New England road championships

I wasn’t planning on running the USATF NE 8km championships (North Shore RunFest, Salem MA), but CMS was running short of a full team in the 60+ (and 50+). Prior to this race I’d run 192 New England championships since 1987, but I had only run three last year and had not done a road championship since the 8k champs last August.

 

USATF New England championships I’ve run:

Indoor Track           10

Outdoor Track          2

XC (cross country)   12

Road                       145

Mountain                 15

Trail                          8

Total                       192

 

I gave myself plenty of time to get to the race as Salem isn’t the easiest to get to and parking can also be an issue. I planned out my parking spot so that I would be on the outside of the course to ensure I wasn’t stuck post-race. It wasn’t all that inconvenient as I was within ¼ mile of number pick-up and the starting line. I saw so many familiar faces during pick-up and during my warm-up on the course. CMS had a tent near the starting line, but I just stopped by to say “hi” since I would just be keeping my gear in the car. I got many warm hugs from friends I had not seen in quite a while. I did not feel very good on the warm-up, funny but Dan Vassallo and company went blowing by just as the speed enforcement sign registered me as traveling at 4 mph! I know I was going faster than that but boy was that embarrassing. Dan later made my day by introducing me to a friend “I’d like you to meet Dave, he is a real guy”. I headed back to the car for some hydration and changed into race gear. It was warming up quickly and seemed very warm in the sun. It had shot up to 75 degrees and had that feeling like you needed a drink right after you finished having a sip. I brought a bottle of water with me as I did another mile and got to the starting line with 5 minutes to go. I counted back 20 rows figuring that’d be around 300^th place, which is where I thought I’d be if I could break 33 minutes (which was my goal).

 

Nearly 800 took off at 9 a.m., and it was something of a mess back where I was. The first 1km (.6 miles) loop featured five turns, very narrow streets, some speed bumps, a few cars that got stuck in the road, a coned lane that was WAY too narrow, and a huge dead rat! It was very tight where I was and my goal was to not take a spill in the congestion and the obstacles. I made it safely then picked it up trying to find a groove. Two annoying guys were chatting right behind me until I pulled away after 2 miles. Nothing is wrong with doing a workout at a race but just shut up. No one is impressed that you can chat while racing. Anyway, I found my groove and was consistent in my pace losing just a couple of seconds on the small climbs. After 2 miles I focused on the group in front of me aiming to get up with a couple of the 60+ age group runners I could see ahead. I picked off about 20 people from the mile to the last ¼ mile of the race. I think five guys went by me in the last ¼ mile as they kicked for the finish. I had no kick, although it sure felt like I picked it up (the last mile was my fastest). I was disappointed when I saw the clock and it was already over 33 minutes. My official time was 33:09 which is my fastest 5 miles this year but disappointing, nonetheless. I was happy with how consistently I ran, the splits were very even, I just can’t seem to get going any faster. Mile splits: 6:37, 6:35, 6:37, 6:38, 6:34. I was 251^st out of 788 and 10^th of 62 in the 60+ age group.

 

Pl       Time   Name                      Age    Pace   Team

1        28:32  Gregory Picklesimer M60    5:42   SRR

2        29:51  Scott Grandfield                 M61    5:58   GSH

3        30:30  Norm Bouthillier                M61    6:06   Whirlaway

4        30:44  Charlie Bemis          M63    6:09   Whirlaway

5        31:56  Alex McHenry                    M61    6:23   Green Mtn

6        32:13  Constantino Rago              M64    6:27   BAA

7        32:17  Christopher Smith    M60    6:27   SRR

8        32:40  Barry Sussman                  M61    6:32   Notch

9        33:07  David Teszler          M60    6:37   Heartbreakers

10      33:09  Dave Dunham                   M62    6:38   CMS

11      33:23  Tony Bates              M67    6:41   Green Mtn

12      33:37  Nick Persampieri                M66    6:43   Green Mtn

13      33:51  Daniel Healey                    M65    6:46  

14      34:06  Richard Jordan                  M63    6:49   Notch

15      34:48  Terry McNatt           M61    6:58   CSU

 

My warm-down after the race consisted of a mile on the busy roads of Salem with a bonus stop at the Bewitched statue which is a virtual Geocache. After that I headed to Peabody for a very short hike to visit the town high point and then on to Lynnfield for a longer (3/4 mile) hike on the trails of the Bow Ridge Conservation Area & Kallenberg Quarry which featured a bunch of mountain biking trails that took me to the highest point in town.

