October totals

This was nearly my lowest mileage month this year. Recovering from a torn MCL. I also had the most single run days of any month this year. The two "low" weeks were almost entirely all one run a day.

Week Ending 11/01/26

 Cannot complain about this week...but I will (laugh). Ankle, knees, and adductor all bothersome all week but otherwise felt pretty good. Had my fastest morning run of the year and my fastest 8m run of the year (that is a pretty long run for me). My first 80 mile week since hurting my MCL back in September. Hoping to get in a workout or race before running the USATF NE XC in 2 weeks.

Week - 82

Month - Oct = 260 & Nov. = 8

Year - 3,361

Life - 170,361

Nipmuck Trail Marathon - CR from 1991 lives on

35 years ago I set the still standing course record at the Nipmuck trail marathon breaking Rich Fargo’s 3:07.  The race moved from June to October a few years back, the course remains unchanged. The course featured two out & back runs, first south for 6.5 miles then the northern section for 6.6 miles.   From my training log.  “2 mile warm-up, felt okay. Felt very good, going easy through the ½.  Moved into first at 18 miles and really pushed the last section.  Splits: 6.5 – 41:15, 6.5 43:24, 6.6 48:14, 6.6 49:01.  Petey (Steve Peterson) won the ½ in 1:33:15”.  

Me and Petey in 1991 (at the Lifetime Baystate marathon)

I noted that I passed Petey at 22 miles.  The half marathon ran over the second half of the course (the northern part which was much tougher) and started after the marathon.

Here are the top ten times run at Nipmuck. 1991 was a fast year with three of the top 9 times coming from that year. I recall tucking behind Fargo and Turner for the first 13 miles (out & back south) then gaining some ground on the northern section of the course.

I stopped momentarily at 19+ miles at the turn to pick up a fuel-belt with de-fizzed coke to get me through the last part. The incredible Ben Nephew barely missed the top 10 with his 3:12:08 win in 2009.

1. 3:01:51 Dave Dunham (27) 1991
2. 3:02:45 Kevin McGovern (37) 1995
3. 3:07:05 Rich Fargo (29) 1988
4. 3:07:26 Jim Garcia (35) 1994
5. 3:09:47 Rich Fargo (30) 1989
6. 3:10:27 Rich Fargo (28) 1987
7. 3:10:45 Keith Turner (31) 1991
8. 3:11:17 Gary Burdick (39) 1994
9. 3:11:44 Rich Fargo (32) 1991
10. 3:11:57 Leigh Schmitt (28) 2001

Week Ending 10/25/26

 This was my second week of ramping up miles while lowering time on the Go & Bike. Hoping next week to get back up to 80 miles and cut out the weekday biking. On the good side of the ledger, I had two of my 10 fastest 430am runs during this week (for this year). I've still got some soreness in my knee along with issues with my adductor, right knee and as always painful arthritis in my ankle. Happy to be able to get out there. I got in 7:01 on the bike and Go for a total of (2:30 on the Go = 35 miles and 4:31 on the Bike = 72.9) - 107.9 miles.

Week - 70

Month - 186

Year - 3,279

Life - 170,279

Vacation week

I had a week of vacation which normally would mean a lot of running. With my 2 weeks of low mileage over I was ready to ease back to more running but had to be cautious not to do too much too soon. I had booked a site at the Little River state campground (VT) and planned out a bunch of other things I could do in addition to some running.

During the week I ran on 11 different trails/rail trails:

Sunflower trail (Concord NH)

Freeman rail trail (Chelmsford MA)

Middleton rail trail (Middleton MA)

Stevens rail trail (Hopkinton NH)

Barre bike path (Barre VT)

Montpellier bike path (Montpellier VT)

D&H rail trail (Castleton VT)

Stowe bike path (Stowe VT)

Northern rail trail (Lebanon NH)

Concord & Sunapee rail trail (Concord NH)

Londonderry rail trail (Londonderry NH)

sunflower

Stevens

Barre

D&H

Stowe

Montpelier

Northern

Concord & Sunapee

Londonderry

 

I also hiked to two town high points (Barre City VT & Williamstown VT) and later biked to four town high points (Essex Junction, Winooski, S. Burlington, Burlington)...and one Geocache. The hikes were in pouring rain. The 24 mile bike ride was on the nicest day and featured a mix of busy main streets, great bike paths, and quiet country roads.

Williamstown

 

I had hoped to do more road biking, but rain and wet leaves made it less than ideal. I did get in a nice (tough) ride from Stowe to the top of Smuggler’s Notch. It was just shy of 10 miles with 1,800’ of climb. The last mile in the notch had nearly 500’ of climb and the final ½ mile was very steep single lane road with switchbacks. The wet leaves nearly caused me to crash on one of the steepest parts during the ascent. The return to Stowe was fun once I got down below the switchbacks. I maxed out at 36 mph on the descent.

 

Over the course of my vacation I got in runs with Eric and Dan and checked out the progress of the house Dan is building. 

