Did not feel good at all this week but managed to get a solid 80-plus and even raced. Sick on Thursday and still feeling lousy by the end of the week. Hope that getting off the migraine meds helps. Time will tell.
Week 88
Month 193
Year 2,632
Life 169,632
5 Years ago – August 2021
1 16:53 Warren Bartlett 24 Male Loudon, NH MOPEN
2 17:13 Drew Tuttle 26 Male Alton, NH MOPEN
3 17:25 Edward Stowell 20 Male Sutton, NH MOPEN
5 18:16 Timothy Cox 48 Male Northwood, NH M4049 Duct Tape & Spit
6 18:22 Dave Dunham 57 Male Bradford, MA M5059 Duct Tape & Spit
9 18:33 Jim Angell 57 Male Hopkinton, NH M5059 Kezar
10 18:58 Terrence Ferns 52 Male Nw London, NH M5059 Kezar
13 19:39 Christin Doneski 50 Female Hopkinton, NH FOPEN
15 19:55 Darin Brown 54 Male Madison, NH M5059 Duct Tape & Spit
27 22:26 James Pawlicki 46 Male Lynn, MA M4049 Duct Tape & Spit
My hip did not seem to respond to the cortisone shot. The NHTI Delta Dental races is typically one of the fastest in the series. The dead-flat double loop course is certified, but always seems to run. Normally the NHTI race is in April, not during the height of summer with everyone heading out for the weekend. It was 85 degrees and a sticky dew-point when the race kicked off at 6pm. I lined up with Darin Brown and Doug Deangelis and told Doug I was hoping to run around 6’s and see how it went. I wasn’t in the top 20 in the early going and Doug and Jim Angel (Kezar Lake) were already pulling away. I slowly closed on Doug and Jim, but it seemed like every time I’d just about latch onto them they’d pull away again. By the end of the first loop, I’d gotten back with them again. I did manage to stay within 2-3 seconds of Jim as late as 2.5 but then he slowly pulled away and I just had nothing to give. I ended up staggering into the finish 5-6 seconds behind Jim and very nearly caught by the Kezar Lake 2nd guy (also in the 50+ age group!). Doug, Jim A, and Darin joined me for a nice loop of the NHTI XC course for a warm-down. I decided that since it was such a nice night and I’m rarely out for sunset I’d boogie on over to Oak Hill and visit the fire tower for sunset. I actually felt a bit better on the 1.25 mile (400’ of climb) up to the tower and got there just as the sun was sinking behind Mt Kearsarge. I took a few pics then headed off to the highest point in Concord (a little below the summit) before heading back down just as it was getting fully dark.
Pl Time AGtme AG % Name Age
1 18:35 15:29 83.85 Jim Angell 56
2 18:41 15:34 83.40 Dave Dunham 57 Duct tape & spit
3 20:08 15:42 82.72 Michael Barry 64
4 18:43 16:13 80.04 Terrence Ferns 52
5 19:11 16:15 79.94 Doug Deangelis 54 Duct tape & spit
NHTI Delta Dental results (08/27/21)
Pl Time Pace Name Ag Sex City St Cat Team
1 16:12 5:13 Warren Bartlett 24 Male Loudon NH MOPEN
2 16:26 5:18 Drew Tuttle 26 Male Alton NH MOPEN
3 16:45 5:24 Michael Mott 19 Male Alton NH MOPEN
8 18:35 5:59 Jim Angell 57 Male Hopkinton NH M5059 Kezar
9 18:41 6:01 Dave Dunham 57 Male Bradford MA M5059 Duct Tape
10 18:43 6:02 Terrence Ferns 52 Male New London NH M5059 Kezar
11 19:08 6:10 Mike McGuire 56 Male Stratham NH M5059
13 19:11 6:11 Doug Deangelis 55 Male Newbury MA M5059 Duct Tape
14 19:43 6:21 Darin Brown 54 Male Madison NH M5059 Duct Tape
15 19:44 6:21 Allison Davis 34 Female Concord NH FOPEN
17 20:08 6:29 Michael Barry 65 Male Northwood NH M6069
24 21:11 6:50 James Pawlicki 46 Male Lynn MA M4049 Duct Tape
10 Years ago (August 2016): I raced four times this month mixing it up with XC, roads, and track. The goal was helping the team out at the two USATF NE championship races. I started the month off (08/04/16) with the Thunder Chicken 5k cross-country race in Portsmouth, NH. The race normally drew about 300 runners but with the switch from roads to XC only 63 would finish on this night. Dan Verrington joined me for this one and flew by me in the early going. Before the mile a volunteer sent the top 3 the wrong way which brought the leaders back to Dan (and helped me close a little on Dan). A little after the mile another volunteer said nothing as the leaders went straight and finally realized it as I reached him and turned right. The four in front of me quickly bushwhacked through the woods but lost about 10 seconds which put me in the lead. I got caught by two guys around 2 miles and in the final 200 on the track I lost another spot.
