Looking back - 2021

 5 Years ago (October 2021):

I started off the month at the Granite State 10 “smiler” race in Concord, NH.  The race was sponsored by Northeast Delta Dental (hence the smiler name) and the Granite State running team.  It was being held over a large portion of the course I’d run most Sundays with the group hosted by Sarah Prescott, so I had an advantage with my knowledge of the course.  I headed out a little early to check out the Snow Pond road section of the course that I’d never seen. It had the toughest hill on this very hilly course (433’ of climb/descent). 

 I headed out for a 2 mile warm-up and found a $20 bill, maybe this was a good day after all?  I quickly switched into race gear and headed out for another mile.  For whatever reason the field was very small with only 43 starters. Jim Angell, who I’d raced at the CARS series was on the line as was Sean Snow.  As we lined up no one else moved up to the front line.  Off we went, and I went into the lead with Sean right beside me and Jim tucked in behind. We hit the mile (which had just about no climb) in 6:11. I felt pretty good and at 1.5 surged a little bit and even though the mile was a 6:22 the guys fell back.  I tried to keep my effort even although the splits weren’t even as the terrain was quite rolling   I reached the 5 mile mark in 31:17 feeling in control and getting a boost from Tom Raffio’s cheers.  I had no idea how far back the other guys were which kept me running scared. I passed the Sunday group at 8 miles and got high-fives from Sarah, Blake, and Blake’s dad and at 9 miles Jim M and Mick (also Sunday group, but working the race today) offered some encouragement.  I didn’t totally fall apart and managed to cross the line in first place in 61:35. Jim came in second about 2 minutes later and we cheered for Sean who took third. 

1 1:01:35      6:09   Dave Dunham         57      Male   Bradford, MA M5059

2 1:03:43      6:23   Jim Angell     57      Male   Contoocook, NH      M5059

3 1:06:27      6:39   Sean Snow    55      Male                       M5059

4 1:09:49      6:59   Stephanie Snow      25      Female                             F0129

5 1:11:57      7:12   Jonas Aviza   65      Male   Concord, NH M6069

 

   

Rare treat – breking the tape                         Top 3 – I’m holding some hard earned maple syrup

              

Top three – all in the 50+ age group                               Being the first to warm-up really paid!

 

I had a week of vacation as well and I do not do well with time on my hands.  I thought to myself “What would Greg Washak do?”, but since I don’t drink beer I thought getting back down to Rhode Island might chew up some time and keep me occupied.

Sunrise Eastern-most point in RI                              Looking for a sign how things will go – saw this

 

My first three days of vacation included three trips to Rhode Island.  I amassed 641 miles of driving while running in 25 different towns.  I also visited:

• Three fire towers                         Six cemeteries (often the best place to find parking)
• Ruins (old amusement park)                  Easternmost and Northernmost and highest points in the state
• Three county prominence points           A four town marker

 

Ruins of the “Enchanted Forest”                                     Four towns meet at this point

 

I wasn't planning on doing the Canterbury XC race as it was Friday night (10/15/21) before the USA masters XC nationals (Sunday).  Tom Raffio asked me if I'd be interested in joining his Delta Dental squad in some friendly competition.  I headed up to Canterbury for the 5pm race with a plan of running somewhere around 7:00 pace to get my legs a little turnover without (hopefully) doing any damage for the Sunday race. It was nearly 70 degrees and very humid as I finished my warm-up.  The entire NHTI team was warming up and looked impressive.  Off we went and I eased into 12th place by 1/2 mile into it.  By the mile I'd moved up to 8th place and on the first climb I moved up to 6th.  By 2 miles I could see 5th and 4th off in the distance. I made a move on the climb and got into 5th place (thus stopping NHTI from getting a perfect 15 points) but never closed on 4th place who had a strong finish.  I was pretty happy with the effort (6:49 pace) especially given the 336' of climb and drop.

 

1 17:35 Michael Mott                   M19 NHTI

2 18:40 Ethan Dodenhoff   M18 NHTI

3 19:46 Rovanee Nickson   M20 NHTI

4 20:21 James Barrett                 M19 NHTI

5 20:42 Dave Dunham                 M57 Delta Dental

6 20:49 Nickolas Dalton               M18 NHTI

7 21:03 Graham Hayslip     M30 Mugwumps

 

I couldn’t manage to hook up anyone for a Saturday run so I decided to head to Rhode Island one last time.  A little less than 200 miles of driving (round trip) and 7 miles of running and I’d bagged the final towns I needed to complete the state.  I finished it with two of the nicest runs in RI, both on the scenic and very quiet (at 6am) East Bay bike path.  In all I put in over 800 miles of driving during this week, which kept me occupied.  That is always a good idea since I don’t do well with being “idle”.

