March 1995

30 Years ago – March 1995: The focus this month was the New England 30k championships (Stu’s 30k-03/05/95) which my club (CMS) hosted. I had trouble with blisters and spent most of the early miles chugging along in a group of 15 runners. Eventually things broke up and I ended up in 5^th place with a slowish time of 1:41:30. The field was strong and 682 finished on a cold (30s) and breezy day.

1        1:40:19         M27    Byrne Decker Londonderry Nh       CMS

2        1:40:59         M35    Glen Guillemette     W Warwick Ri          TNT

3        1:41:19         M26    Jim Brunswick         Narragansett Ri       BAA

4        1:41:27         M32    Mike Casner  Keene Nh      CMS

5        1:41:30         M30    Dave Dunham         Londonderry Nh       CMS

6        1:41:33         M32    Daniel Verrington    Bradford Ma  CMS

7        1:42:10         M25    Sean Dillon   W Roxbury Ma         BRC

8        1:43:50         M29    Dave Hanechak       W Springfield Ma     GSH

9        1:44:10         M36    James Garcia Westford Ma  CMS

12      1:45:02         M33    Fernando Braz         Peabody Ma  WRT

14      1:45:54         M32    Peter Andersen        Newmarket Nh        CMS

15      1:45:55         M30    Francis Burdett        Worcester Ma          (unat)

16      1:46:13         M36    Craig Fram    Hampstead Nh        CMS

17      1:47:27         M35    Paul Hammond        Lexington Ma WRT

18      1:47:50         M43    Philip Riley    Lowell Ma      GLRR

19      1:47:58         M28    John Ayers    Beverly Ma    NSS

20      1:48:44         M28    David Beauley         Nashua Nh    GLRR

 

 

A week later I used the Mike Beeman’s Total Sports 5k as a workout and topped the field of 150 with a 16:24. Six days later I finished the month with another workout/race this time running the historic Fresh Pond 5m. This is a weekly race of one lap (2.5) or two laps (5 miles) around Fresh Pond. It has been going on for many years and the course records are ridiculously fast as some of the top runners from around the world have done this race. I won on this day in a 24:19 topping a field of 50.

 

25 years ago – March 2000: I finished my first full season of snowshoe racing with a win at the Moody Springs 8.5 mile race.  A week later I did the USATF NE ½ marathon in Melrose MA as a workout. Mark Behan and I ran with Petey, finishing together in just under 1:21. Two weeks later I gave my best at the Merrimack River trail race but couldn’t beat Ben Nephew. On a perfect 50 degree morning a field of just under 300 runners took off along the banks of the scenic River. Nephew pulled away in the early miles and curiously I caught him around 6 miles. The surprise was that I’d made up ground on the “rougher” and hillier section of the course. I thought I’d use my leg-speed to motor on by, but Ben thought otherwise. I hung with him but just couldn’t quite get ahead. He ended up winning in 58:31 with me 3 seconds back. This gave me the dubious distinction of having been on the losing end of the two closest finishes in the history of the event (I also lost by 1 second to Craig Fram in 1995). Pelham High School runner Patrick Moulton finished in 4^th place overall breaking his Junior (age 19 and under) by 4 minutes.

 

1        Ben Nephew           M2039 1        MALDEN        MA      58:31            5:51

2        Dave Dunham                   M2039 2        BRADFORD   MA      58:34            5:51

3        Robert Hoppler                  M2039 3        PLAISTOW    NH      1:00:55                    6:06

4        Patrick Moulton                 M0219 1        PELHAM        NH      1:01:41                    6:10

5        Greg Loomis            M2039 4        FRAMINGHAM          MA      1:03:14                    6:19

6        Richie Peres            M2039 5        PLYMOUTH   MA      1:03:50                   6:23

7        Matt Pimentel                   M0219 2        ANDOVER     MA      1:04:02                    6:24

8        Mark Behan             M2039 6        NEWTON       NH      1:04:07                   6:25

9        BJ Bottomley           M2039 7        NASHUA        NH      1:04:40                   6:28

10      Ken Clark                M2039 8        SOMERS        CT      1:04:57                   6:30