1 18:32 Yuri Horwitz M37
2 18:39 Andrew Cunningham M38
3 18:42 Leigh Schmitt M44
4 18:45 Dave Dunham M52
7 19:02 Dan Verrington M54
Next up (08/14/16) was the USATF NE 5m championships (Narragansett, RI). It was 85 degrees and 90% humidity despite the early start and location near the ocean. I tried to keep teammates Ed Sheldon and Dan Verrington in sight. I never quite got close to them as I took 10th in the 50+ and our team took a win over Whirlaway.
Top 50-59
1 29:06 Michael Cooney WRT
2 29:11 John Sullivan HFC
3 29:24 Robert Cipriano SRR
4 29:45 Dan Verrington CMS
5 30:05 Titus Mutinda GBTC
6 30:10 Mark Reeder GLRR
7 30:14 Chris Smith SRR
8 30:20 Ed Sheldon CMS
9 30:32 Jason Cakorous HFC
10 30:37 Dave Dunham CMS
A week later (08/21/16) I shifted gears and headed for the track for the NH Senior Games. It was “warm” (80) and sunny on the Manchester High School track. Only six guys and one lady lined up for the 5,000 meters which was the first event of the day. My goal was 5:40 pace and I’d be running alone. I ended up winning by nearly 3 minutes with a 17:48 (5:43 pace).
My final race of the month (08/27/16) was the USATFNE 10 mile championships (Auburn, NH). Race morning was a lot drier than previous days, but it would get up to 80 degrees during the race. I was hoping to run somewhere around 6 minute pace and keep Dan Verrington in sight. I kept him reasonably close for the first 4 miles then he buried me on the tough climb up Mine Hill. I reached half-way in 30:59 and was hopeful I’d make up some ground in the second half. Dan was only 10 seconds ahead, but he put nearly a minute on me in the second half. Dan won in the 50-54 and I was surprised to take third running 1:02:03.
Top 50-54
1 60:57 Dan Verrington M54 CMS
2 61:37 Charlie Bemis M53 WRT
3 62:03 Dave Dunham M52 CMS
4 63:25 Mike Cooney M54 WRT
5 64:08 EJ Hrynowski M53 GLRR
15 Years ago (August 2011): This was a very busy month with 7 races (!!!) and a lot of peak bagging. I kicked off the month with a short race at the High Street mile. I was hoping to break 5:10 and maybe even crack 5 if things went well. I tried to stay reasonably close to Reno Stirrat as I knew he was aiming to break 5. Reno was a few steps ahead when I hit the ¼ mile in 72.5. and the half mile in 2:28.8 (76.3). I hit ¾ mile in 3:46.0 (77.2) still a couple of steps behind Reno. I passed Reno in the last 200 meters with a 75 last quarter and was happy with a 5:02
1 4:05 Abyiot Endal 23 M BRONX NY
2 4:11 Harbart Okuti 25 M NEW YORK
3 4:11 Brian Harvey 23 M ALLSTON
19 5:02 Dave Dunham 47 M BRADFORD CMS 40+
The following weekend I chose Sandown because it was close to home and I like the 5 mile distance. Louie Saviano took it out hard and was out in front by at least 10 seconds at the mile. I was in 8th place on the tail end of the pack as I hit the mile in 5:34. The pack began to string out, and I found myself off the back. I managed a quick final mile (5:27) and crossed the line in 6th place in 28:34 which topped the masters field.
