Cranmore 2009

The weekend started off early for me as I went into Boston to pick up Richard Bolt. Rich flew in for the weekend to act as the USATF liaison at Cranmore which was the site of the US Mountain running championships. The race was also the NACA champs which meant runners from Canada and Mexico were present. As if that wasn’t enough, it also served as the first of two selection races for the US team which will compete in the World mountain champs in Italy this September.

We headed up to Cranmore on Saturday morn. I had picked up a crappy head-cold and felt miserable. I debated even running in the morning, but felt good enough after being dizzy for the first mile. Once we arrived at Cranmore Rich hung out chatting with Andy Schachat who was checking out the start area where he’d do the announcing on race day. I headed out to run the first kilometer and check out the 100m of tricky descent through the “glade”. This was really the only part of the course that I was worried about. There wasn’t much of an indication of a trail in this part; there also wasn’t much rock so it wasn’t too bad. I figured I’d give up a little in that section to guys who have no fear, but I’d make up a lot on the upper slopes when most everyone walks.

Rich and I both took a soak in the river before meeting up with Paul Kirsch and his family along with Trish Steidl and Nancy Hobbs. I ate a ton of pizza at Flatbreads, and was a bit bummed that I couldn’t find anything non-organic J. After dinner it was back to Paul’s where we helped out with some final preparations for the race.

My head cold didn’t feel much better but I had a decent nights sleep. We were up at 6 and on the way to Dunkin’s by 6:30. We were not the first to arrive despite getting into the parking lot 30 minutes prior to registration beginning. Paul had pretty much everything under control so I finished my large regular and got ready for the race.

Double-J, DQ, Ed Horse, Justin Fyffe, Tim & Abby, Trish, Jim P, and maybe a couple of others joined up and we did a nice out/back run on the trails that kept us from doing any big climbs prior to the race. I was still a bit dizzy doing the run and despite the slow pace felt a bit winded. I was finally starting to get nervous about the race after a week of being in a post-Mt Washington blah.

I switched into the Unitard ™ and put on the blister causing Inov-8’s that have great tread. The course was wet and muddy and traction would be a concern. I did a light jog, but no strides as my energy was very low. Over 225 of us lined up, with cloudy skies and temps in the 70’s with super-high humidity. Then off we went in a blur of arms and legs. Some people went out VERY fast for the first 100m of flat running. I was not in the top 50 as the climb began.

It was still easy to pass as everyone was moving pretty slowly. We slowed to almost a walk at the first brief single-track. In the second single-track I called out “trail” which got a couple of laughs. I did a little bushwhacking and slowly passed some early speedsters. We exited the single-track and Ben Nephew went flying by with Eric Morse right behind him. Then things began to settle down. I was just a step behind Brandy Erholtz who seemed to be working very hard. I was working hard as well and did a quick count of my place (about 35). I think that helps me focus on who is ahead of me. I definitely was looking to reel in a lot of people. Heck, we weren’t even 1KM into the race and people were beginning to realize they may have gone out too hard.

I hit the KM in 5:48 and heard Tim Van Orden call out something about poison ivy (perhaps warning some of the Raw Foods people to not eat it?). I was glad to hear him behind me, not so glad that he was RIGHT behind me. I knew I’d need to have some distance on him at the top as he can fly on the down. I had to work hard to get around Brandy, every time I pulled even with her she sped up. I thought that was pretty aggressive this early in the race. I pulled clear of her just after the 2 KM mark as we got onto the steep narrow washed out section.

I kept my head up and could see a line of guys in front of me. I caught Tim Mahoney on the first grassy steep climb and reeled in one of the Mexican runners. I caught a Canadian runner soon after when we hit the steep glade and most everyone was walking. I don’t like to power-walk, maybe I’m afraid I won’t be able to start running again. I hit the top in 17:02 and grabbed a cup of water as we started the long downhill. My goal for the downhill was to not get hurt and to run as fast as possible on the “good” sections.

It seemed to take a long time to get to 4KM and even longer to get to the glade. I couldn’t believe that someone was running the down slower than me, but I caught some poor sap. Just as I entered the glade I heard someone coming in behind me. It turned out to be two someone’s as TiVo and Tim M both blew by me during the 100m of nastiness. I turned the power back on as we hit the better footing and ran even with Tim M right behind TiVo to the bottom. This was a bit of a replay of last year when TiVo got me in the glade and put 30 seconds on me on the bottom. I was surprised that neither of the Tim’s could pull away on the flat. That could bode well, as we hit the second loop stride for stride.

