July 1996

 July of 1996 (30 years ago): Five races over this month, mixing it up on the roads and trails from 5k to 10 miles.  I started with the Bridgton 4 on the Fourth - I led through a slow opening mile (4:52) then Rusty Snow took the lead for the climb to 2m (10:00/5:08).  Rob Pierce, Dan Verrington, and I were a step or two behind.  I took the lead on the downhill into 3 miles (14:54/4:54) with Rusty right on me.  I tried to drop him on the final little uphill but couldn’t shake him loose.  He flew by with 200 to go and won by 2 seconds (4:37 to 4:39 for our last miles).

    1   M1934 Rusty Snow             26 M Watertown, MA         19:32  4:53

    2   M1934 Dave Dunham         32 M Bradford, MA            19:34  4:54

    3   M3539 Robert Pierce          35 M Alfred, ME                19:55  4:59

    4   M1934 Sean Livingston       27 M Pawtucket, RI           19:59  5:00

    5   M1934 Dan Verrington        34 M Bradford, MA            20:01  5:01

 

Four days later (July 8, 1996) Dan Verrington and I took on the Cranmore hill climb.  This was one tough course with ¾ mile of flat running then 1,200’ of climb in the next 2.25 with four distinct tough climbs.  Back then it was all run on the cat track with little (to no) downhill.  Dan went with me for the first 1.5 then fell off the pace.  I went on to set a new CR and took home a pair of snowshoes for the win. Those snowshoes are what got me interested in snowshoe racing, and I wore them when I won the first ever USA snowshoe national championships!  

1 Dave Dunham 20:15                 2 Dan Verrington 21:15

 

Two weeks later (07/19/96) I competed in my “Hometown” race, the Sapienza Memorial 5M.  Newcomer on the scene Richard Bolt (sporting a Mohawk) took off at the start.  Craig Fram and I reeled him in after the mile (4:56) on the big climb.  I led until 1.5 when Craig moved to the front. We hit 2 in 10:08 (5:12) and 3 in 15:08 (5:00) when Craig pulled away to a 14 second victory.

    1 Craig Fram                 M3039 Plaistow, NH                    25:05  5:01

    2 Dave Dunham            M3039 Bradford, MA                    25:19  5:04

    3 Richard Bolt               M2029 Lunenburg, MA                 26:39  5:20

On the 28^th I headed up to Manchester Vermont for the Race for the Cure.  I’m not sure why I did this race, but I was shooting for Eric Morse’s course record (1995-15:03).  I took it out in 4:46 and was all alone from ½ mile in the field of over 4,000 (mostly walkers).  I missed the CR by 3 seconds with a win in 15:06.

Two days later (07/30/96) I ran in the USATF NE 10 mile championships at Newburyport (Yankee Homecoming).  It was only 65 degrees but very humid.  I went with the second pack as Jerry Lawson, Art Smith and Abidi Bouazzo took off at the start.  Craig Fram and I fronted the pack with CMS teammates Gary Gardner and Dan Verrington.  We dropped some of the guys at 5 and Craig dropped me at 5.5, but I still thought I had a shot at sub-50 even as late as 8 miles…but wasn’t even close at the end as I ran out of gas.

 

1        48:45  Jerry Lawson 30      M3034 San Francisco, CA              NIKE                      

2        48:59  Art Smith      28      M2529 Cambridge, MA                                     

3        49:20  Abidi Bouazzo          25      M2529 New Paltz, NY                                            

4        49:57  Craig Fram    37      M3539 Plaistow, NH            CMS                                 

5        50:23  Dave Dunham         32      M3034 Bradford, MA           CMS                             

6        50:47  Gary Gardner 25      M2529 Keene, NH              CMS                                 

8        50:56  Eric Beauchesne      26      M2529 Chelmsford, MA             BAA                       

12      51:41  Dan Verrington        34      M3034 Bradford, MA  CMS   39 Bradford, MA                    

