Looking back - June 2021

 5 years ago: June 2021 – A busy month with a lot of traveling around New England and getting some racing in.  Thankful to be back to MASS START racing after the long pandemic!  I started the month with the Causeway 15km race. I hadn't raced in Vermont since April of 2018 (Sleepy Hollow Mountain race).  I found a 15km race that ran on the Colchester Causeway and signed up right away.  The trail is very scenic as it cuts across Lake Champlain.

Eric Morse and I arrived at 7am and checked out the first 2km loop around airport park and a bit of the way to the actual Causeway as a warm-up.  The big issue was going to be the wind.  Out in the open on the lake and the wind was 20-30 mph.  The 85 entrants were put in four starting waves based on when you entered the race and we'd be starting 20 or so at a time with 2 minutes in between.  I was in the final wave so there would be 60 people to catch. 

It was a little crowded on the very narrow opening loop with people in the group ahead of us staying 2 or 3 abreast so we had to run in the grass for a lot of the first 2km (1.2 miles). After 2 miles there were very few people to see but just enough to keep chugging along to catch them.  I saw the leader and checked my watch and when I checked it at the turn, I figured he was nearly 10 minutes ahead (really about 4 minutes as he'd started 6 minutes before me).  I'd also counted four others that I'd try to track down on the way back.  I slowly reeled in three of the folks ahead of me despite miles of 6:48 and 6:59. The wind was just brutal.  I ended up third to cross the line but one of the guys had started 4 minutes ahead of me, so I'd actually beaten him.  The course was a bit short of 15km (9.3 miles).  The 6:30 pace was a bit disappointing, but I did make it through and hopefully didn't get my groin/glute much worse than it was heading in. 

 

1 Waylon Kurts                  Middlesex, VT          M19    53:58

2 Dave Dunham                Bradford, MA M57    59:30

3 Alex McHenry                 S Burlington VT       M55    1:01:41

4 Seth Kutikoff                  Manhattan, KS         M32    1:01:55

5 Jeffery Jodoin                 Milton, VT     M52    1:02:40

 

Next up (06/12/21) was the second race in CAR series, this one had a name that tells it all – Over the River and through the Woods. This course started at Delta Dental in Concord, climbed up over route 93 then crossed over the Merrimack River on what has to be the narrowest bike path ever.  After that there is a mile of cross-country trails along the banks of the River before returning over the bridge.  An hour before the race I met up with some of my “Duct tape and spit” teammates along with a few others for a very enjoyable warm-up course preview.  What we didn’t know at the time was that the course had been altered due to “covid reasons”. The changes would make the course a little longer than 5k and would somehow lessen congestion (?).  I knew that Tim Cox (5 seconds) and Joe Shairs (10 seconds) would be catching me in the early going.  Tim caught me at ¼ mile and we stayed together as Joe stormed by at ½ mile.  I was happy to make it through the race without running into anyone.  My goal was to run under 6:00 pace so I can’t complain with my 18:41 (5:59 pace for 3.13 miles).  I was also happy to top the age graded masters category.  I was surprised to hear afterward that some people did not do the loop around the building and ended up cutting 45-60 seconds off of the course. 

Place  Time   Pace   Name            Age    Bib     City, State     Div pl  Div    

1        16:47  5:25   Warren Bartlett       23      1        Loudon, NH   01/14          M2029

2        16:53  5:27   Matthew Adams       23      6        Concord, NH 02/14          M2029

3        16:56  5:27   Michael Mott 18      3        Alton, NH      01/10 M1519

10      18:08  5:51   Joe Shairs     53      11      Peabody, MA 01/26 M5059          CMS

11      18:41  6:01   Dave Dunham         57      8        Bradford, MA 02/26          M5059 Duct Tape & Spit

15      19:25  6:15   Doug Deangelis       54      19      Newbury, MA 05/26          M5059 Duct Tape & Spit

20      20:09  6:29   Darin Brown  54      23      Madison, NH 08/26 M5059          Duct Tape & Spit

27      20:37  6:38   Scott Clark    55      14      Gilmanton, NH         09/26          M5059 Duct Tape & Spit

36      21:23  6:53   James Pawlicki        46      38      Lynn, MA      01/16          M4049 Duct Tape & Spit

 

Barry Scanlon from the Lowell Sun wrote a nice article about the 1989 Mt Washington road race which is still the closest finish in the history of the race (1 second).  I had a lot of fun meeting up with Hodgie at Shedd Park in Lowell for some reminiscing.

I was struggling a bit with a hip/groin/adductor but still managed to run in 20 towns in Vermont over a long weekend. It was fun driving around and basically running for 30 minutes then driving 30 minutes over the span of 5 hours.

The final race of June was the I had some troubles leading into the race as my adductor was really bothering me for nearly two weeks.  On race morning it was already closing on 80 degrees and very humid as I got together with some of my teammates for a 3 mile warm-up.  After warming up and feeling pretty decent I changed into race shoes, ditched the singlet and headed over to the start.  This would be the first mass start race in the series. I’d be keying off of Jim Angel and Ernie Brake.  Ernie was already 10 seconds up by the mile (6:06) and pulling away. I got Ernie by 3 miles and he offered some encouragement as I went by.  I kept it together into the finish and was surprised to finish in 20^th overall.  I got the 50+ age group victory by exactly 1 minute (over Angel) and Ernie and I had a good battle in the Age Graded category where I got another slim victory.

50+ age group results

Pl       O'all    Time   Name            Age    City    St       Team

1        20      38:28  Dave Dunham         57      Bradford        MA      Duct tape and spit

2        28      39:27  Jim Angell              57      Hopkinton     NH      Kezar lake

3        32      39:48  Ernest Brake          59      North Sutton NH      Kezar lake

4        35      40:27  Terrence Ferns        52      New London  NH      Kezar lake

5        36      41:08  Doug Deangelis       54      Newbury       MA      Duct tape and spit

6        37      41:14  Darin Brown           54      Madison        NH      Duct tape and spit

7        61      45:32  Ben Strauss            50      New Boston  NH     

8        65      46:03  Vincent Perelli        57      Penacook      NH     

9        66      46:15  Stephen Landry       52      Penacook      NH     

10      69      46:42  Douglas Smith         56      Penacook      NH