I tried to push as much as possible on the climb and hoped to gap them early and maybe discourage them from following. I was a bit concerned about how bad I felt but knew I needed every second I could muster on the climb if I wanted to hold them off on the drop. The three of us are very close in the point totals in the USATF NE mountain series of which Cranmore was the fourth race (of six). Every second would count. It took forever to get to the 1KM marker but I kept focus ahead and had Todd Callaghan in site along with a Mexican runner.

On the steep climbs I could even see Morse not too far ahead. Of course not too far ahead on a 20% slope is actually pretty far back on flat running. I walked a couple of wobbly steps on the really steep stuff, my only walking of the day. Then I was on top of the mountain again and heading down the dirt road. I was a bit wobbly and felt like I wasn’t moving well. My first downhill split turned out to be within a second of what I ran on the first loop so I guess I wasn’t doing badly. I focused on getting to the glade and once I did that I just worked my way through it. The glade was better this time around as there was a much more distinct path with all of the people blasting through. Once back on the better footing I gave all I had. I was relieved to hear “no one is behind you” when I hit the bottom. My gas tank was close to empty. I hit the finish line in 25th place in 56:20. That was about 1:30 faster than I ran last year and was good enough to get me a gold medal in the 45-49 age group. Dave Quintal took second which was pretty cool, sort of like to old days for us getting All-American back at U-Lowell.

The warm-down was slow and painful. I had some bad blisters and sore hips, along with some sore muscles that I didn’t even know I had. The award ceremony was pretty cool; Kevin Tilton was in the top 10 and got a medal. Ben Nephew had a great race as well. All in all the entire CMS team had good runs. Tim Mahoney came through with a coke for me which really helped as I couldn’t seem to kick the post-race bonk.

Next up will be the Loon Mountain race which is probably my favorite. It starts out easy and gets progressively more difficult. It is a little to easy in the early going for me but the 30-40% slope on Upper Walking Boss helps bring back some of the speedsters. I’ve had good luck at the race in the past and hope to kick this cold and feel “normal”. I’m also registered for the Carson 2 mile on the fourth but may pass on that if I’m not feeling good. I’m very sore and tired, but that is how you should feel if you ran Cranmore right.

548 - 548
1018 - 430
1706 - 648
2044 - 338
2721 - 637 est
3341 - 620 est
3837 - 456
4601 - 724
4942 - 339
5619 - 637

Up 1706
down (est) 1015
Up (est) 1840
Down 1016

Cranmore

Nope not today, but Cranmore 1996. Paul Kirsch sent me the original results from '96 when Dan and I duked it out for about 1.5 miles then I continued on to set the (still standing - laugh) course record for the 3 mile run to the summit. I won a pair of Tubbs 10k snowshoes and that eventually got me into snowshoe racing. Not sure why "no dogs allowed" in '96. Was that a big problem?

I'll post my story about this year tomorrow morning (if my iffy modem keeps working), but I ended up 25th overall, 1st in the 45-49, 6th man for CMS, and I think 3rd 40+ behind Simon Gutierrez and Eric Morse. More to follow....

Mt Washington stats

Here are some of the facts from the 49th running of the Mt Washington road race. I will be posting the updated All-time lists on the Mt W blog over the next week.

2009 Mt Washington stats
917 finishers - most since 2004 and fifth most ever
248 women finished which broke the record of 238 (2004)
The average time for women was 1:59:37 and the average age was 42.46
The men averaged 1:49:53 and the average age was 45.65
Both average ages are a record, in the last 25 years the average age of the field has increased by 11 years
Rickey Gates became the 5th person to break and hour with the 8th fastest time ever run.
Brandy Erholtz became the 4th person to break 1:11, running the 4th fastest time ever. Here winning margin (just under 9 minutes) was the 5th biggest and the largest since 1998.
6 state records were set (all by women) records for: AL, CO, GA, KY, RI, WA
18 single age records were set
George Etzweiler became the oldest finisher at age 89 (2:57:12)
Age group records were set in:
50-54 Craig Fram 66:58 (old record Sumner Brown 72:37)
60-64 William Dixon 82:28 (old record John Pelton 84:32)
65-69 Sumner Brown 94:36 (old record Gerald Barney 94:59)
75-79 Barbara Robinson 2:11:11 (old record Hildy Fosse 2:24:43)
80+ Hildy Fosse 2:39:47 (old record Louise Rossetti 2:48:52)

The only Team CR set was CMS 40+ running 5:53:06 (old record CMS 2008 – 5:55:17), the time was second only to the winning open CMS team


