New England road championships

I wasn’t planning on running the USATF NE 8km championships (North Shore RunFest, Salem MA), but CMS was running short of a full team in the 60+ (and 50+). Prior to this race I’d run 192 New England championships since 1987, but I had only run three last year and had not done a road championship since the 8k champs last August.

 

USATF New England championships I’ve run:

Indoor Track           10

Outdoor Track          2

XC (cross country)   12

Road                       145

Mountain                 15

Trail                          8

Total                       192

 

I gave myself plenty of time to get to the race as Salem isn’t the easiest to get to and parking can also be an issue. I planned out my parking spot so that I would be on the outside of the course to ensure I wasn’t stuck post-race. It wasn’t all that inconvenient as I was within ¼ mile of number pick-up and the starting line. I saw so many familiar faces during pick-up and during my warm-up on the course. CMS had a tent near the starting line, but I just stopped by to say “hi” since I would just be keeping my gear in the car. I got many warm hugs from friends I had not seen in quite a while. I did not feel very good on the warm-up, funny but Dan Vassallo and company went blowing by just as the speed enforcement sign registered me as traveling at 4 mph! I know I was going faster than that but boy was that embarrassing. Dan later made my day by introducing me to a friend “I’d like you to meet Dave, he is a real guy”. I headed back to the car for some hydration and changed into race gear. It was warming up quickly and seemed very warm in the sun. It had shot up to 75 degrees and had that feeling like you needed a drink right after you finished having a sip. I brought a bottle of water with me as I did another mile and got to the starting line with 5 minutes to go. I counted back 20 rows figuring that’d be around 300^th place, which is where I thought I’d be if I could break 33 minutes (which was my goal).

 

Nearly 800 took off at 9 a.m., and it was something of a mess back where I was. The first 1km (.6 miles) loop featured five turns, very narrow streets, some speed bumps, a few cars that got stuck in the road, a coned lane that was WAY too narrow, and a huge dead rat! It was very tight where I was and my goal was to not take a spill in the congestion and the obstacles. I made it safely then picked it up trying to find a groove. Two annoying guys were chatting right behind me until I pulled away after 2 miles. Nothing is wrong with doing a workout at a race but just shut up. No one is impressed that you can chat while racing. Anyway, I found my groove and was consistent in my pace losing just a couple of seconds on the small climbs. After 2 miles I focused on the group in front of me aiming to get up with a couple of the 60+ age group runners I could see ahead. I picked off about 20 people from the mile to the last ¼ mile of the race. I think five guys went by me in the last ¼ mile as they kicked for the finish. I had no kick, although it sure felt like I picked it up (the last mile was my fastest). I was disappointed when I saw the clock and it was already over 33 minutes. My official time was 33:09 which is my fastest 5 miles this year but disappointing, nonetheless. I was happy with how consistently I ran, the splits were very even, I just can’t seem to get going any faster. Mile splits: 6:37, 6:35, 6:37, 6:38, 6:34. I was 251^st out of 788 and 10^th of 62 in the 60+ age group.

 

Pl       Time   Name                      Age    Pace   Team

1        28:32  Gregory Picklesimer M60    5:42   SRR

2        29:51  Scott Grandfield                 M61    5:58   GSH

3        30:30  Norm Bouthillier                M61    6:06   Whirlaway

4        30:44  Charlie Bemis          M63    6:09   Whirlaway

5        31:56  Alex McHenry                    M61    6:23   Green Mtn

6        32:13  Constantino Rago              M64    6:27   BAA

7        32:17  Christopher Smith    M60    6:27   SRR

8        32:40  Barry Sussman                  M61    6:32   Notch

9        33:07  David Teszler          M60    6:37   Heartbreakers

10      33:09  Dave Dunham                   M62    6:38   CMS

11      33:23  Tony Bates              M67    6:41   Green Mtn

12      33:37  Nick Persampieri                M66    6:43   Green Mtn

13      33:51  Daniel Healey                    M65    6:46  

14      34:06  Richard Jordan                  M63    6:49   Notch

15      34:48  Terry McNatt           M61    6:58   CSU

 

My warm-down after the race consisted of a mile on the busy roads of Salem with a bonus stop at the Bewitched statue which is a virtual Geocache. After that I headed to Peabody for a very short hike to visit the town high point and then on to Lynnfield for a longer (3/4 mile) hike on the trails of the Bow Ridge Conservation Area & Kallenberg Quarry which featured a bunch of mountain biking trails that took me to the highest point in town.