 

 

Week Ending 08/30/26

 Made it through the week :-)

Foot and ankle really bugging me this week and also wearing a Zio monitor to find out more information about the heart palpitations I've been having. Hope to get results quickly but Dr said "keep doing what you're doing". Got in a race this weekend and decent mileage despite the grumpy foot. The only regret was missing the Sunday ride.

Week - 87

Month - 370

Year - 2,805

Life - 169.805

Camping and baseball

Earlier this month I checked the box on two “to do” items. I was hoping to do some camping this month and also wanted to catch a game at the Lowell Spinners. I was surprised to find I could get both of these in one event! The Spinners had a camping night. What a cool event, with a car show before the game, a train ride around the ballpark, then a fun time watching the Spinners beat Worcester. After that it was time to set up tents in the outfield and catch a movie on the big screen. What a full day of fun!

Prospect Acres Ranch - 2 hour race

 I had nothing planned for this weekend and saw a flyer for the Prospect Acres Ranch Ultra. I’d done a couple of snowshoe races at Prospect Acres and wondered what the trails would be like without a blanket of snow. I was not thinking of doing an Ultra (anything longer than a marathon) but the 2 hour version with a 7 a.m. start fit very nicely into my schedule. I was planning on running 10 miles anyway and figured a few more miles would be okay. I also liked the idea of the multi-loop format. Everyone would be doing the 2+ mile loop as many times as possible in the chosen timeframe (2, 4 or 8 hours). I would not be “racing” it in that I was planning on running at training pace and not as fast as possible. 
Although I’m averaging over 12 miles per day so far this year, prior to this day I’d only run over 10 miles in a single run one time this year (back in March). In all, I’ve only done 14 runs over 8 miles this year which is less than twice per month average. So, I was a little nervous about my planned 6 loops (12.6 miles). I was also a little concerned about the footing as I’ve avoided rough footing in deference to my arthritic ankles. I’d taped them up but knew I’d be paying the price after the race. I arrived 30 minutes before the start as I wasn’t planning on doing any warm-up as my goal pace would be 9’s which is generally an easy pace for me. Of course 9’s on flat pavement is different from 9’s on grass, roots, ups, downs, and twisty trail. I took a few minutes to check out the last 200 meters of trail to get a general feel for what I was in for and then decided to put on trail shoes. I would need the better grip although the trail was dry, the grass fields were damp and there would be some slick roots to deal with. The only rocks on the trail were the big rock pile that we’d climb over at the end of each lap.
 
The race director gave a brief description of the course and how it was marked and reminded everyone to sign in at the end of each lap as that was how the scoring would be done (you would be timing and tracking yourself over the 2, 4, or 8 hours). About 20 of us took off at 7 a.m. with temperatures in the mid-60s, a bit of humidity, and cloudy skies. I moved into the lead after we circled the field and headed onto the single-track trail. The climbing went on for the first ¾ of a mile with most of it in a tough ¼ mile stretch that averaged 7% grade. After that I looped around the upper grass field and had a short stretch of mostly flat running. Even the flat stretches (which were few) had a lot of bumps to navigate. You really had to pay attention at all times to not take a bad step. There were a couple of quick downhills in the second mile. I took them cautiously and had the opportunity to recover a bit from climbing. With ½ mile to go there was a final climb at 4% grade and then a straight shot for the final ¼ mile back to the start/finish. I came through the line a little faster than my projected 9 minute pace and felt pretty good. Now I knew the course and would just be concentrating on not getting hurt and keeping the effort even. My next five laps would not vary by more than 11 seconds as I dialed in to a pace that felt good. The fifth lap seemed the hardest as I was getting beyond the length of time I’d usually be on my feet. As I lapped people they were very nice to give encouragement, although I felt funny doing the “sprint” event while they were all doing an Ultra. I think I ended up lapping almost everyone, and a couple of walkers multiple times. They were certainly hardcore to be out there for that amount of time!
 