All-Time lists
Top Ten finishes
Men - Simon Gutierrez moves up to 6th on the all time list with 10 top 10’s
Women - Suzy West and Donna Smyers move into a tie for first with 8 top 10’s
Cathy Pearce moved into a tie for 6th with 6 top 10 finishes

Sub 1:20 women - Donna Smyers added to her lead with her 13th

Sub 1:10 Men - Dave Dunham moves into first with 17 sub 1:10’s
Eric Morse moves into 3rd with 15

Sub 1:05 - Simon Gutierrez moved into 2nd with 9
Eric Blake moved into a tie for 5th with 5

Sub 1:02 - Eric Blake moves into a tie for first with 4

Prize Money
207 People have won a total of $143,895
Craig Fram leads the list with $10,500
Dave Dunham has won the most times (19) with Eric Morse in second with 14.
Brandy Erholtz moved up to 5th most for women (14th overall)

Most single age records
Carrie Parsi continues to lead, holding 7 records
Sumner Brown and Barabar Robinson both moved into a tie for second with 6
Carlton Mendell and Simon Gutierrez moved into a tie for fourth with 5.


Teams
CMS 40+ was the only team to set a new record this year; however some excellent times were run.
The CMS open team ran the 17th all-time best, only CMS, BAA (2), GBTC (1) and GLRR (1) have run faster.

50+ GCS ran the 3rd fastest trailing only their own times from 2007 & 2008

40+ women, Narragansett ran the 5th fastest all-time
50+ women, the top 3 teams (WCRC, NMC & GCS) were within 1:57 ranking 3, 4, 6 all-time.

Age Groups
40+ Simon Gutierrez ran the 5th fastest ever
40+ women, Tara Cardi ran 9th fastest
50+ Craig Fram set a course record by 5:39 and Kevin Tuck ran the 4th fastest.
Reno Stirrat narrowly missed the age 55-59 record by 28 seconds.
50+ women, Donna Smyers ran the 4th fastest all-time, and Cathy Merra was 6th fastest.
60+ William Dixon set a course record by 2:04
70+ John Pelton ran the 3rd fastest all-time
70+ women, Carrie Parsi ran the 2nd fastest and Barbara Robinson ran the 7th fastest (and set a new CR in the 75-79 age group).
80+ Robert Hall ran the 2nd fastest all-time.
80+ women, Hildy Fosse set a new course record by 11:05

Most finishes
1 Keith Woodward 34 1973-2009
2 Frederick Ross 33 1976-2009
3 Gaetan Breton 31 1973-2008
4 Dianne Menard 30 1979-2009

Current streak
1 Frederick Ross 32 1976-2009
2t Ronald Johnston 28 1982-2009
2t Everett McBride 28 1982-2009
2t William Morse 28 1982-2009
2t Ron Paquette 28 1982-2008

I’ve never been a big fan of age grading especially when money is involved. It just doesn’t seem fair to hang out cash when you don’t even have the opportunity to compete head to head (you never know what 70 year old is running really fast 20 minutes behind you). I do enjoy looking at the results as a fun diversion. Personally the age grading for me is starting to catch up to the times I ran as an open runner….

TOP MALE AGE-GRADED MASTERS PERFORMANCES *
===== ========================= == =


1 Craig Fram 50- 1:06:58 = 59:10.3
2 Simon Gutierrez 43- 1:04:16 = 1:00:10.0
3 Francis Burdett 44- 1:06:39 = 1:01:53.3
4 Glen Guillemette 49 - 1:10:11 = 1:02:32.1
5 Kevin Tuck 53- 1:13:39 = 1:03:25.2
6 Eric Morse 44 - 1:08:34 = 1:03:40.6
7 Dave Dunham 45 - 1:09:22 = 1:03:53.6
8 Bob Evers 58 - 1:19:24 = 1:05:22.6
9 William Dixon 62 - 1:22:28 = 1:05:26.2
10 Sean Livingston 40 - 1:08:36 = 1:05:46.0

=========
1 Donna Smyers 51 - 1:28:01 = 1:14:54.2
2 Louise Voghel 54 - 1:31:38 = 1:14:59.2
3 Tara Cardi 40 - 1:19:52 = 1:16:41.7
4 Cathy Merra 50 - 1:29:22 = 1:17:01.5
5 Barbara Robinson 75 - 2:11:11 = 1:17:18.0
6 Carrie Parsi 70 - 2:01:04 = 1:17:58.0
7 Cathy Pearce 46 - 1:26:29 = 1:18:19.2
8 Lisa Goldsmith 44- 1:24:58 = 1:18:42.5
9 Rebecca Stockdale-Woolley 58 - 1:41:50 = 1:18:53.6
10 Carolyn Finch 52 - 1:34:41 = 1:19:32.7

FB @the awards ceremony, looking phit.