Looking back July long ago

 July 1991 (35 years ago): I ran five races, four on the road and one on the toughest trail I've ever run. I started the month winning the July 4th 5.2 mile race in Stoughton (24:47) going to the wire with John Clopeck (24:48). The following week I took first in the 5m Carson Memorial race (running 23:49). I kept the winning streak alive with a 25:22 first place at the East End Club in Lowell, a gritty old-school race. I won $50, taking the lead from Jim Quadros after the 3 mile mark despite feeling tired from the Carson race on the previous day. The following weekend I took first in a slow time (25:14) at the Sapienza 5m. I think everyone had a slow time on this 100 degree day. I closed out the month with a sixth place finish at the Escarpment trail 30k. This was (and remains) the roughest trail race I've ever done. I never felt like I could run a full stride, it was so rough and either climbing up a mountain or descending one. Petey asked me at about halfway if I minded if he went ahead. I wished him luck and off he went. About 5km later I went by him on a climb (he was walking and I wasn't going much faster). I was glad to just survive this one and swore I'd never go back. Rich Fargo won the race in 2:47:51, I ran 3:02:54, and Petey ran 3:14:31.

Week Ending 07/12/26

 Reduced my biking this week and increased my running. Did not feel good. Apparently in an extended post-migraine. Don't recall ever having it last this long or feel this worn out during one. Started to feel a little better over the weekend (although still waking up at 3am with a screaming headache).

Week - 85

Month - 141

Year - 2,191

Life - 169,191

Taking some time to just relax...

Active long weekend

 I kicked off July with a long weekend of running, biking, hiking, and a little swimming. I missed doing the Chelmsford race, but my ankle/foot just did not feel up to racing. On Friday I headed out and got in a nice run on the Londonderry Rail Trail, then onward for a fantastic, rare Friday morning ride. 

A migraine hit which had me feeling off for the remainder of the weekend. I set up camp in Bear Brook and got in a nice swim to cool off. The water was bathtub-warm but still felt good to get out of the heat and humidity. 

After that I headed over to Epsom for a run up to the highest point. It was buggy and the footing was a bit rough over the 1.1 miles that climbed over 600’. The view was terrific, but the haze cut down on what I was able to see. It was a rough night with temps only getting down to 70 and high humidity. 

I got up a couple of times to see if I could catch the International Space Station, but low clouds kept it out of sight. 

I got in a very buggy run on the camp road and ended up with welts all over my back from deerflies feasting on me. I woke up with something wrong with my left ear which was not feeling right. I headed over to Concord for a nice Holiday group run and checked out the ceremony at the capital building.

 After that I headed over to Bow for a hike to the town high point. The unofficial trail to the summit became overgrown after 100 meters so I bushwacked straight to the top. The summit was covered in blueberries and featured a nice view that like the previous day, was obscured due to haze.

 After catching the fireworks, I decided to head for the hospital as I now had no hearing in one ear. I was worried it might be related to my migraine but also thought it could be water from the swim that I couldn’t get out. I ended up spending 6 hours in the waiting room overnight and another hour getting my ear taken care of (water and wax). It was a relief to get my hearing back, but I was exhausted from being up over 24 hours

. No time to rest as I headed over to the Northern Rail Trail for a nice 10 mile run in the much more refreshing conditions (68-74 degrees but lower humidity). I checked out the geocache near the Hannah Dustin statue and after that it was on to the always fun Sunday ride, closing out the weekend with a nice 2 hour ride in optimal conditions.

Week Ending 07/05/26

I took it relatively easy again this week listening to my foot issues. I also had a migraine that slowed me up and spent a night in the waiting room of the hospital getting my ear checked (I couldn't hear out of one ear). I may need a few days to recover from that.

I dealt with the heat this week, mostly by doing a ride in the afternoon rather than run but still had morning runs with 90+ degree temps.

Totals for the week include running 11:04 (76 miles), biking 7:31 (122.6 miles), and hiking to two town high points and a geocache.

Week - 76

Month (July) - 56

Year - 2,110

Life - 169,110

Month of June

 Did not break 300 miles for the month with 292, but did put in a bunch of time on the bike (35 hours). I had my most “single” run days of any month this year with 10. Rough going with my foot hurting every step of the way.

Week Ending 06/28/26

 My foot woes continued so started on prednisone and dropped mileage WAY down to see what might help. May be walking a little better? Foot still very tender, trying to muddle through. Finished the week with a rare 10 mile run and back to back days with outside rides of 50k (which is a lot for me). Not much running for the week but logged 221 miles on the bike over 12:27.

Week - 51

Month - 272

Year - 2,034

Life - 169,034

Made it through a 10m run during a tough week