Town Bagging

 I had scheduled Friday off as my car needed repair for a recall notice and it would require that the car be in the shop the whole day. Al B also had Friday off and offered to drive for some town high points. Game on!

We met up at 9 am and spent the next 7 hours visiting 12 town high points. Most were just drive ups but we did have a couple of short hikes. The best was a 1/2 mile snowshoe hike to the highest point in Holliston. In order:

Reading (drive up) back yard looked no higher than front and no one was home.

Lincoln - Drove up Reservoir access road, then hopped the fence (tough for me, I'm not very flexible).

Weston - Drive up, owner did not know he had the highest point but was happy to let us visit his back yar.

Westwood - Drive up, between two house, both having construction work done and no one home.

Wayland - Drive up, no one home tromped around the yard a bit.

Millis - Between two houses, owner knew he had the high point and had no problem letting us check it out.

Medway - Parked at the end of the circle and bushwacked to the town line. A bunch of deer in the woods.

Holliston - snowshoe hike on marked trails. "Summit" had a stone statue.

Norwood - Couldn't get in near the tennis courts and the water towers were fenced and had active construction. Bashed around a bit on the cemetery side.

Brookline - parked behind the Benevolent Association and checked out the very high fence. Squeezed in along the fence and the brick wall.

Newton - took the Waban path and found a hole in the lower fence, scrambled up the hill to the upper fence (nothing higher within).

Watertown - parked behind the building on the top of Meetinghouse hill (used to be Trinity school) golf course built around it. Walked over to the nearby high point.

Week Ending 02/22/26

 Some improvement to my hamstring as the week went on. Still not ready to fully return to running but hoping to start doubles next week and just keep the morning rides in place. Hit 50 miles for the week along with 5 hours on the EliptiGo (70 miles), 6 hours on the spin bike (117.5 miles), and 1:45 (20 miles) outside on the roads (Giant bike). Taking whatever my hamstring will allow...

Week - 89

Month - 176

Year - 571

Life - 167,571

On the road, a winter wonderland near Turtle Pond.

Looking back - February 2006

  

20 Years ago – I was coming off of a 1.5 degree calf strain during February of 2006.  I ended up missing 6 days and slowly eased back into running and racing.  I ran the Frosty’s Dash 5k snowshoe race (02/12/06) running easy on the uphills and quicker on the flats and downs.  I managed a 6th place finish in a field of 49 with the race being held during a blizzard that would end up dropping over 18 inches of snow.  The following weekend (02/18/06) I was feeling a lot better and tested myself at the Fudgesicle 5k series.  I ended up taking second place running 17:52 to Dan Verrington’s winning (and impressive) 16:45.  I finished the month (02/25/06) back at the Fudgesicle and Dan chose to run with me for the first half-mile before taking off for the win (17:14) and I again took 2nd place this time in 17:49.

Looking back - February 2001

 25 Years ago - February of 2001 was a busy month for me with 6 races. I ended up with five wins and a second place. The first weekend was a killer double, which was part of another Hockomock Swamp Rat series. I ran the Lynn Stew Chase on Saturday (02/03/01) taking second place (losing by one second on a kick) in 48:09. The next day (02/04/01) I dragged my tired and sore body up to Cape Elizabeth for another shot at the Mid-winter classic. This time I got a surprise win in 53:51 with Bob Winn shadowing me much of the way before taking second in 54:41. I was sick as a dog after the race. The effort definitely took a big toll. The following weekend I doubled again, this time two snowshoe races. On Saturday (02/10/01) I went up to Plattsburgh NY and raced in the first US Snowshoe championships. I took the win by just over 3:30 over Ben Nephew. The following day (02/11/01) I directed and raced over 5km of groomed ski trails at Windblown Ski area taking the win in 21:47. A week later (02/17/01) I took a victory at the Hawley Kiln race in very slow conditions covering the 7m course in 1:01:21 and noting that I “bonked really bad in the last mile”. The final race of the month (02/25/01) was another HSR series race, this time back in Amherst for the DH Jones 10m. The footing was awful with snow, ice and rain during the race. I managed a win in a “very slow” 55:04.

Looking back - Feb 1996

 30 Years ago - I only ran three races in February of 1996 but I made the best of it with two wins and a second place. I got buried at the Cape Elizabeth Mid-Winter Classic 10 mile as Rob Pierce ran a course record 51:10. I was happy with my race noting “I was alone from 2m on and it was exactly zero degrees out there”. I ran 51:56 and teammate Byrne Decker took third in 53:20. The following weekend I ran the Bradford Valentines race.  I started the morning with a 3 mile warm-up with Gary Gardner, Dan Verrington, Eric Beauchesne, and Steve Peterson.  Little did any of us know that this would be the top five finishers in the race.  Eric took it out for the first ½ mile then Gary, Dan, and I slowly pulled away with miles of 4:52 and 4:44.  Dan fell back before the two mile mark and I was able to lose Gary on the uphill third mile (5:01).  I closed with miles of 4:53 and 5:01 to take the win in 24:31. Gary (25:01) and Dan (25:10) took 2nd and 3rd with Eric (26:09) and Petey (27:14) rounding out the top five.  Only 12 people have ever run under 26 minutes at the Bradford Valentine’s race.  Although I lead the list, Dan has an impressive 4 times in the top 10 and three fast wins (he has a few other wins but not under 26 minutes).  David Hinga also has 3 times in the top 14, all of which were winning times, and Craig Fram has the masters course record (25:50) and another sub 26 (25:54) which was done as a 10 mile workout (we ran the second loop in 26:30 including the time from the finish line back to the start!).

 

My final race of the month was the Dartmouth Invitational indoor track meet. Craig Fram and I heard that a bunch of fast guys would be there trying to qualify for Nationals. It turned out we were the only two people entered in the 5,000. We decided to alternate 800m each until 2 miles then it was ‘anybody’s race’. I took the lead at 2 and beat Craig running a 14:52. Definitely an unusual race.

40 years a USATF member

 Today I got my 40th USATF membership card. I've finished over 200 USATF championships, 192 of those were USATF New England championships (mostly road races that were part of the grand prix).

Hoping to race more in 2026

Looking back - Feb 1991

 35 Years ago - I raced five times in February of 1991, all road races. I started the month off with a tie at the Lynn Stew Chase. Lou Ristano and I broke away from the field and took turns leading into the wind. We decided to cross together, I believe I was awarded the win in 48:31. 

A week later I set (the still standing) course record at the Tewksbury Fudgsicle series. I broke Buddy Bostick’s record of 15:31 with a 14:57 on a perfect 40 degree day. The following week I was back in Tewksbury getting a win in 17:10 (taking it easy because I was racing the next day) on a cold 10 degree day. The next day I got a hard fought win at the Paddy Kelly 5m which (in addition to the Lynn race) was part of the first Hockomock Swamp Rat series. I took the win in 24:29 with Frank Ritchie and Mike Woodman close behind in 24:44 and 25:01. 

The final race of the month was a (then) Greater Lowell Road Runners staple, the Two-some relay. I teamed up with Petey to take first running the 3.6 mile leg in 18:11 (Petey ran 19:05) our total time was 37:16.  We held off Art Demers and Mike Woodman who finished second in 38:28. 

 

Two-some relay results (Artie doubled back and won the brother/brother division!)

Male-Male

1 Steve Peterson & Dave Dunham          37:16

2 Art Demers & Mike Woodman              38:28

3 Mike Healy & Dave Tyler           42:41

4 Roger Bertshner & Dan Bowse            45:42

5 Dave Crocker & bob Hookway             47:07

 

Brother-Brother

1 Art Demers & Bill Demers                   46:28