Mt W photos

Me and the "original" Dave Dunham (from Maine).


Cath and I took a bunch of photos this weekend:



http://s153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/davedunham/2009%20Mt%20Wash%20Dave/



http://s153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/davedunham/2009%20Mt%20Wash%20Cath/

Over 40 sub 1:10

Mt. Washington 40+ Sub 1:10 Men Thru 2009

1:01:34	2008	5	Simon	Gutierrez	CO	42
1:02:12	2005	4	Matt	Carpenter	CO	40
1:03:27	2003	2	Craig	Fram	NH	44
1:04:03	2007	3	Simon	Gutierrez	CO	41
1:04:06	2006	4	Simon	Gutierrez	CO	40
1:04:16	2009	5	Simon	Gutierrez	CO	43
1:04:29	2001	3	Craig	Fram	NH	42
1:04:38	2006	5	Eric	Morse	VT	41
1:04:57	1962	1	Fred	Norris		40
1:05:20	1993	5	Chuck	Smead	CO	41
1:05:26	2005	6	Eric	Morse	VT	40
1:05:42	1998	6	Tom	Borschel	ID	40
1:05:45	2008	10	Craig	Fram	NH	49
1:06:10	2004	6	Andy	Ames	CO	41
1:06:28	2006	8	Andy	Ames	CO	43
1:06:29	2008	14	Andy	Ames	CO	45
1:06:39	2009	10	Francis	Burdett	MA	44
1:06:56	2008	20	Eric	Morse	VT	43
1:06:58	2009	11	Craig	Fram	NH	50
1:07:16	1992	8	Chuck	Smead	CO	40
1:07:39	2008	24	Bill	Fanselow	CO	41
1:08:16	1992	11	Keith	Woodward	VT	41
1:08:29	2003	7	Bruce	Bridgham	ME	42
1:08:32	1991	10	Keith	Woodward	VT	40
1:08:34	2009	15	Eric	Morse	VT	44
1:08:36	2009	16	Sean	Livingston	RI	40
1:08:56	2007	8	Eric	Morse	VT	42
1:09:05	1995	14	Keith	Woodward	VT	44
1:09:08	2008	31	Dave	Dunham	MA	44
1:09:09	1993	15	Keith	Woodward	VT	42
1:09:14	2003	8	Daniel	Verrington	MA	40
1:09:18	2008	32	Henry	Scollard	MA	44
1:09:22	2009	20	Dave	Dunham	MA	45
1:09:23	2005	12	Dan	Verrington	MA	42
1:09:28	1991	14	Thomas	Carroll	MA	41
1:09:30	2006	17	Dave	Dunham	MA	42
1:09:52	1990	16	Thomas	Carroll	MA	40
1:09:54	1998	12	Bob	Hodge	MA	42

Only Craig Fram and Andy Ames have run under 1:10 at an older age than me. I consider that good company to be in!

Week ending 6-21-09

87 miles for the week, my best this year.....

M - Lunch 4 o/b alone, heel blister pretty sore - 28:20
PM o/b 8 at Winni alone - 55:11

T - Lunch 4 o/b alone - 27:53
Winni 8 alone - 52:47 (may be my fastest time ever) really felt good

W - Lunch 4 alone - 27:37
PM Winni 8 with jj & dan, felt tired - 56:32

Th - o/b 6 in Nottingham from the barn - 43:03
PM - After hiking Magalloway mountain with Cath did 3m run in Pittsburg NH (saw a moose) 24:41

F - 730am run in the Experimental Forest with Kevin T 65:01
Noon run alone at Atitash felt tired 22:34

Sat - 3 w/up with big group on trails nice and relaxed 23:28
Mt Washington road race 1:09:22 for 20th place and 5th 40+
Run down with George Z, Woody, Eric M, and DQ 1:06:03

Sun - 7 or so in the forest with jj, Brad, Jon H, Albee, DQ, and Francis 61:51
1 PM 4 o/b at Winni alone 29:32


Apologies to KT for being rude to him on the summit.

2009 Mt Washington

I kicked off the long weekend (for me) with an easy and wet 8m run with Kevin Tilton. It was rainy but not too bad and I found it funny how lousy I felt on even the smallest of hills. I guess it was nerves. That afternoon I hit the trails behind Atitash for a final run before the big race. The rain continued and I still felt less than great. I sold a couple of copies of my book at the Friday night talk and we had a nice dinner at the spaghetti shed. I had ½ of a lemon pie for desert while watching the sox game and called it a night by 10 PM.