1 Ryan Busby 21M DERRY NH 27:20 5:28
2 Louie Saviano 20M SANDOWN 27:45 5:33
6 Dave Dunham 47M GCS BRADFORD MA 28:34 5:43
7 Titus Mutinda 46M GDTC LOWELL MA 28:39 5:44
8 Eric Williams 46M GSRT CONCORD NH 29:17 5:52
9 Pat Connelly 47M GDTC CHESTER NH 29:35 5:55
I thought that I had a shot at breaking 5:00 so I decided to go to the Derby Street Mile. I found myself out of the top 50 in the first 200 meters. I slowly moved through the crowd and hit the 1/4 mile in 71.8. Dave Quintal was 2 or 3 seconds ahead and I worked on closing the gap. I passed some more people and hit the half in 2:26.2. The third split was slow 3:44.4 (78.2). I held the same distance to DQ (3 or 4 seconds) but he then went into his kick and I'd get no closer. I crossed the line in 4:57.9 (73.5) for 13th place overall and 4th in the 40+.
1 4:27 Sean Dunan M2029 1 GARDNER, MA
7 4:48 Jason Barnes M4049 1 SALEM, MA
10 4:53 David Quintal M4049 2 SALEM, NH
12 4:57 John Ayers M4049 3 BEVERLY, MA
13 4:58 Dave Dunham M4049 4 Bradford, MA
My sister put together teams again for the Moose on the loose 10 mile relay. My hope was to run under 13:30. I was teamed up with my brother-in-law John who would be running legs 2 & 3. I'd run the first and last legs with about 42 minutes break. My plan was to run leg one all-out then run the anchor leg in about 6:00 pace. I was alone in front by 200m into the race. I was happy with the result, a 13:23 (5:21 pace). I handed off to John and headed for the car to change shoes. John returned...running an excellent sub-42 five mile (in pants!). I went out reasonably hard and had a lot of fun as there were plenty of people to pass. I hit the line in 14:10 (5:40 pace) and was pretty spent. A couple of 12 year old twins were the only 2 person relay team that beat us.
2 RUNNER RELAY RESULTS
1 Ryan North 24 M Nashua NH DOUBLE TROUBLE 1:08:33 6:52
2 Dave Dunham 98 M Bradford MA DAVE'S DEFENDERS 1:09:29 6:57
3 Francis Sullivan 85 C Nashua NH TEAM SULLIVAN 1:22:21 8:15
Dan Verrington organized a CMS team to run at Lynn woods 10m relay and it turned out to be the same team we had three years ago when we set the masters course record of 55:12. We had a perfect night for racing with reasonable temperatures for late August (low 80’s) and the humidity wasn’t that bad. I ended up running 14:05, and our team ran 57:02.
Teams with leg splits:
1 GBTC 56:46 A Greenspan 14:11 A Gomes 13:34 M Weissinger 15:12 C Evanter 13:49
2 SRR 56:49 C Smith 14:08 R Cipriano 14:12 J May 14:54 G Picklesimer 13:35
3 CMS40 57:02
Joe Shairs 14:12 Dave Quintal 14:15 Dan Verrington 14:30 Dave Dunham 14:05
I headed down to North Carolina for the third consecutive year to act as the USATF liaison for the 10km trail championships. I flew down very early on Friday and meandered around the Northwest part of NC bagging five County High points. On race day, Tim VanOrden and I jogged around a bit waiting for the start and listened to the introductions of the big guns who were running. I found myself around 30th place at the end of the first downhill and started to move up during the climb back up to the start area. During the nearly 400’ of uphill I moved up into the top 20. The 200’ climb from 4 miles to 4.5 took a lot of concentration. I passed Tim on this climb and closed on a couple of other guys. I rolled into the finish line in 14th place running 2:15 faster than last year. The big surprise was taking first in the 45-49 getting a gold medal for my efforts and also taking second place in the master’s category (40-49) to earn $200.
1 41:37 Joe Moore 27
2 41:46 Ryan Woods 32 Appalachian Mtn Goat
3 42:05 Bobby Mack 26
14 46:44 Dave Dunham 47 Central MA Striders
19 47:52 Tim Van Orden 43 Central MA Striders
