 11, 2010 - Individual results (389 finishers)

Pl       Time   Name            Age Team               Category Cat Place

1        32:36.0         Peter Magill   49 Compex Racing   M45-49                   1

2        32:47.8         Chris Cushing          43 Compex Racing   M40-44                   1

3        32:52.2         Mike Livingston       45 Asics Aggie RC    M45-49                   2

7        33:16.5         Francis Burdett        45 GSH *                M45-49                   3 *Sometimes runs for CMS

37      34:26.8         Eric Morse     45 CMS                             M45-49                   12

67      35:09.3         George Adams         40 CMS                             M40-44                     39

82      35:38.7         David Quintal          47 CMS                             M45-49                     25

85      35:42.0         Greg Putnam           41 CMS                             M40-44                     46

86      35:44.5         Dave Dunham         46 CMS                             M45-49                     26

93      35:53.9         Scott Clark    44 CMS                             M40-44                   49

100     36:01.8         Rod Viens     43 CMS                             M40-44                   54

 

Teams:

1 Compex Racing 50

2 Atlanta TC  57

3 Dirigo                  147

13 CMS                   281

   

Back row (l to r): George Adams, Scott Clark, Rod Viens, Gregory Putnam. Front row (l to r): Eric Morse, David Quintal, Dave Dunham

 

The final full week of December had me traveling out to Woodford Vermont for the “I Love Woodford” 3.5 mile snowshoe race.  This was the 7th time I’d made the trek to Woodford.  I drove the three hours to the race site a bit early so that I’d have plenty of time to mark the course prior to the race.  Double-J (Jim Johnson) joined me and we were surprised to find the snow well packed and the course super-fast.  The only problem we had was the icy layer under the snow which made for fast running but made it really difficult to put out flags.  After marking the course I changed into my race gear and headed out to try and loosen up.  I gave it my best and ended up running my fastest time at Woodford by over two minutes!  JJ won in a new course record, just crushing the course in a truly amazing 20:28.  Teammate Tim Van Orden (TiVO) took second running in 21:01 and I rolled in at 22:14 for third place. 

Week Ending 12/14/25

 A decent week with 85 miles, despite a travel day in there. Spent a few days in Arizona on a short escape from New England weather. I passed 4,000 miles for the year during this week. I also had some quicker runs as my knee and ankles were having a better than average time of it. 

Week - 85

Month - 170

Year - 4,009

Life - 166,785

19 degrees and 81 degrees for runs during this week!

December 2005

 20 years ago (December 2005): I was working my way back from a hamstring injury and only raced once during this month (at the very end).  I was only doing one run a day and managed 171 miles.  I’m not sure why I chose to do the Millennium mile but maybe because teammates Eric Morse and Kevin Tilton were racing. I managed a 4:45 for the downhill mile placing 56^th out of 674 finishers and was 7^th in the masters.  Kevin ran a 4:17 with Eric a step behind in 4:18.     

December 2000

 25 years ago (December 2000): Only one race during this month.  Drove 3 hours with Dave Tyler down to Norfolk CT for the Norfolk Pub 10 mile which was part of the Hockomock Swamp Rat series.  I did a 3 mile warm-up with college roommate Mike Woodman before taking the line as snow flew. The course was tough (rolling) and I felt pretty lousy as I was still recovering from a head-cold.  I took the lead at 1.5 miles and went on to win by nearly 3 minutes with a course record 57:56 (old CR was 60:30).  The following day Steve Peterson (Petey) and Robert Molnar (the Hungarian) joined me at sunrise for a run over a course I’d developed at the Windblown ski area.  We had fun running around on the crust snow even though it was only 5 degrees!

 

Norfolk Pub 10m Norfolk, CT 12/09/20

1 57:57         Dave Dunham         36M    Bradford, MA CMS

2 60:41         Kevin Gorman          23M    Brighton, MA

3 61:13         Mike Woodman       35M    Timonium, MD         Trail Rats

4 61:37         Jeff Niedeck  36M    Canaan, CT

5 64:12         Phil Richey    43M    Danbury CT   AFHT

Celebrating with Robert Molnar                                  Petey and Robert at sunrise on Windblown