Race day dawned a bit too sunny for my liking. It really looked to be another warm/humid race. Francis Burdett drove the Atitash group (plus Petey) and we were at the start before 9 AM. A big group of us (CMS and a few others including the Bryant’s and Bob Hodge) headed out on the gently rolling trails at the base of the mountain. I got in just under 24 minutes of running then changed into racing flats. My heel, which I’d blistered badly at Northfield, was very sore but I took Francis’s advice and just lubed it up like crazy. I did another mile of running including some strides and headed towards the line.

The final five minutes were nerve wracking; I just wanted to get going. I was all the way over on the right and there was a problem with a speaker that was potentially in the way. The cannon fired and it caught a few people, including Rickey Gates, off guard. He didn’t go by me for the first 30 seconds of the race. I went out reasonably hard and was surprised to see Brandy Erholtz a couple of steps up on me.

I tried to settle in and find a rhythm. It looked like I was in around 25th place as the real climb started. Eric Morse went by at about ¾ of a mile; I was hoping not many more would pass. Francis had been on my shoulder from the start and he made a move near the mile. I was surprised but figured he must have felt good. I didn’t want any masters going by but there wasn’t much I could do.

Right around that time I pulled away from Glen Guillemette and was also passed by Sean Livingston. Wow, that was early for Sean who always goes out conservatively and has very fast second halves. The mile split was 6:55 which was 1 second slower than last year, I had hoped to run faster this year but knew better than to panic this early. I focused on Sean and tried to use him to pull me along.

I split mile two in 8:44 which was 6 seconds slower than last year. It was humid but not particularly hot so I just wasn’t feeling great. I continued to trail Sean as we both caught Jim Johnson after 3 miles (9:05). Jim had been looking back quite a bit and gave Sean some words of encouragement as he passed. He told me he felt good at the pace he was running. I thought he stayed with me for a while but it turned out to be Brendan Callahan who I caught at 4m (9:09 split).

The half split was 32:59, which was promising. A sub-1:10 was still possible. Callahan would be the last person I would pass and soon after we hit dense fog. I could barely see Sean 10-15 seconds up, but tried to look where he went to run the tangents.
The fifth mile was totally socked in and my 9:55 was the slowest split of the day (that is typically the slowest mile). I kept doing the math and knew sub-1:10 was going to be close. At 6 miles 9:41 split) I could still see Sean and sometimes I could see Eric Morse not far ahead of him.

We all came out in a different world at 7 miles when we emerged into bright sunlight. I was surprised o see a line of guys in front of me, well it was the first time you could see ahead and I could see the 10 guys spread out then a dense wall of fog. I hit 7 with a 9:34 split and an overall time of 63:03 and knew that barring a complete disaster sub 1:10 was possible. I kept pushing, and as we got out of the fog could see the summit building. I took a final look at my watch at the base of the wall 9knowing it would take under a minute) to reassure myself I had a shot.

I hit the line in 1:09:22 and almost bowled over Kevin T as I weaved to the summit. Jason Bryant joined me and we met up with Francis on the very top to enjoy a moment (albeit a wobbly one for me) at the summit post. The undercast made for a unique view that we enjoyed for a bit.

I shot a quick video (sorry Kevin, I was a bit flip) and then George Z, Woody, Eric, DQ and I headed out for a warm-down. It really was down as we ran back down the course (in 66:03).

I’ll post some Mt W “numbers behind the results” over the next couple of days.

Pic: Francis patiently waits stragglers (me and Jason B)

Magalloway vid

Here is a video I from the final fire tower in NH.

Fire towers - New Hampshire

Cath and I journeyed up to Pittsburg, NH a couple of days before the Mt Washington Road Race so that I could bag the 15th (and final) active standing fire tower in NH. Cath got her 5th tower which qualifies her for a fire tower patch.

Here are the 15 towers (plus Croydon which is not listed as it is on private property) and the dates I climbed them.

Croydon - 5-11-08

Belknap - 11-12-07

Blue Job - 10-13-01

Cardigan - 5-02-08

Federal Hill - 10-08-07

Green - 02-09-08

Kearsarge - 05-09-98

Magalloway - 06-18-09

Milan - 11-21-08

Pack Monadnock - 05-31-92

Oak Hill - 11-09-07

Pawtuckaway - 10-26-93

Pitcher - 05-21-08

Prospect - 06-19-08

Red Hill - 01-26-08

Warner Hill - 09-29-07

Week ending 06-14-09

Not a bad week, took it pretty easy and still got 75 miles. Got some bad heel blisters from the Inov-8s and I'm still a bit sore from Northfield. Next up Mt Washington.

