Looking back 15 years - March 2011

 15 years ago (March 2011):  I started off the month with a return to Hawley, MA which was where I ran my first snowshoe race back in 1999.  I got the lead just before the single-track started and gapped the field for my first win of the year!

Hawley Kiln 4.6 mile snowshoe race – 03/05/11

1        39:18 Dave Dunham     M46    CMS 40+

2        40:44 Ross Krause       M31

3        41:27 Tim Mahoney      M31    CMS

4        42:11 Chris Taft             M30

5        44:16 Connor Devine    M17

8        46:19 Abby Mahoney    F32     CMS

 

I got sick later that week and after struggling for a while found out that I had pneumonia which put a damper on my running and racing for the month.  I slowly recovered from my illness and had a good 84 mile week closing out the month in Florida visiting my parents.

 

 

 

 

 

20 years ago (March 2006)

20 years ago (March 2006):  I raced six times during this month including three snowshoe races during one weekend. I started the month with a trip to Hawley MA for the Hawley Kiln snowshoe race.  This was the site of my first snowshoe race and I’ve always enjoyed going back.  Paul Low took off at the start and was out of sight as he cruised to a win.  Mark Churchill and Jim Pawlicki were 20 seconds ahead of me when we hit the single-track as I lead a pack (Steve Peterson, Ken Clark, and Rob Smith).  I gapped the guys behind me as I closed on Jim (10 seconds back at 2 miles).  I got as close as 5 seconds behind Jim but could never quite catch him as I took third place in 27:39.

 

1 Paul Low 24:27

2 Mark Churchill 25:23

3 Jim Pawlicki 27:27

4 Dave Dunham 27:39

5 Steve Peterson 27:58

6 Ken Clark 28:16

7 Rob Smith 28:39

 

A week later (03/12/06) I headed to Nashua NH to try my luck on the roads at the Frozen Bunz 5k.  A big CMS group showed up and we all warmed up on the course (Dan Verrington, Jim Pawlicki, Joe Shairs, Rob Smith, Ben Nephew).  I took 7^th place in the short (?) 5k running 16:59. Joe won in 15:40 with Dan close behind in 15:45.

 

Next up (03/19/06) was the USATF NE ½ marathon championships at New Bedford.  It was cold (30’s) and there was a “brisk wind” from 8-13 miles.  I ran almost the entire race with Fergus Cullen running just a step under 6 minute pace (1:18:22) for 95^th place, 19^th in the 40-44 (with 4 45-49 guys also besting me).  The final weekend (03/25 & 03/26) had me heading up to Bolton Valley VT with Richard Bolt for the USA snowshoe championships.  I did a couple of miles on the roads and a bit more on snowshoes before the start.  I got a lousy start and was way back in the first kilometer.  I slowly moved up through the field, but kind of ran out of gas over the last 3k with teammate Jim Pawlicki the last to pass me at the 9km mark thus knocking me out of the top 25.  I did an easy mile warm-down, then a mile warm-up and hit the line for the Citizen’s 5k race.  It was hard to tell what place I was in during this race as it was also the Junior (under 19) race.  I ended up taking second place in 23:30. Early the next morning I ran a leg of the team relay.  I ran 11:01 for the tough 2km loop.  Our team took 4^th overall and second in the 40+.

Snowshoe nationals results                                  Junior race combined with “Citizens race’

 

CMS squad – Rob Smith, Ben Nephew, Jim Pawlicki, Me, Dan Verrington, Kevin Tilton, and Steve Peterson

 

25 Years ago - March 2001

 25 years ago (March 2001): I was preparing to take a shot at the USA 50km road record in April so this was my final month to build up.  I had 481 miles with weeks of 120, 94, 104, and 122.  Along the way I raced four times. I started off the month at the Moody Springs snowshoe race (Hawley MA – 03/03/01).  This was a long and tough course of 8.6 miles with over 1,100’ of climb/descent.  Most of the course was slick with powder under and icy crust. I ended up falling 5 or 6 times and cut up my hands pretty badly.  The first 3 miles I ran with Leigh Schmidt then pulled away for the win. The next day (03/04/01) I headed to Boylston for the Stu’s 30k which was part of the Hockomock Swamp rat series.  I ran with teammate Kevin Beck over the slick course. Beck let me have the win as he finished 1 second behind me.  We ran 5k splits of 1816/1803/1818/1756/1806/1754, all in all it was a pretty good effort.  I caught a miserable cold the following week (03/11/01) and was out of sorts when I headed to the USATF NE ½ marathon championships.  I was so out of sorts that I forgot my racing flats! Lou Ristaino came to my rescue giving me a pair to race in (he would come to my rescue a couple of months later when I showed up at the Trav’s trail run with 2 left shoes).  I had a lousy run losing the pack at 3 miles and struggling to a 9^th place in the field of nearly 2,000 finishers.  I finished the month out with a PR at the rarely run 20 mile distance.   I Headed up to Maine for the Eastern States race which ran through NH and finished in MA.  This was my final tune-up leading into the 50k and I was aiming to run 5:30’s to mimic what I hoped to do in the longer race.  I did a 2 mile warm-up with Byrne Decker and Paul low then set out in a fairly big group for the first 2 miles of the race.  I found myself alone in 6^th place through 8 miles when I caught Eric Beauchesne.  We ran together through 13 miles when I moved up into 4^th place, I caught Dave Hinga at 18 (walking!).  I moved into 2^nd place at 19 miles when I passed Matthews.  I could not ease up as Kevin Beck was about 100 yards behind me for the entire race.  I ran a very steady race with 5m splits of 27:04, 27:41, 27:23, and 27:50.