I ended up finishing six laps (12.6 miles) in 1:51 (8:50 pace) and did another .4 mile to get 13 miles for the morning. Then it was off to Concord for a nice 2 hour bike ride. Great start to the weekend!
 
          Full lap          Pace   climb  short climb
1        18:38  8:52   2:46   1:48
2        18:18  8:43   2:34   1:46
3        18:09  8:39   2:34   1:47
4        18:09  8:39   2:34   1:45
5        18:18  8:43   2:34   1:48
6        18:07  8:38   2:34   1:46

Week ending 8/23/26

 Trying to figure out the migraine issues and why I keep getting heart palpitations. More tests this week and will see the doctor next week. Keep doing what I do. Miles and even a trail race this week.

Week 90

Month 283

Year 2,722

Life 169,722

CARS recap

 Capital Area Race Series – This was my 10^th time (I think) doing the CARS. I had not planned on doing it this year but a race I’d planned on doing fell through and it was the weekend of the first CARS race so I looked into doing it. Dental Dental CEO Tom Raffio offered me an entry which I thought was for the first race but was in fact for the entire series, so off I went. Once I’d got rolling in the series my goal was to defend the 60+ title and finish in the top 3 in age graded scoring. I ended up taking the win in the 60-64 age group and managed to hold on to third in the age graded with Bob Lemaire just 6.7 points behind me. I got 14^th overall in the series.

 

 

CARS 60 to 64

Name                     Age Hometown                Points Sea  Nhti Canx Over Ccc  Ange Luti Wood Tom    

Dave Dunham         62 Bradford MA                4714  798  773    0    790  747    0    752  777  824

Vincent Perelli                  62 Hopkinton NH              4362  721  688    0    745  710  712   698  710  764

David Lapierre                  62 Amherst NH                 4179  743  712  659   729  681    0    0      0     655

Michael Quinn                  62 Arlington MA                3707  598  594  508   621  595  624  595  604   665

Christopher Baerman         60 Laconia NH                  3634    0    0     521   653  572  610  589  588   622

Dominic Geffken               62 Concord NH                 3375  558  553  517   569  548  547  536  525   600

George McGrath               63 Hopkinton NH              3372  568  565    0     591  564  541  527  541   543

Bill Tidd                           63 Alton Bay NH              2167    0    0     709    0      0     734    0   724    0

 

Age Graded CARS

Name                     Sex Age   Hometown              Sea    Nhti   Canxc  Over   Ccc    Angel     Luti   Wood   Tom    Agtotal   

Dave Beaudoin         M    48   Manchester NH       84.98    0      71.23  81.22  84.07  81.15  82.93  82.54   83.31  499.05

Mike Veilleux            M    48   Weare NH              83.18  77.43  69.51  78.13  84.48  80.62    0      81.61   80.84  488.86

Dave Dunham          M    62   Bradford MA           81.3   79.63     0      76.61  79.11    0      79.06  80.29   80.12  479.51

Bob Lemaire            M    75   Wolfeboro NH         78.54  79.43  64.03  74.92  82.04  75.83  78.08  76.04   78.59  472.72

Nicholas Gosling       M    43   Bristol NH              80.82  49.7    68.77  70.82  81.37    0        0      79.35   81.62  462.75

Corey Girard            M    44   Pembroke NH         77.51  75.62  63.5   75.01  79.12  76.59    76.00 76.66   76.65  462.53

Richard Clymer         M    65   Concord NH           72.72  74.12  61.03  71.16  78.26  74.34  75.19  75.99   80.17  458.07

Benjamin Strauss     M    55   New Boston NH       70.92  72.44  59.39  70.98  74.94  69.36  73.28  73.73   77.42  442.79

