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

 

December 1995

 30 years ago (December 1995): December 3,1995 the Central Mass Striders team were the top Association team at the USA XC national championships which were held in Franklin Park. Scoring was split into “national” and “association” with national teams able to have athletes from all over the country (mostly shoe companies) and association teams where all athletes had to be from the same region.  I had a lousy start to the day spraining my ankle during the warm-up at Franklin Park.  The race itself went okay despite mud and frozen puddles over the 9.855 km course (6.12 miles).  I was our second scorer three seconds and five places behind Eric Morse.  We had some serious depth back then with our top four within 15 seconds and our top seven within 55 seconds.  I got a lousy start on the CMS squad but passed Scott Clark at ¾ mile, went by Bianchi & Prince at 1.5 miles and was actually the top CMS runner at 3 miles.  Bagley got me soon after and then Morse absolutely FLEW by.  I ran back and forth with Chris Magill and thought I had a shot at Morse but couldn’t quite get back to him.

1       28:49  Brad Schlapk         Brighton, MA             New York Athletic Club - National      

2       28:50  Ruben Reina         Fayetteville, AR          Foot Locker Athletic Club              
3       28:53  Terrance Mahon                                   Reebok Enclave - National              
4       28:56  Brian Baker           Fayeteville, AR          Team New Balance - National            
5       28:58  Bob Kempainen     Beaverton, OR           Nike 'A' - National                    

65         30:15    Eric Morse         Moretown, VT     Central Mass Striders 'A' - Assoc

70         30:18    Dave Dunham    Bradford, MA      Central Mass Striders 'A' - Assoc
77         30:25    Scott Bagley       Holden, MA        Central Mass Striders 'A' - Assoc
85         30:30    Mike Nahom       New Milford, CT  Central Mass Striders 'A' - Assoc
121       31:04    Nathaniel Halsey Wellesley, MA     Central Mass Striders 'A' - Assoc
163       31:32    Scott Clark         Gilmanton, NH    Central Mass Striders 'B' - Assoc
192       31:55    Gary Gardner      Keene, NH         Central Mass Striders 'A' - Assoc
216       32:20    Rod Viens          Claremont, NH    Central Mass Striders 'B' - Assoc
246       32:50    Dan Verrington   Bradford, MA      Central Mass Striders 'A' - Assoc
275       33:24    Tom Anderson    Keene, NH         Central Mass Striders 'B' - Assoc
373 finishers

USA XC championships (30 Assoc teams)
1    328   Central Mass Striders 'A' - Assoc      
2    335   Club Northwest - Assoc                 
3    348   Boston Running Club 'A' - Assoc        

My only other race during the month was the Rocket City marathon (12/09/95).  I was in a big pack through half-way in 1:10:15. It was a windy day (37 degrees and 25 mph winds) and when we turned into the wind at 15 miles the pack broke up and the field started to “snake” across the road as the leader would move to drop anyone drafting.  It was kind of funny as we ran from one side of the road to another.  By 17 miles I fell off the back as Dan Verrington moved up.  I ended up running with Fernando Braz and went back and forth with him over the last four miles.  CMS ended up putting three in the top 10 (Dan, me, Byrne Decker).

1 2:20:43 David Honea      Raleigh, NC

2 2:23:58 Bruce Raymer    Toronto, CAN

3 2:24:31 Dan Verrington  Bradford, MA           CMS

4 2:24:59 Selwyn Blake     Columbia, SC

5 2:25:24 Randy Damkot   Sheboygan, WI

6 2:25:27 Chris Chattin      Columbia, SC

7 2:25:37 Fernando Braz    Peabody, MA

8 2:25:39 Mike Harrison     Virginia Beach, MD

9 2:25:41 Dave Dunham    Bradford, MA CMS

10 2:26:07 Byrne Decker   Londonderry, NH     CMS

21 2:31:12 Scott Clark       Gilmanton, NH         CMS

31 2:36:55 Reno Stirrat     Spartenburg, SC

27 2:34:12 Vin Connelly                         CMS

   Top 5 30-39 Dan Verrington (1), Fernando Braz (4), and me (5

December 1990

 35 years ago (December 1990):  I raced three times over this month while running weeks of 104, 97, 90, 95, and 92.  On December 2,1990 I put together a team for the Mill Cities Relay.  We were all members of the Winners Circle Running Club (in order to get into the race, you had to be members of an invited club so we joined WCRC, the bonus was that WCRC offers lifetime memberships).  We all wore Mike Beeman Total Sports singlets which definitely caused a stir.  We ended up taking third in 2:32:15, behind GLRR 2:29:45 and WCRC 2:29:55.  I ran the long leg (9.6 miles) and ran the fastest time of the day with a 48:23. GLRR’s Rachid Tbhai ran 49-flat and WCRC’s Buddy Bostick ran 49:30.                                                                      

My splits were 454/505/505/507/501/505/500/504/502.  Definitely one of my favorite teams to be on with Big Mike Beeman, Bob Bradford, Steve “Petey” Peterson, and Artie Demers.

Course map/splits:  Mike B 5.6m 31:20, Bob B 6.6m 37:30, Petey 1.5m 7:42, DD 9.6m 48:23, and Artie 5.2m 27:20.

Next up on 12/08/90 was the Whitinsville relay where I teamed up with Petey and Spinney.  We won going away with Petey running 21:02 for 3.79 miles, Spinney ran 24+ for 4.6 and I struggled on the hilly 5.16 mile leg running 27:27 (for fastest time of the day on that leg). I finished out the month on 12/16/90 with a very short 4 mile race (3.8?) in Lowell MA.  The Christmas run had some cash and my former U-Lowell roommate Dennis Simoniatis showed up (he had won the year before).  He took the win in 18:25 and I got 2^nd place in 18:45. Art Demers took 3^rd in 19:10 followed by Jim Quadros and Petey in fifth (in a Santa outfit).  Peg Donovan was first female in 7^th place overall.