   

 

 

30 years ago - March 1996

 30 years ago (March 1996): A bit of a mixed bag for the month with three races and I picked up two wins and two course records, but the one I didn’t win was probably the one I was most keyed up for.  I was having trouble with my ankle/foot early on which required some PT and a cortisone shot.  My hope was to kick-off the USATF grand prix with a good showing at the Stu’s 30km (03/03/96).  It was windy and snowy with temperatures in the low 30’s.  A big pack of fifteen passed through a slow opening two miles (11:21).  From 5 miles to 10 miles the pace was upped (27:37 then 26:26) which reduced the pack to 10.  From 10 to 13 (where the race used to start/finish) the tempo was upped again with miles of 5:25, 5:14, and 5:10 which narrowed it down to 7.  Dave Marcus and George Luke forged ahead while I clung to the second group of Craig Fram and Mike Nahom.  I dropped teammate Byrne Decker at 14 miles as I fell behind Fram & Nahom.  We had near whiteout conditions the last few miles and I was happy to just hold on for fifth place.  I took some time before racing again and was feeling pretty good after putting in 106 mile week while working in Ogden Utah.  Next up was the Charbo’s run in Dorchester (03/24/96).  I ran the course with Byrne Decker as a warm-up on this sunny but windy 40 degree day.  I noted that I felt “okay but not great” over the hilly 5 miles.  Tommy Lynch and Darrin Krug took it out and I hung behind through miles of 5:00 & 5:17 before taking the lead and dropping a 4:48 mile.  I thought I shook myself free but Krug stuck with me and then pushed the pace at 3.5.  I bided my time until 4.5 and then made a final move for a 2 second win (25:12 to 25:14).  My final race of the month was the Merrimack River trail race.  Petey (Steve Peterson) and I put out over 400 flags and streamers on the course on Friday, and we did it in under 2 hours.  On race morning I did a 3 mile warm-up on the course then took off on a perfect sunny and 40 degree day.  Dan Verrington stayed one step behind me as we went through as surprisingly fast first 3 miles in 16:06 (the first and last 3 are flat and fast, the 2 miles to the turn are HILLY).  We hit the turn together in 28:48 and Dan continued to shadow my every move. I was pretty tired the last 2 miles (which I covered in 10:36) and felt especially beat when Dan flew by with ½ mile to go.  I managed to stay with him and made a move as we started under route 93 when I went by Dan suddenly stopped and started puking.  I did not wait around and ended up with the win and a course record.  Dan came in a little less than a minute later.

Early miles of Stu’s 30km   

Dan Verrington close behind as we hit the powerline for the first time at 4 miles in the Merrimack River Trail Race.

Alone at the finish (you would not recognize the woods at this location now, you can’t see more than a few feet).

 

35 years ago: March 1991

 35 years ago (March 1991): 1991 was a good year for me; I ran and won a lot of races. In March I raced three times and won twice. I started off out-kicking Bob Hodge at the Hynes tavern race in Lowell, taking the win in 24:52 three seconds ahead of Hodgie. A week later I ran the New Bedford half-marathon and finished 5th in 1:06:06. I was running for GLRR at the time and we lost to CMS 5:37 to 5:40. That is some fast team times, we averaged 1:08 for 5 guys and still lost! My final race of the month was a four mile in Salisbury. I took first on a kick taking Buddy Bostik in the last ¼ mile 19:09 to 19:11. Mike O’Brien was third in 19:14 and Dan Verrington took fourth in 19:43. The Winners Circle race attracted over 600 despite wind and snow.

April Fool (03/30/91)                                 New Bedford (03/17/91)

Looking back - 45 years ago

45 years ago (March 1981):  I closed out my junior year indoor track season with a tenth place finish (9:35.7) at the Eastern championships in Princeton NJ. Although it was a personal best, I was disappointed and noted that I “felt awful” during the race. In between indoor and outdoor track season I hit the roads for only the second (and third) time. I set a personal best at 5 miles and at 10 km, which is easy to do when you are running the distance for the first time! I finished 15th at the Shamrock 5m in Boston running 25:17 which was only good enough for third in the 18 and under category.  BMHS teammate John Dangora was one of the juniors ahead of me. Splits: 5:03/5:10/5:02/5:05/4:57. Two weeks later I ran the Lechmere 10km in Peabody ($3 pre entry & $4 day of) and took 12th place in 32:04. I out-leaned Steve Perkins (Danvers) for the junior category win and took home a GE AM/FM digital alarm clock that I still have. That is the oldest race prize that I kept. On the last day of the month I started the outdoor season with a PR of 4:31.6 for the mile in a dual meet against Haverhill. It was only good enough for 2nd place as the Hillies Tom hinds took the win in 4:28.

Peabody Lechmere 10km 03/28/81

1 Greg Meyer          NBTC 29:04

2 Dick Buerkle         NYAC 29:35

    Doug Sweazey     GBTC 29:55

3 Tim Donovan        NBTC 30:50

4 Jim Stronach        CTC    31:02

5 Gary Wallace        GBTC 31:05

6 Dean Kimball        UNH   31:12

7 Keith Brown                   31:13

8 Brad Hurst           31:22

9 Paul Swenson                 31:35

10 Stu Penn WSSAC         31:43

11 Don Thompson CTC      31:49

12 Dave Dunham    BMHS 32:04

13 Steve Perkins      DHS    32:04

14 Joe Catalano       BAA    32:04

15 Mark Kimball      BU      32:14

20 Patti Catalano     AW     33:19

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week Ending 03/08/2026

 Starting to feel like I've turned the corner on the hamstring injury. Just a little tightness/soreness but nothing consistent. I'd like to get my pace a little quicker next week, but also being careful not to rush it. A high mileage week for me, partly thanks to work late openings and partly just feeling better in general.

Week - 90

Month - 101

Year - 746

Life - 167,746