I also got in runs with Petey, including one with Dave La who hasn’t been down as much since moving to NH. I beat dad twice in cribbage, but both were close competitive games. The vacation was bookended with excellent “Turtle Pond” rides in Concord. Chilly, but always great fun.

 

Week Ending 10/18/26

 Vacation week and also first week to start "slowly ramping up" after 2 weeks down. I'm now 7 weeks post-injury (MCL tear and microfracture). The week went well, although the rain put the axe to a few of the things I'd hoped to do. Got in my miles and also 147+ miles on the bike and Go in 10:32. Bike 105.4 miles in 7:32 and ElliptiGo 42 miles in 3 hours. Next week I hope to run a little bit more and just bike/Go once a day in the afternoon. Hoping for no setbacks.

Week - 66

Month - 116

Year - 3,209

Life - 170,209

Looking back - 2021

 5 Years ago (October 2021):

I started off the month at the Granite State 10 “smiler” race in Concord, NH.  The race was sponsored by Northeast Delta Dental (hence the smiler name) and the Granite State running team.  It was being held over a large portion of the course I’d run most Sundays with the group hosted by Sarah Prescott, so I had an advantage with my knowledge of the course.  I headed out a little early to check out the Snow Pond road section of the course that I’d never seen. It had the toughest hill on this very hilly course (433’ of climb/descent). 

 I headed out for a 2 mile warm-up and found a $20 bill, maybe this was a good day after all?  I quickly switched into race gear and headed out for another mile.  For whatever reason the field was very small with only 43 starters. Jim Angell, who I’d raced at the CARS series was on the line as was Sean Snow.  As we lined up no one else moved up to the front line.  Off we went, and I went into the lead with Sean right beside me and Jim tucked in behind. We hit the mile (which had just about no climb) in 6:11. I felt pretty good and at 1.5 surged a little bit and even though the mile was a 6:22 the guys fell back.  I tried to keep my effort even although the splits weren’t even as the terrain was quite rolling   I reached the 5 mile mark in 31:17 feeling in control and getting a boost from Tom Raffio’s cheers.  I had no idea how far back the other guys were which kept me running scared. I passed the Sunday group at 8 miles and got high-fives from Sarah, Blake, and Blake’s dad and at 9 miles Jim M and Mick (also Sunday group, but working the race today) offered some encouragement.  I didn’t totally fall apart and managed to cross the line in first place in 61:35. Jim came in second about 2 minutes later and we cheered for Sean who took third. 

1 1:01:35      6:09   Dave Dunham         57      Male   Bradford, MA M5059

2 1:03:43      6:23   Jim Angell     57      Male   Contoocook, NH      M5059

3 1:06:27      6:39   Sean Snow    55      Male                       M5059

4 1:09:49      6:59   Stephanie Snow      25      Female                             F0129

5 1:11:57      7:12   Jonas Aviza   65      Male   Concord, NH M6069

 

   

Rare treat – breking the tape                         Top 3 – I’m holding some hard earned maple syrup

              

Top three – all in the 50+ age group                               Being the first to warm-up really paid!

 

I had a week of vacation as well and I do not do well with time on my hands.  I thought to myself “What would Greg Washak do?”, but since I don’t drink beer I thought getting back down to Rhode Island might chew up some time and keep me occupied.

Sunrise Eastern-most point in RI                              Looking for a sign how things will go – saw this

 

My first three days of vacation included three trips to Rhode Island.  I amassed 641 miles of driving while running in 25 different towns.  I also visited:

• Three fire towers                         Six cemeteries (often the best place to find parking)
• Ruins (old amusement park)                  Easternmost and Northernmost and highest points in the state
• Three county prominence points           A four town marker

 

Ruins of the “Enchanted Forest”                                     Four towns meet at this point

 

I wasn't planning on doing the Canterbury XC race as it was Friday night (10/15/21) before the USA masters XC nationals (Sunday).  Tom Raffio asked me if I'd be interested in joining his Delta Dental squad in some friendly competition.  I headed up to Canterbury for the 5pm race with a plan of running somewhere around 7:00 pace to get my legs a little turnover without (hopefully) doing any damage for the Sunday race. It was nearly 70 degrees and very humid as I finished my warm-up.  The entire NHTI team was warming up and looked impressive.  Off we went and I eased into 12th place by 1/2 mile into it.  By the mile I'd moved up to 8th place and on the first climb I moved up to 6th.  By 2 miles I could see 5th and 4th off in the distance. I made a move on the climb and got into 5th place (thus stopping NHTI from getting a perfect 15 points) but never closed on 4th place who had a strong finish.  I was pretty happy with the effort (6:49 pace) especially given the 336' of climb and drop.

 

1 17:35 Michael Mott                   M19 NHTI

2 18:40 Ethan Dodenhoff   M18 NHTI

3 19:46 Rovanee Nickson   M20 NHTI

4 20:21 James Barrett                 M19 NHTI

5 20:42 Dave Dunham                 M57 Delta Dental

6 20:49 Nickolas Dalton               M18 NHTI

7 21:03 Graham Hayslip     M30 Mugwumps

 

I couldn’t manage to hook up anyone for a Saturday run so I decided to head to Rhode Island one last time.  A little less than 200 miles of driving (round trip) and 7 miles of running and I’d bagged the final towns I needed to complete the state.  I finished it with two of the nicest runs in RI, both on the scenic and very quiet (at 6am) East Bay bike path.  In all I put in over 800 miles of driving during this week, which kept me occupied.  That is always a good idea since I don’t do well with being “idle”.