Vincent Perelli          M    62   Hopkinton NH         73.42  70.89    0      72.22  75.18  70.58  73.42  73.31   74.25  441.80

Michael Martinez      M    46   Manchester NH       74.89  73.98   62.4   72.58  73.34  71.61  68.68    0       72.85  439.25

David Saarinen         M    55   Bedford NH              0      0        62.78  72.61  76.64  71.93  72.22   71.2    74.21  438.81

Darin Brown             M    59   Madison NH             0      72.96  62.53  70.94  73.36  73.19  72.83  72.35    0       435.63

Bruce Dyke               M    59   Chichester NH        66.21  67.58  58.1   68.67  72.07  68.56  68.97  69.11   73.03  420.41

Thomas Cook            M    40   Amherst NH           75.71  57.73  60.7     0        0      68.96  69.55  70.94   73.12  418.98

David Lapierre           M    62   Amherst NH           75.71  73.36  57.89  70.69  72.16    0       0        0       63.64  413.45

 

Male CARS Total Points

Points Sea  Nhti Canx Over Ccc  Ange Luti Wood Tom           Name                 Sex Age Hometown                  

  6000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000      Cody Symonds        M    29 Alexandria NH               1

  5600    0    0  961  949  911  934    0  928  917                 Eli Lemire               M    19 Weare NH                          2

  5577  937    0  911  942  892  920  891  898  969              Dave Beaudoin        M    48 Manchester NH                 3

  5554  893  888  925  937  902  921  891  898  971            Andrew Tuttle         M    30 Rochester NH               4

  5475  926  563  914  853  897    0    0  897  988               Nicholas Gosling     M    43 Bristol NH                        5

  5463  917  845  889  906  897  914    0  888  940              Mike Veilleux          M    48 Weare NH                          6

  5318  881  850  837  896  866  895  843  859  921            Corey Girard           M    44 Pembroke NH               7

  5189    0  825  867  891  855  874  819  856  846              James Busi             M    28 Pembroke NH               8

  5016  873  828    0    0  829  827  787  830  829               Liam Conery           M    24 Concord NH              9

  5002  839  820  810  854  790  825  744    0  854              Michael Martinez     M    46 Manchester NH                 10

  4961  887  669  825    0    0  830  796  820  803               Thomas Cook          M    40 Amherst NH              11

  4790  817  775  787    0  800  825  739  779  782              Rob Franger           M    30 Salem NH                          12

  4756  792    0    0  800  779  786  751  769  830               Matt Russell            M    27 Concord NH               13

  4714  798  773    0  790  747    0  752  777  824               Dave Dunham         M    62 Bradford MA               14

  4667  949  934  901    0    0  904    0    0  979                  David Chorney        M    38 Concord NH               15

  4555    0    0  758  796  768  770  731  732  725               David Saarinen        M    55 Bedford NH              16

  4533  739  746  717  778  752  743  742  757  757            Benjamin Strauss    M    55 New Boston NH              17  

  4397    0  727  730  751  711  758  712  719    0               Darin Brown           M    59 Madison NH               18     

  4390  696  711  784  786  663  713    0  700  616              Taylor LivingstoneM    14 Holderness NH               19

  4371  746  570  797  757  725  638  631  700  646            David Hartmann   M    17 Concord NH                        20

  4362  721  688    0  745  710  712  698  710  764              Vincent Perelli          M    62 Hopkinton NH         21     

  4320  811  785    0  800    0  800  667    0  457                 Sam Wood                 M    39 Laconia NH               22      

  4286  694  700  676  715  720  730  696  709  712            Richard Clymer           M    65 Concord NH               23       

  4285  710    0  681  730  700  690  671  705  750              Steve McGowan            M    53 Concord NH            24         

  4271  720  704  692  736  708  704  676  699    0              Scott Williams           M    41 Concord NH               25     

  4179  743  712  659  729  681    0    0    0  655                 David Lapierre           M    62 Amherst NH     26