 

State high point – RI                                             Final town line - RI

Next up was the race I’d been aiming for, the Masters USA XC championship. I hadn’t done XC nationals since 2017 and was looking forward to racing again at Franklin Park.  Dan Verrington picked me up at 8:30am for the drive in and it was just like old times.  Dan and I are probably the longest continuous members of the Central Mass Striders with my CMS days going back to 1992 and Dan to 1993.  On this day we’d be representing the 40+ team (masters) instead of the 50+ squad (seniors) as there weren’t enough 40-49 guys to make up a full squad. We met up with the crew and Tim Van Orden joined Dan and me for a course preview.  This is a great spectator course as we’d loop through the field at ¾ mile, 1.75 miles, and the final ½ mile.  I felt okay on the warm-up but a little flat.  It was exciting seeing old friends and competitors and we even got to see a good bit of the 60+ race during the warm-up.  My goal for the race was to finish in the top ½ of the field (98 entrants) and top 10 in my age group. 

A light moment before the start

As we took off through the field at the start, I was a bit surprised to see Dan a couple of strides ahead.  He had noted how much trouble he was having with slow starts.  I got into a good rhythm and by ½ mile in started passing people.  Only one guy would pass me over the remainder of the race.  I hit the mile in a step over six minutes and continued to move up.  Bear cage hill was tough, and I pushed on the downhill after it and could see a group of four guys in my age group a little ahead. I never really gained on them and at 2.5 Alejandro Heuck went flying by.  I ended up missing my goals with 55^th place overall and 13^th in my age group but was still pleased with the effort.  Only two guys in front of me were my age or older.  Dan had a solid run crossing the line 24 seconds after me.  The CMS 50+ squad (Greg Putnam, Tim Van Orden, Scott Grandfield, Todd Callaghan, Joe Shairs, Steve Brightman) took the National Champion title! 

 

MALE AGE GROUP: 55 - 59

1        17:31  Nat Larson    59      Amherst Ma   GSH

2        18:03  Kenneth Barbee       57      Philadelphia Pa        Gtr Phillie

3        18:21  Mike Nier                56      Rochester Ny GVH

4        18:22  Alan Evans    58      Beaver Dams Ny      GVH

5        18:25  Scott Grandfield       56      Rehoboth Ri  CMS

6        18:32  John Mcmahon        55      Williamsville Ny       Checkers AC

7        18:37  Jason Cakouros       56      Milton Ma                HFC

8        19:02  Mark Hixson  56      Simsbury Ct  GSH

9        19:03  Dale Flanders 56      Allegany Ny   GVH

10      19:17  Alejandro Heuck      56      Amherst, Ma  GSH

11      19:21  Scott Siriano  55      Dillon Co                 Mass Velocity

12      19:22  John Hogan   56      Washington, Nj        Garden St

13      19:25  Dave Dunham         57      Bradford Ma  CMS

16      19:49  Daniel Verrington    59      Bradford Ma  CMS

18      20:39  Francis Burdett        56      Worcester Ma          GSH

21      22:39  Harris Hardy  58      Somerville Ma          Athletics East

22      23:45  Bill Newsham 56      Brookline Nh GBTC

 

I closed out the month (and the year) with a return to Canterbury for the Shaker XC race (10/23/21).  This was the finale of the three race series.  I’d done the second race (as a workout) and they were using the same course so my goal was to run a minute faster than my 20:44. It was sunny and chilly, just about ideal for XC.  One of the NHTI kids (David Testerman) took it out and I tried to keep him close. I went by as we finished the first lap (9:48) which was right in the ballpark for the time I was hoping to run.  Soon after I could not hear footsteps behind me, and it seemed I might be able to steal a win.  My calf started to really bother me on the rutted climb, and I was worried as it started to spasm.  I had to slow a little to manage the calf and lost a little time but still manage a 10:04 for the second loop for the win in 19:52. I took another lap of the course with Kara Haas (1^st women, 5^th overall) and then hit the awards ceremony (where just about everyone got something).  A nice end to my season.  Big thanks to Tom Raffio for inviting me to run for his Delta Dental squad!

Overall Results                                                       Age Graded Results

1 19:52         Dave Dunham                   M57    Delta Dental            1 16:33 Dave Dunham                   M57

2 20:38 Matt Deschuytner M34                                  2 20:07 Kara Haas             F50

3 20:40 David Testerman   M17    NHTI                      3 20:12 Freeland Hubbard        M67

4 22:01 Ben Cone              M18    NHTI                      4 20:15 Kevin Perron                    M51

5 22:31 Kara Haas             F50     Delta Dental            5 20:18 Matt Deschuytner  M34

View from Turning Mill Pond                                           Leaf covered trail along the pond