Looking back - June 2021

 5 years ago: June 2021 – A busy month with a lot of traveling around New England and getting some racing in.  Thankful to be back to MASS START racing after the long pandemic!  I started the month with the Causeway 15km race. I hadn't raced in Vermont since April of 2018 (Sleepy Hollow Mountain race).  I found a 15km race that ran on the Colchester Causeway and signed up right away.  The trail is very scenic as it cuts across Lake Champlain.

Eric Morse and I arrived at 7am and checked out the first 2km loop around airport park and a bit of the way to the actual Causeway as a warm-up.  The big issue was going to be the wind.  Out in the open on the lake and the wind was 20-30 mph.  The 85 entrants were put in four starting waves based on when you entered the race and we'd be starting 20 or so at a time with 2 minutes in between.  I was in the final wave so there would be 60 people to catch. 

It was a little crowded on the very narrow opening loop with people in the group ahead of us staying 2 or 3 abreast so we had to run in the grass for a lot of the first 2km (1.2 miles). After 2 miles there were very few people to see but just enough to keep chugging along to catch them.  I saw the leader and checked my watch and when I checked it at the turn, I figured he was nearly 10 minutes ahead (really about 4 minutes as he'd started 6 minutes before me).  I'd also counted four others that I'd try to track down on the way back.  I slowly reeled in three of the folks ahead of me despite miles of 6:48 and 6:59. The wind was just brutal.  I ended up third to cross the line but one of the guys had started 4 minutes ahead of me, so I'd actually beaten him.  The course was a bit short of 15km (9.3 miles).  The 6:30 pace was a bit disappointing, but I did make it through and hopefully didn't get my groin/glute much worse than it was heading in. 

 

1 Waylon Kurts                  Middlesex, VT          M19    53:58

2 Dave Dunham                Bradford, MA M57    59:30

3 Alex McHenry                 S Burlington VT       M55    1:01:41

4 Seth Kutikoff                  Manhattan, KS         M32    1:01:55

5 Jeffery Jodoin                 Milton, VT     M52    1:02:40

 

Next up (06/12/21) was the second race in CAR series, this one had a name that tells it all – Over the River and through the Woods. This course started at Delta Dental in Concord, climbed up over route 93 then crossed over the Merrimack River on what has to be the narrowest bike path ever.  After that there is a mile of cross-country trails along the banks of the River before returning over the bridge.  An hour before the race I met up with some of my “Duct tape and spit” teammates along with a few others for a very enjoyable warm-up course preview.  What we didn’t know at the time was that the course had been altered due to “covid reasons”. The changes would make the course a little longer than 5k and would somehow lessen congestion (?).  I knew that Tim Cox (5 seconds) and Joe Shairs (10 seconds) would be catching me in the early going.  Tim caught me at ¼ mile and we stayed together as Joe stormed by at ½ mile.  I was happy to make it through the race without running into anyone.  My goal was to run under 6:00 pace so I can’t complain with my 18:41 (5:59 pace for 3.13 miles).  I was also happy to top the age graded masters category.  I was surprised to hear afterward that some people did not do the loop around the building and ended up cutting 45-60 seconds off of the course. 

Place  Time   Pace   Name            Age    Bib     City, State     Div pl  Div    

1        16:47  5:25   Warren Bartlett       23      1        Loudon, NH   01/14          M2029

2        16:53  5:27   Matthew Adams       23      6        Concord, NH 02/14          M2029

3        16:56  5:27   Michael Mott 18      3        Alton, NH      01/10 M1519

10      18:08  5:51   Joe Shairs     53      11      Peabody, MA 01/26 M5059          CMS

11      18:41  6:01   Dave Dunham         57      8        Bradford, MA 02/26          M5059 Duct Tape & Spit

15      19:25  6:15   Doug Deangelis       54      19      Newbury, MA 05/26          M5059 Duct Tape & Spit

20      20:09  6:29   Darin Brown  54      23      Madison, NH 08/26 M5059          Duct Tape & Spit

27      20:37  6:38   Scott Clark    55      14      Gilmanton, NH         09/26          M5059 Duct Tape & Spit

36      21:23  6:53   James Pawlicki        46      38      Lynn, MA      01/16          M4049 Duct Tape & Spit

 

Barry Scanlon from the Lowell Sun wrote a nice article about the 1989 Mt Washington road race which is still the closest finish in the history of the race (1 second).  I had a lot of fun meeting up with Hodgie at Shedd Park in Lowell for some reminiscing.

