Looking back - June 2015

 10 years ago (June 2015) – I started off the month with the Pat Polletta 2 mile - The race had been a five mile but changed to a 2 mile held on the rail trail in Amesbury. My goal was to break 11 minutes, but with a dirt surface and 2 very tight turns I would be happy with anything under 11:10. I hit the first 1/4 mile in 82 seconds which was right where I wanted to be. I found myself in stride with Kara Haas who has been tearing up the roads. I pushed the pace a bit and found myself alone in fourth place as I hit the mile in 5:32. With a 1/4 mile to go I threw down what I had left I watched the clock tick away and 11 minutes slip past.  My chip time was 11:03.3 so that was my new 50+ PR.

Place  Time   Div     Name            City St          Age

1        10:16.6         TOP3-M Derrick Hamel      Northwood NH        31      M

2        10:19.5         TOP3-M Brent Trail  Littleton NH   28      M

3        11:01.8         TOP3-M Kevin St Laurent   Newmarket NH        27      M

4        11:03.3         M5059 Dave Dunham         Bradford MA  51      M

5        11:15.7         TOP3-F         Kara Haas     Chelmsford MA        44      F

6        11:32.4         M4049 Michael Haas Chelmsford MA        42      M

7        11:37.3         M5059 David Audet  Concord NH  50      M

8        11:41.3         M5059 Jim Quadros  Lowell MA     52      M

 

Six days later it was back to the road racing scene with the USATF New England 5k road championships – The Hollis “fast five” hosted the NE championships for the second time in three years. It was right around 90 degrees, and the wind was blowing at 10-20 mph. I hit the mile in 5:14 in 82^nd place. Dan went by me at about ½ mile and he looked strong. I kept him in my sights but was also looking ahead to Craig Fram and a few other 50+ runners who weren’t that far ahead. I had a good second mile (5:13) hitting the 2 mile mark in 72^nd place. I had passed Dan and Craig during that mile but knew they wouldn’t be far behind if I faltered. Despite struggling I was only passed by 2 runners in the final mile (and I passed 2) so I maintained my 72^nd place to the finish line. I crossed the finish line in 16:30.2 which was a bit of a disappointment. I ended up 5^th in the 50-54 so no complaints about that.

Top 10 50+

56      1        M5054 Tom Thurston         51      16:04.5         5:12   GMAA

60      2        M5054 Scott Anderson        50      16:13.9         5:15   WRT

65      3        M5054 Alejandro Heuck 50 16:23.2         5:18   GSH

68      1        M5559          Doug Martyn 55      16:23.9         5:18   WRT

71      4        M5054 Chris Lawrence        51      16:30.8         5:20   BAA

72      5        M5054 Dave Dunham         51      16:30.2         5:20   CMS

76      2        M5559 Jim Miller      56      16:36.6         5:22   GMAA

77      3        M5559 Craig Fram    56      16:39.4         5:23   WRT

85      4        M5559 Ron Shaiko    55      16:46.6         5:25  

90      6        M5054 Daniel Verrington 52          16:47.7         5:26   CMS

94      7        M5054 Pete Bottomley       53      16:47.7         5:26   Dirigo

101     8        M5054 Henry Scollard         51      16:55.1         5:28   WRT

                                                                               

The next weekend was the 55^th Mt Washington road race - This was my 25^th time racing up the Auto Road to the top of New England and it was the least prepared I’ve ever been. I thought if the weather was good and I had a solid run I might have a shot at Sumner Brown’s 1:12:37 from 1994. That is the fourth fastest time in the 50+ age group. The other three times by Craig Fram are so crazy fast that they are not even a consideration. With the traditional firing of the cannon nearly 1,100 of us took off. I got to the start of the climb in about 50th place which is typical. I could see Francis Burdett up ahead but didn’t see Craig Fram, they’d be the top two 50+ runners so I had my sights set on them. After the mile I locked onto teammate Todd Callaghan and we stayed within a few feet of each other as we started picking off more of the line of people in front of us. Francis was 15 seconds ahead and by now I realized Fram was not in the race. Todd and I had moved up to 25^th place by ½way (33:56). Somewhere on the long straight between mile 4 and 5 I caught and passed Francis and surprisingly also caught Kevin Tilton.  As I neared the top I heard them announcing the first woman. I dug a little deeper and they had to move the women’s finish banner out of the way as I crashed through the finish line (four seconds up on the top woman). I slogged over to the summit and on wobbly legs completed the final scramble up the rock pile to the top.

 

Top 10 50+

19      1:11:35         Dave Dunham         51      CMS

22      1:12:19         Francis Burdett        50      CMS

23      1:12:20         Erik Vandendries 50 CMS

38      1:16:42         Jeff Hunt       51      GCS

39      1:16:58         Mark Reeder 55      GLRR

56      1:20:28         Dan Verrington        52      CMS

59      1:20:51         Ernest Brake 53      CMS

71      1:23:16         Andy MacDonald 55 BAA

78      1:24:19         Jeff Gould     50      NMC

82      1:24:49         Keith O'Brien 51      GLRR

 

Francis, Erik and I swept the top 3 spots in the 50+ and along with Dan Verrington and Ernie Brake set a new team record, taking 17 minutes off Whirlaway’s previous time.