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 82nd 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 72nd 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 72nd place to the finish line. I crossed the finish line in 16:30.2 which was a bit of a disappointment. I ended up 5th 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 55th Mt Washington road race - This was my 25th 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 25th 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.
Hi Dave! Last summer I took a trip to Boulder, CO where I met Kevin Beck who told me about you. I always enjoy reading about your running adventures and incredible feats from years past. Also, very impressive that you are able to continue to put in 90 mile weeks in your 60s. My old man, who is a few years younger than you, was once a decent runner himself but has been practically glued to the injury shelf since turning 50.
ReplyDeleteI did a little reminiscing about June 2015 on my own blog earlier this month- https://running2daylight.blogspot.com/2025/06/looking-back-june-2015-ten-years-ago.html
Hope all is well and keep crushing it man!