 

 

CARS recap

 Capital Area Race Series – This was my 10^th time (I think) doing the CARS. I had not planned on doing it this year but a race I’d planned on doing fell through and it was the weekend of the first CARS race so I looked into doing it. Dental Dental CEO Tom Raffio offered me an entry which I thought was for the first race but was in fact for the entire series, so off I went. Once I’d got rolling in the series my goal was to defend the 60+ title and finish in the top 3 in age graded scoring. I ended up taking the win in the 60-64 age group and managed to hold on to third in the age graded with Bob Lemaire just 6.7 points behind me. I got 14^th overall in the series.

 

 

CARS 60 to 64

Name                     Age Hometown                Points Sea  Nhti Canx Over Ccc  Ange Luti Wood Tom    

Dave Dunham         62 Bradford MA                4714  798  773    0    790  747    0    752  777  824

Vincent Perelli                  62 Hopkinton NH              4362  721  688    0    745  710  712   698  710  764

David Lapierre                  62 Amherst NH                 4179  743  712  659   729  681    0    0      0     655

Michael Quinn                  62 Arlington MA                3707  598  594  508   621  595  624  595  604   665

Christopher Baerman         60 Laconia NH                  3634    0    0     521   653  572  610  589  588   622

Dominic Geffken               62 Concord NH                 3375  558  553  517   569  548  547  536  525   600

George McGrath               63 Hopkinton NH              3372  568  565    0     591  564  541  527  541   543

Bill Tidd                           63 Alton Bay NH              2167    0    0     709    0      0     734    0   724    0

 

Age Graded CARS

Name                     Sex Age   Hometown              Sea    Nhti   Canxc  Over   Ccc    Angel     Luti   Wood   Tom    Agtotal   

Dave Beaudoin         M    48   Manchester NH       84.98    0      71.23  81.22  84.07  81.15  82.93  82.54   83.31  499.05

Mike Veilleux            M    48   Weare NH              83.18  77.43  69.51  78.13  84.48  80.62    0      81.61   80.84  488.86

Dave Dunham          M    62   Bradford MA           81.3   79.63     0      76.61  79.11    0      79.06  80.29   80.12  479.51

Bob Lemaire            M    75   Wolfeboro NH         78.54  79.43  64.03  74.92  82.04  75.83  78.08  76.04   78.59  472.72

Nicholas Gosling       M    43   Bristol NH              80.82  49.7    68.77  70.82  81.37    0        0      79.35   81.62  462.75

Corey Girard            M    44   Pembroke NH         77.51  75.62  63.5   75.01  79.12  76.59    76.00 76.66   76.65  462.53

Richard Clymer         M    65   Concord NH           72.72  74.12  61.03  71.16  78.26  74.34  75.19  75.99   80.17  458.07

Benjamin Strauss     M    55   New Boston NH       70.92  72.44  59.39  70.98  74.94  69.36  73.28  73.73   77.42  442.79

Vincent Perelli          M    62   Hopkinton NH         73.42  70.89    0      72.22  75.18  70.58  73.42  73.31   74.25  441.80

Michael Martinez      M    46   Manchester NH       74.89  73.98   62.4   72.58  73.34  71.61  68.68    0       72.85  439.25

David Saarinen         M    55   Bedford NH              0      0        62.78  72.61  76.64  71.93  72.22   71.2    74.21  438.81

Darin Brown             M    59   Madison NH             0      72.96  62.53  70.94  73.36  73.19  72.83  72.35    0       435.63

Bruce Dyke               M    59   Chichester NH        66.21  67.58  58.1   68.67  72.07  68.56  68.97  69.11   73.03  420.41

Thomas Cook            M    40   Amherst NH           75.71  57.73  60.7     0        0      68.96  69.55  70.94   73.12  418.98

David Lapierre           M    62   Amherst NH           75.71  73.36  57.89  70.69  72.16    0       0        0       63.64  413.45

 

Male CARS Total Points

Points Sea  Nhti Canx Over Ccc  Ange Luti Wood Tom           Name                 Sex Age Hometown                  

