15 years ago (June 2010): I continued my progression back from injury and it seemed like every week I took on another challenge to see how my plantar fascia would fare. Pack Monadnock was the first test of the month. It was only my third run this year of 10 miles, so my plan going in was to "ease" into it and try to run the last three hard. My goal was to run 30 seconds to 1 minute slower per mile than I race last year and then run the last three as hard as possible. I took a surprising 16th place overall (5th in the 40+). Eric Blake ran just under 60 minutes becoming only the 3rd person to crack the 1 hour barrier.
Hollis 5k - Something about 5k’s that really gets me, probably my lack of speed and worrying about blowing up. Dan Verrington came by about ½ mile in. He went by like I was standing still and quickly caught up to the group in front of me. I counted 16 guys in front of me as I hit the mile in 5:17. At 2 miles (10:38) Dan was 11 seconds ahead with a 5:18 split to my 5:21. I was passed by two guys in the last ¼ mile, but I had no response. I hit the 3 mile mark in 15:59 (5:21), so despite feeling like I was falling apart I’d managed to keep the same pace. I hit the line in 16:35 taking 13th place (4th 40+).
40+
1 Titus Mutinda 15:38
2 Joe O’Leary 15:53
3 Dan Verrington 16:24
4 Dave Dunham 16:35
Mt Washington - My weeks leading up to the race were the lowest mileage weeks I've ever heading into what is usually my biggest race of the year. I thought I might be able to run in the range of 1:13 to 1:16 based on my results in road races and the lack of training I'd had. My mileage was as follows - five weeks of Zero, then 30, 47, 60, 67, and 76. Not exactly optimal.
I wrote up splits for a 1:12:30 calling that my "stretch goal". The race went better than expected and I got 1:11:59 on my watch which I stopped AFTER passing both mats. I guess I should have started on the start line instead of four rows back. My goal was to score for the CMS 40+ team and I very nearly scored for the Open team! I believe that the second place woman, Patrick Rich and Andy McCarron were the only people who passed me during the race. I found it hard to believe that I got second place in the US championship (in the masters).
Below – I got to introduce Bob Hodge as he was the first inductee into the Mt Washington Road Race Hall of Fame.
Maudslay XC – I was hoping to get in a late week race and see how my turn-over was after Mt Washington. Chris Kealey showed up just before the start and my thoughts of a win slipped away. 20+ lined up and headed out for the 3m loop or the kids 1.5. Chris took off like a shot and I tried to go with him. By the mile (no miles marked but a decent guess) he was up by 5 seconds, by 2 it was 10 seconds by the bridge with 1/2 mile to go it was over 15 seconds and then he took off. I ended up taking 2nd in 17:58 with Chris about 30 seconds ahead.
I wasn’t sure how things would go at Cranmore, I was having trouble with arthritis in my ankles and unsteady footing is the worst thing for it. Nearly 200 lined up at the start under (thankfully) cloudy skies and humid 70 degree temperatures. My hope was to go out conservatively and try not to blow up during the second loop. I could see Todd Callaghan up around the top group and Alan Serrano and Dave Herr were around the top 10. These guys would be the competition since we are all in the 40+ age group. I moved up to 11th place on the steep pitch passing (among others) Serrano and CMS teammate Tim Cox. I hit the top in just over 17 minutes and tried to catch Dave Herr on the downhill. It took us just over 29 minutes to complete the first lap. I was pleased to slip under 60 with a 58:52 which meant I completed the second descent 33 seconds faster than the first time around. CMS had a great team performance taking the win and putting six in the top 10.
1 51:52 Kevin Tilton 28 CMS
2 52:07 Jim Johnson 33 CMS
3 53:26 Tommy Manning 34
4 54:31 Matt O'Connor 23
5 54:41 Todd Callaghan 40 GCS
6 55:28 Mike Quintal 32 CMS
7 56:34 Andy McCarron 27 CMS
8 57:05 Tim Mahoney 30 CMS
9 57:36 David Herr 45 GCS
10 58:50 Dave Dunham 46 CMS
Hopefully “action figure Dave” and I can travel to many unusual locations!
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