 

State high point – RI                                             Final town line - RI

Next up was the race I’d been aiming for, the Masters USA XC championship. I hadn’t done XC nationals since 2017 and was looking forward to racing again at Franklin Park.  Dan Verrington picked me up at 8:30am for the drive in and it was just like old times.  Dan and I are probably the longest continuous members of the Central Mass Striders with my CMS days going back to 1992 and Dan to 1993.  On this day we’d be representing the 40+ team (masters) instead of the 50+ squad (seniors) as there weren’t enough 40-49 guys to make up a full squad. We met up with the crew and Tim Van Orden joined Dan and me for a course preview.  This is a great spectator course as we’d loop through the field at ¾ mile, 1.75 miles, and the final ½ mile.  I felt okay on the warm-up but a little flat.  It was exciting seeing old friends and competitors and we even got to see a good bit of the 60+ race during the warm-up.  My goal for the race was to finish in the top ½ of the field (98 entrants) and top 10 in my age group. 

A light moment before the start

As we took off through the field at the start, I was a bit surprised to see Dan a couple of strides ahead.  He had noted how much trouble he was having with slow starts.  I got into a good rhythm and by ½ mile in started passing people.  Only one guy would pass me over the remainder of the race.  I hit the mile in a step over six minutes and continued to move up.  Bear cage hill was tough, and I pushed on the downhill after it and could see a group of four guys in my age group a little ahead. I never really gained on them and at 2.5 Alejandro Heuck went flying by.  I ended up missing my goals with 55^th place overall and 13^th in my age group but was still pleased with the effort.  Only two guys in front of me were my age or older.  Dan had a solid run crossing the line 24 seconds after me.  The CMS 50+ squad (Greg Putnam, Tim Van Orden, Scott Grandfield, Todd Callaghan, Joe Shairs, Steve Brightman) took the National Champion title! 

 

MALE AGE GROUP: 55 - 59

1        17:31  Nat Larson    59      Amherst Ma   GSH

2        18:03  Kenneth Barbee       57      Philadelphia Pa        Gtr Phillie

3        18:21  Mike Nier                56      Rochester Ny GVH

4        18:22  Alan Evans    58      Beaver Dams Ny      GVH

5        18:25  Scott Grandfield       56      Rehoboth Ri  CMS

6        18:32  John Mcmahon        55      Williamsville Ny       Checkers AC

7        18:37  Jason Cakouros       56      Milton Ma                HFC

8        19:02  Mark Hixson  56      Simsbury Ct  GSH

9        19:03  Dale Flanders 56      Allegany Ny   GVH

10      19:17  Alejandro Heuck      56      Amherst, Ma  GSH

11      19:21  Scott Siriano  55      Dillon Co                 Mass Velocity

12      19:22  John Hogan   56      Washington, Nj        Garden St

13      19:25  Dave Dunham         57      Bradford Ma  CMS

16      19:49  Daniel Verrington    59      Bradford Ma  CMS

18      20:39  Francis Burdett        56      Worcester Ma          GSH

21      22:39  Harris Hardy  58      Somerville Ma          Athletics East

22      23:45  Bill Newsham 56      Brookline Nh GBTC

 

I closed out the month (and the year) with a return to Canterbury for the Shaker XC race (10/23/21).  This was the finale of the three race series.  I’d done the second race (as a workout) and they were using the same course so my goal was to run a minute faster than my 20:44. It was sunny and chilly, just about ideal for XC.  One of the NHTI kids (David Testerman) took it out and I tried to keep him close. I went by as we finished the first lap (9:48) which was right in the ballpark for the time I was hoping to run.  Soon after I could not hear footsteps behind me, and it seemed I might be able to steal a win.  My calf started to really bother me on the rutted climb, and I was worried as it started to spasm.  I had to slow a little to manage the calf and lost a little time but still manage a 10:04 for the second loop for the win in 19:52. I took another lap of the course with Kara Haas (1^st women, 5^th overall) and then hit the awards ceremony (where just about everyone got something).  A nice end to my season.  Big thanks to Tom Raffio for inviting me to run for his Delta Dental squad!

Overall Results                                                       Age Graded Results

1 19:52         Dave Dunham                   M57    Delta Dental            1 16:33 Dave Dunham                   M57

2 20:38 Matt Deschuytner M34                                  2 20:07 Kara Haas             F50

3 20:40 David Testerman   M17    NHTI                      3 20:12 Freeland Hubbard        M67

4 22:01 Ben Cone              M18    NHTI                      4 20:15 Kevin Perron                    M51

5 22:31 Kara Haas             F50     Delta Dental            5 20:18 Matt Deschuytner  M34

View from Turning Mill Pond                                           Leaf covered trail along the pond