I was struggling a bit with a hip/groin/adductor but still managed to run in 20 towns in Vermont over a long weekend. It was fun driving around and basically running for 30 minutes then driving 30 minutes over the span of 5 hours.

The final race of June was the I had some troubles leading into the race as my adductor was really bothering me for nearly two weeks.  On race morning it was already closing on 80 degrees and very humid as I got together with some of my teammates for a 3 mile warm-up.  After warming up and feeling pretty decent I changed into race shoes, ditched the singlet and headed over to the start.  This would be the first mass start race in the series. I’d be keying off of Jim Angel and Ernie Brake.  Ernie was already 10 seconds up by the mile (6:06) and pulling away. I got Ernie by 3 miles and he offered some encouragement as I went by.  I kept it together into the finish and was surprised to finish in 20^th overall.  I got the 50+ age group victory by exactly 1 minute (over Angel) and Ernie and I had a good battle in the Age Graded category where I got another slim victory.

50+ age group results

Pl       O'all    Time   Name            Age    City    St       Team

1        20      38:28  Dave Dunham         57      Bradford        MA      Duct tape and spit

2        28      39:27  Jim Angell              57      Hopkinton     NH      Kezar lake

3        32      39:48  Ernest Brake          59      North Sutton NH      Kezar lake

4        35      40:27  Terrence Ferns        52      New London  NH      Kezar lake

5        36      41:08  Doug Deangelis       54      Newbury       MA      Duct tape and spit

6        37      41:14  Darin Brown           54      Madison        NH      Duct tape and spit

7        61      45:32  Ben Strauss            50      New Boston  NH     

8        65      46:03  Vincent Perelli        57      Penacook      NH     

9        66      46:15  Stephen Landry       52      Penacook      NH     

10      69      46:42  Douglas Smith         56      Penacook      NH    

 

Looking back - June 2016

 10 years ago: June 2016 – This was a bit of a mixed bag of a month.  I ran three mountain races and one road ½ marathon.  I started the month (06/05/16) with a 10^th place finish (1:11:55) at Pack Monadnock.  I made up over 1:15 on senior champion Ed Sheldon from the 9 mile mark but still finished 22 seconds behind him.  The following weekend (06/12/16) I headed to Ascutney Mountain and finished in sixth place (first senior) in 33:37.  That was quickly followed (06/18/16) with a 1:12:05 for the Mt Washington road race where I was third in the seniors and 18^th overall.  I closed out the month (06/25/16) with a win that spanned two countries!  I headed to Campobello Canada for the Bay of Fundy ½ marathon.  This race has the distinction of starting in Canada and finishing in the USA (Lubec, Maine).  I found myself 30 seconds back at the 5k mark on this decidedly tough rolling course.  By 11km I had moved into the lead and built on that lead to the finish where I crossed first in 1:22:23 to win by 1:20 in the field of nearly 300.

 15 years ago - June 2011: The month started with a lot of promise and lofty goals and ended with a DNS (did not start) at the US Mountain championships due to injury.  I started off (06/05/11) with Rhody 5k (USATF NE 5k) in Lincoln RI.  We had a nice day with temps around 70 and low humidity. I may have pushed a bit too hard on the only hill on the course (leading up to the 2- mile mark). I just didn’t have the wheels to get moving after that and kicked in with a 16:36 which was only good enough for 12th in the 40+.  Our masters team did take 2nd place and I scored, which was a bonus.

CMS 40+

36      5/93   15:59 5:09 Greg Putnam              41 Wakefield MA     

49      9/93   16:15 5:14 George Adams           41 Gilsum NH         

56      11/93 16:24 5:17 Joe Shairs                  43 Peabody MA      

64      13/93 16:36 5:21 Dave Dunham 47 Bradford MA

69      17/93 16:44 5:24 Daniel Verrington        48 Bradford MA

89      23/93 17:33 5:39 David Quintal             48 Salem NH

100     26/93 18:03 5:49 John Pajer                  48 Leicester MA      

The following weekend (06/12/11) I convinced Steve Vaitones to add the 10,000 to the schedule for the USATF NE track championships in Weston, MA.  I then reached out to my teammates and we ended up making up most of the field of nine runners.  I settled into last place at the start and went around Dave Quintal before the 200 meter mark; he would be the only person I’d pass in the 25 laps around the oval. I ended up taking 7th and missed my masters best by 9 seconds. CMS dominated the event taking second through eighth place.