  6000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000      Cody Symonds        M    29 Alexandria NH               1

  5600    0    0  961  949  911  934    0  928  917                 Eli Lemire               M    19 Weare NH                          2

  5577  937    0  911  942  892  920  891  898  969              Dave Beaudoin        M    48 Manchester NH                 3

  5554  893  888  925  937  902  921  891  898  971            Andrew Tuttle         M    30 Rochester NH               4

  5475  926  563  914  853  897    0    0  897  988               Nicholas Gosling     M    43 Bristol NH                        5

  5463  917  845  889  906  897  914    0  888  940              Mike Veilleux          M    48 Weare NH                          6

  5318  881  850  837  896  866  895  843  859  921            Corey Girard           M    44 Pembroke NH               7

  5189    0  825  867  891  855  874  819  856  846              James Busi             M    28 Pembroke NH               8

  5016  873  828    0    0  829  827  787  830  829               Liam Conery           M    24 Concord NH              9

  5002  839  820  810  854  790  825  744    0  854              Michael Martinez     M    46 Manchester NH                 10

  4961  887  669  825    0    0  830  796  820  803               Thomas Cook          M    40 Amherst NH              11

  4790  817  775  787    0  800  825  739  779  782              Rob Franger           M    30 Salem NH                          12

  4756  792    0    0  800  779  786  751  769  830               Matt Russell            M    27 Concord NH               13

  4714  798  773    0  790  747    0  752  777  824               Dave Dunham         M    62 Bradford MA               14

  4667  949  934  901    0    0  904    0    0  979                  David Chorney        M    38 Concord NH               15

  4555    0    0  758  796  768  770  731  732  725               David Saarinen        M    55 Bedford NH              16

  4533  739  746  717  778  752  743  742  757  757            Benjamin Strauss    M    55 New Boston NH              17  

  4397    0  727  730  751  711  758  712  719    0               Darin Brown           M    59 Madison NH               18     

  4390  696  711  784  786  663  713    0  700  616              Taylor LivingstoneM    14 Holderness NH               19

  4371  746  570  797  757  725  638  631  700  646            David Hartmann   M    17 Concord NH                        20

  4362  721  688    0  745  710  712  698  710  764              Vincent Perelli          M    62 Hopkinton NH         21     

  4320  811  785    0  800    0  800  667    0  457                 Sam Wood                 M    39 Laconia NH               22      

  4286  694  700  676  715  720  730  696  709  712            Richard Clymer           M    65 Concord NH               23       

  4285  710    0  681  730  700  690  671  705  750              Steve McGowan            M    53 Concord NH            24         

  4271  720  704  692  736  708  704  676  699    0              Scott Williams           M    41 Concord NH               25     

  4179  743  712  659  729  681    0    0    0  655                 David Lapierre           M    62 Amherst NH     26

Tom Walton 6 mile

 The finale for the CARS was the Tom Walton 6 mile. I had run six of the nine races so I didn’t need to run this one but could lose my place in the age graded if someone scored highly at this race. A higher score was a definite possibility as this course is very flat (except for the two times over the highway each lap). I was charged up for this race until I woke up sick on Thursday. Not sure what was up but felt bad enough that I did not do my morning run and took a half-day off work. I felt a little better as the day went on but the persistent headache and sluggishness persisted. My hope is this was a side effect from the new meds I’d been taking to prevent migraines. Off them now and getting some testing done to figure out what is up.

 

On to the race. I still felt “off” on Saturday but decided to give it a go. Last year I’d had a good race here breaking 39 minutes. Based on my racing this year I hoped to be around 40 minutes even with feeling lousy. The weather certainly cooperated with temps in the upper 60’s, with no wind and very low humidity. I got to Delta Dental a little before 7 a.m. and was surprised to see Dave La. He mentioned he needed one more race to get his sixth for the series. We picked up our numbers and got a quick picture with the Knight Riders team mascot. I headed out for a course preview, and it seemed warmer as there was zero shade. The course was well marked, but no mile markers and maybe just a self-serve water stop. No problem with the day being cool and with my watch beeping every half mile. I felt okay warming up and quickly switched into race shoes and got a picture with my sisters and brother in law. Rose and John were both doing the 6 mile in prep for a fall ½ marathon, and Denise was doing the 5k. We the multi-loop and out & back nature of the course I’d be seeing them a bunch of times. I headed out for another mile and headed for the line. I got a big hug from Tim Cox at the start, I hadn’t seen Tim at all this year, so it was nice to chat even for just a few seconds.