M - Lunch run 4 felt surprisingly good 2641
PM 6 at Winni with JJ 4225

T - Lunch 4 with Jack 3216
PM Winni 6 after cortisone shot in shoulder - 3950

W - 4am Ind Park 6 4358
Lunch 4 feeling good 2658

Thur - Lunch 3 w jack 2342
PM o/b 8 @ Winni with JJ and Trisha 5640

F - 3 @ 530 am on treadmill at work 2105
noon 6.5 m setting course at Northfield (1:33) then another 1.5 m with Strides 11:00

S - 3 wup at NF 2341 then 1m with strides
10th place 39:30 2nd in the 40+
3 warmdown at noon with Trisha

Sun - rainy 10m o/b on the Freeman rail trail 75:10 with big CMS group (then out to brunch).

Northfield Mountain

I headed out to Northfield on Friday and got the course set up in about 1.5 hours. I was on my own so it took a bit longer, but the bugs weren't too bad and the rain had stopped so it wasn't that bad. I put out about 400 flags and puts some additional arrows out at some of the trickier spots, I also placed mile markers at the traditional locations. It is not a road race but I like the miles to be fairly close to the same spot if for no other reason than to compare from year to year.

Al and Diana caught me with about 1.5 miles to go and they assisted me in flagging the last part of the course and then setting up registration. We headed off for Brattleboro and had a quick swim then the traditional (for me) pre-race dinner of Pizza and Cheesy bread.

Heading into the NF parking lot I was surprised to see so many vehicles 1:30 before race time and a full 30 minutes before registration was slated to begin. The DRC crew had everything in hand and along with Al, Diana, Trisha and Chrissy we had registration going smoothly. So smoothly that I got in a normal warm-up of 3 miles with Tim Mahoney, Eric Morse, and others who joined us at various points along the way. The day was warming up but it wasn't nearly as warm or humid as last year. I felt pretty flat but not terrible.

A quick change into my new Inov-8 shoes and my recently re-colored singlet and I was off for some strides. I gave a few instructions and off we went. I was in the top 10 right away and quickly settled in. I was hoping to keep Jim Pawlicki and Tim M close and also wanted to beat Tim Van Orden to the summit. I figured all of them would bury me on the down so I tried to work hard in the early going. By the mile (5:47) Jim and Tim M were pulling away and TiVO and I were running side-by-side. I could see Justin Fyffe up front with Josh Ferenc and then a line of guys trailing them.

Between 1 and 2 miles Allan Serano began to gap me, I wanted to stay with him as he is a 40+ runner and he beat me by a couple of seconds at Wachusett. TiVO also gapped me by a couple of steps on the tough climb up the "Chute" the steepest section of the course. I closed the gap at 2 miles (12:20) and passed TiVO soon after. I knew I really needed some distance on him before the top and pushed as hard as I could. This course is just a bit too fast for my liking. I hit three miles (19:57) alone and kept my head up looking to reel in Serano and Tim M. On the long straights I could see Jim Pawlicki and Todd Callaghan pulling away.

The out-back section near the summit gives a great opportunity to check out the competition. Serano was a step or two behind Tim and I was 15 seconds back. I tried my best to air it out on the down hill. I hit four miles in 26:59 and was 12 seconds behind Serano. I felt like I was closing the gap, especially on the steeper sections. Mostly I was worried that at any second TiVO would come flying by. I hit 5 miles in 32:29 as I drew even with Serano. I was pinwheeling my arms like mad on the steep downs trying to not run completely out of control. From 5-6 I could hear Serano behind me but now I was focusing on Tim. He never really came back and I think may have run the last 1.5 quite a bit quicker than I did. Six miles was passed in 37:24 and I hit the finish in 10th place running 39:30.

Ferenc won by 39 seconds running the 5th fastest time ever at Northfield. Justin ran a solid 37:05 for second. Eric Morse was top 40+ in 37:35 breaking TiVO's CR from 2008 by 49 seconds. I took 2nd in the 40+ but came up 8 seconds slower than last year. Abby Mahoney ran the third fastest time ever taking the women's title in 43:42.