 

Switching gear again, this time head to the mountains (06/19/11) for the Mt Washington road race.  I’d stayed away from mountain racing so far this year. Based on my road times and the mileage I’d been putting in I felt I was in shape to run close to my masters PR (1:09:08). The heavy rain came down during our warm-up then stopped just before the race started. I slowly moved through some fast starters and by 2 miles found myself right behind Craig Fram. We were consistently running 4 seconds behind my stretch goal pace, so I knew I was going to be close to my 40+ PR.  Conditions were just about ideal with very little wind above tree-line. At 7 miles I knew I’d be very close to my 40+ PR and if I kept it together, I’d break Andy Ames age 47 record (1:09:33). I ended up finishing 17th and 3rd in the 40+ in 1:09:11, three seconds shy of my masters PR. I was surprised to later learn that I also scored (5th man) for the winning CMS open team. Our 40+ team also won, demolishing the field!

 

1 M2034 1:01:32 Rickey Gates               30 M Woody Creek CO       SSR

2 M3539 1:01:42 Tommy Manning         35 M Colorado Sprs CO     

3 M3539 1:03:31 Matthew Byrne           36 M Scranton PA   

5 M4549 1:04:33 Simon Gutierrez          45 M Alamosa CO   

6 M2034 1:04:45 Peter Maksimow          32 M Maintou Sprgs CO     CMS

10 M2034 1:06:59 Kevin Tilton               29 M North Conway NH     CMS

11 M4549 1:07:09 Francis Burdett          46 M Worcester MA CMS

12 M2034 1:07:22 Jim Johnson              34 M Salem NH       CMS

15 M5054 1:08:50 Craig Fram                52 M Plaistow NH    WHIRL

17 M4549 1:09:11 Dave Dunham           47 M Bradford MA    CMS

23 M4044 1:11:51 Tim Van Orden          43 M Bennington VT CMS

37 M4549 1:16:01 Ernest Brake             49 M North Sutton NH       CMS

40 M4549 1:16:41 Dan Verrington          48 M Bradford MA    CMS

47 M4549 1:17:52 David Quintal            48 M   Salem NH     CMS

89 M6064 1:27:01 Judge Jones              60 M Billerica MA     CMS

117 M4549 1:29:37 Stephen Peterson    45 M Chelmsford MA          CMS

  

The week after Mt Washington was a recovery week for me. My calf was definitely strained so I headed to Pinnacle Physical Therapy in hopes of a miracle. I was able to run (slowly) but it felt like a giant knot in my calf, needless to say I was worried about the prospect of running up/down Cranmore Mountain (site of the US mountain championships) on a balky calf muscle.  Over the weekend I visited some fire towers in Northern NH and my calf went into full blown spasm and that was the end of my mountain running for a while.

Looking back - June 2006

 20 years ago – June 2006: I raced four times during this month, all of the races were in the mountains.  I started the month (06/04/06) with a disappointing third place at Pack Monadnock.  The disappointment was due to being outkicked over the last tenth of a mile which would have gotten me tops in the 40+.  The following weekend (06/10/06) I directed the Northfield Mountain race and also picked up a top 10 finish and 2^nd place in the 40+.  I ran 40:12 over the 6.5 mile up & down course and Dan Verrington was top master 50 seconds ahead of me.  Next up (06/17/06) was the Mt Washington road race where I set a 40+ personal best (1:09:30) which was five minutes behind masters winner Simon Gutierrez.  I took solace as this was the USA mountain running championships and my club (CMS) took home first place!  My final race of the month (06/24/06) was the USATF NE mountain championships at Loon Mountain.  I placed 7^th overall (53:53) and 2^nd in the 40+ to Coloradan Andy Ames (52:05).

Pack Monadnock

1 1:03:55      Paul Low       M        32      Belchertown MA                CMS

2 1:06:37      Randy Macneil         M        44      Epping NH   

3 1:06:40      Dave Dunham         M        42      Bradford MA            CMS

4 1:07:54      Erik Johnson  M        29      Newmarket NH       

5 1:09:14      Ken Tripp      M        36      Amesbury MA