 

I lined up about 5 rows back and off we went. I was very cautious over the first half mile as the road was a bit crowded as things sorted out. The 5k would be doing one loop and my race would do a 180 turn at three miles and head back out for a second loop. I settled in and hit the mile in 6:39. That was right on for 40 minutes although I was not feeling good and watched as people just seemed to float away. With the out & back it was easy to get a count of how many were in front and at 1.5 miles I counted 35 ahead of me. Of course, many of those would be doing the 5k but there was no way of knowing who was doing which distance. There were a few guys ahead of me who I normally beat that were ahead of me, but I figured they were running the shorter race.
A second mile at 6:43 had me still on pace and I’d passed just 1 or 2 people so far. Another 6:43 had me at three miles in 20:05 and gave me a chance again to count places. This time only 10 were in front of me as many headed in for the 5k finish.

 

I started to feel a little better in the second lap and a 6:35 mile had me catching up to Chuck Wise, I could hear footsteps behind and knew that Matt Russel was still there (I’d passed him at 2.5 miles). I wanted a top 10 finish and was motivated having two guys right with me. A 6:39 fifth mile had me doing some quick math, I’d need to keep pressing to get in under 40 minutes. I also knew my 5m split was faster than I’d raced at the Bill Luit last month which was encouraging. I was feeling pretty good and working with both guys, I really wanted to push before the last ¼ mile as I figured both would probably manage a stronger kick than I could. My final mile was the fastest of the race (6:32) but I lost 16 and 6 seconds to the guys over the last ¼ despite not slowing. My “high end speed” is a thing of the long ago past…not that I was ever FAST. No complaints as I took 11^th place and tops in the 60+ with a 39:50 and a second loop that was 20 seconds faster than the first. That closes the books on the CARS for the year and I’m glad I took part. I’m not sure what I’ll do next, I’ve got nothing on the calendar but hope that something interesting comes up.

 

It looks like the entire crew had a good day with Rose taking 8^th in the 60+ and John also taking 8^th in the 60+ (both in the 6m) and Denise taking 10^th in the 60+ in the 5k. 

Pl       Time   Name           Sx      Age    City    St       Team

1        32:51 Sean McCauley        M       34      Canterbury NH        Granite State Endurance  

2        33:13 Nicholas Gosling     M       43      Bristol NH     Delta Dental

3        33:32 David Chorney        M       39      Concord NH  Granite State Endurance

4        33:48 Andrew Tuttle         M       31      Rochester NH         Bassett Hounds

5        33:53 Dave Beaudoin        M       48      Manchester NH       Knight Riders

6        34:55 Mike Veilleux M       48      Weare NH     Knight Riders

7        35:39 Corey Girard M       44      Pembroke NH         Knight Riders

8        38:26 Michael Martinez     M       47      Manchester NH       Knight Riders

9        39:34 Matt Russell  M       27      Concord NH 

10      39:44 Chuck Wise   M       51      Mltnborough NH     

11      39:50 Dave Dunham         M       62      Bradford MA  Delta Dental

12      41:33 Sarah Burdette        F        48      Concord NH  Delta Dental

13      42:59 Vincent Perelli         M       62      Hopkinton NH         Granite State Endurance

14      43:45 Steve McGowan      M       53      Concord NH  Granite State Endurance

15      44:50 Abbey Wood F        40      Laconia NH   Delta Dental

16      48:20 Ginny Hast    F        63      Bow NH                 Granite State Endurance

17      48:27 Peter Heslam M       59      Belmont NH  Delta Dental

18      48:59 Scott Sullivan M       28      Pittsfield NH 

19      49:02 Brylee Flood  F        15      Penacook NH Delta Dental

20      49:21 Michael Quinn         M       62      Arlington MA Somerville RR

21      49:58 Daniel Dambruoso M         47      Concord NH 

22      50:09 David Lapierre        M       62      Amherst NH  Millennium Running