Complete results at: http://www.coolrunning.com/results/09/ma/Jun13_Northf_set1.shtml

My splits:
2009
547
633
737
702
530
455
206

2008
544
634
737
655
530
458
204

PW

Since I posted my personal bests (records) or PR’s, I thought I’d also post my PW’s or personal worsts. I took out mountain, trail, snowshoe, XC which are inherently slower and rarely would be run to produce a PR. A few times I took out races that I truly entered as a workout. For example “back in the day” I ran with 5 guys at the Lowell marathon in 2:58. I would take a 2:58 now, but at that time it really was a workout. Instead what I have below are attempts to run well that did not turn out as hoped. I also left a few in, as they are pretty fast PW’s! On a few I listed “excuses”. I separated the list by Open (age 14-39) and Master (40+). The 40+ is kind of funny as some of the times were 40+ PR’s at the time they were run. Of course the sample size is much smaller as I’m only in my sixth year as a master and have only raced 225 times since turning 40.

Open PW’s
Mile 5:28 5/09/79 Billerica, MA 6th place in dual meet vs. Austin Prep.
3,000m 8:44.5 1/05/96 Hanover, NH 1st place at Dartmouth Relays in my 2nd race of day
2 mile 11:47 4/11/79 Lawrence, MA 3rd place in a dual meet vs. Central
5 km 20:56 4/28/93 Fitchburg, MA 8th pl ran to get 26 of the 52 week series races
8 km 25:32 11/26/92 Andover, MA 3rd pl at the Feaster five, as a tempo run, XC nationals 2 days later
5 mile 28:57 4/19/98 Dover, NH 17th pl at Red shoe barn. Ran cautiously, 1st race after 6 mos of injury.
10 km 34:31 4/29/01 Groton, MA Second 10km of the day and third race in 2 days.
12 km 40:32 5/18/02 Bedford, NH 5th place in rain/Snow, alone from 1m felt tired
15 km 50:53 11/23/80 Lowell, MA 10th place, cramped badly at 6m.
10 mile 57:57 12/09/00 Norfolk, CT 1st place, Norfolk Pub (CR) 20 degrees, windy, snowy, bad footing
20 km 6/29/03 1:16:38 Bedford, NH 48th place USATF NE 20K champs the day after Ascutney
½ mar 1:15:16 10/06/01 Hollis, NH 2nd place at Applefest, no gas felt awful
30 km 1:48:34 3/04/01 Clinton, MA 1st place at Stu's, cold windy ran with Beck
Marathon 2:43:31 9/30/00 Bristol, NH 1st place NH Marathon six days after Clarence Demar marathon

40+ PW’s
Mile 4:59.2 12/22/07 Boston, MA 11th pl at BU Mini Meet, it was also a 40+ PR.
3,000m 10:01.1 12/20/08 Boston, MA 16th pl at BU mini meet
2 mile 10:40 7/04/06 Chelmsford, MA 22nd pl at Carson Memorial held off the first woman
5 km 18:53 3/26/05 Gilmanton, NH 8th pl at Gilmanton 5k Better than expected, hilly course
8 km 28:13 7/21/07 Concord, NH 16th pl at Bill Luiti, it was also a 40+ PR at the time.
5 mile 28:49 2/14/09 Haverhill, MA 9th pl at Bradford Valentines, some tough miles uphill into wind.
10 km 36:05 8/09/08 Shelburne, MA 59th pl at Bridge of Flowers (USATF GP).
15 km 56:34 2/01/09 Lynn, MA 22nd pl at Stew Chase. Ran out of gas last 1.3 miles, raced the day before.
10 mile 59:56 2/22/09 Amherst, MA 77th pl at DH Jones USATF NE champs
½ mar 1:18:22 3/19/06 New Bedford, MA 95th pl at NE champs buried in last 5k lost 20+ places
Marathon 2:50:19 10/31/04 Falmouth, MA 18th pl NE champs Aiming for 7's felt good running 6:30's

Week Ending 06-07-09

I lowered my mileage a bit this week, aiming to run fast at Rhody.


Mon - Lunch run 4 o/b 27:34
PM Bird Sanctuary 6 with Dan and double-j 42:23


Tues - Lunch run 3m on treadmill 21:05
PM o/b 8m at Winni with double-j. Broke in my INOV-8 shoes which gave me heel blisters 56:08


Wed - Lunch run 4m o/b 27:39
PM track w/o with Dan, Albee, and Diana. 3 wump, 3 wdwn, 3x1km with 600 rest in 317/316/314. total time 56:34


Thurs - Lunch 3m on treadmill 21:05
PM 8m o/b at Winnin with double-j 56:09


Fri - Lunch 4 alone 27:42
PM 6 m Winni loop with Dan, double-j, and ken Tripp 42:26


Sat - 20 min with Dan into 56 with Petey on the Bruce Freeman rail trail


Sunday - 3 wup at Rhody then 16:30 5km and 4m w/dwn


Total for the week = 74
Month = 74
Year = 1,725


Picture of CMS group warm-down at Rhody (from Scott Mason)

USATF NE 5km champs - Rhody

I don't like 5km races, too darned short and no time to really settle in....but you gotta race all distances if you want to be an Iron-runner. I've never made it to all seven races so I'm crossing my fingers that I'll stay healthy. Only three more to go!


Dan picked me up and the 1:30 drive went by quickly with lively discussions of races past and future. We met up with a big CMS contingent and headed out onto the course for a warm-up. This course is very boring and very exposed, basically looping through the parking lot at the Twin River dog track in Lincoln RI. We did our standard 3 mile warm-up then I put in another mile with some strides (joined by WRT legend Craig Fram). I was not feeling very good, I had a bout of carsickness on the ride down and was still feeling queasy. Mostly I think it was just nerves as I was very nervous about racing 5km.


The start line is very tight at Rhody only about 1/2 a road wide. It is kind of funny as the road is very wide after the start but they funnel us all in to get under the start banner. I lined up about 3 or 4 rows from the front and could not believe how hard my heart was pounding in the last minute leading up to the race. Usually I get into a zone and just relax on the line, today I felt like I'd never raced before and just couldn't wait for the gun to go off.


Finally we were gone and I was steadily passed by people in the first 1/2 mile. I was having trouble gauging how I was doing early on as it seemed quick but a boatload of folks were streaming by. I was aiming for 5:10 at the mile then hoping for 5:20 & 5:20 which would bring me home right around my 40+ PR (16:27). I hit the mile in 5:13 and was working pretty hard. Terry McNatt (who ran most of the 12km champs with me) went by just after the mile. I tried to focus on going with him as I know he has better leg speed than me. I kept looking ahead as well, trying to reel in Dan V and Tim Mahoney and also trying to keep TiVO in sight.


The second mile at Rhody is always tough as it is kind of lonely out there and it is just a long gently curving (and maybe slightly uphill) and full exposed section. Last year I was completely alone during most of this mile, this year I had people all around me. I caught Dan and Tim M at about 1.5 miles and stuck with Terry as we passed the 2m mark in 10:35 (5:22). I was wheezing a bit and feeling rough.


It seemed like just after 2 miles a few guys pulled by and some others pulled away, but I also closed a little on TiVO and tried to keep Terry close. I just kept thinking "hold on" and kept looking for the starting line which would mark about 500m to go in the race. I knew that I wouldn't be outkicking anyone as I was full-out so I did my best to move in the last 1/2 mile. Mike Platt (Whirlaway) went by in the last 1/2 and I could not respond. I hit the three-mile mark in 15:55 (5:20) and dug down for whatever was left.


I didn't have much left, and actually almost tripped on the final turn/uphill onto the track. I bumped into Joe Lemay as we both tried to cut the tangent. I think he may have thrown an elbow at me, but it went way over my head (he is about a foot taller than me). The 100m on the dog track was over before it started and I crossed the line wheezing in 16:30.


All in all it was a decent run for me. I was a little bummed about missing my 40+ PR, but I did run my fastest time of the year, taking 5 seconds off my track time from earlier this season. I also felt I ran agressively, racing it more than worrying about hitting any particular time.


We finished out the day with another big warm-down with about 10 guys looping around the parking lots and checking out the women's race.

Checking out the results, we really lucked out that Kevin Connor came and gave us a full five man team. That got us second place!

MALE MASTERS TEAM RESULTS
1. WHIRLAWAY RACING TEAM
15:39 16:05 16:10 16:12 16:26 ( 17:14) ( 17:16) = 1:20:32
Sean Livingston, Craig Fram, Scott Anderson, Mike Cooney, Mike Platt
2. CENTRAL MASS STRIDERS
16:04 16:26 16:30 17:04 17:38 ( 19:56) ( 20:06) = 1:23:42
Joe Shairs, Tim Van Orden, Dave Dunham, Dan Verrington, Kevin Connor
3. GREATER LOWELL ROAD RUNNERS
15:46 16:34 17:09 17:22 17:48 ( 18:15) ( 18:50) = 1:24:39
Tom Doody, Mark Reeder, David Oliver, John Barbour, Tom Offenbacher

Top masters
1 1 M4049 14:46* 4:46 Joseph Koech 40 M 449 Melrose MA
2 2 M4049 15:39* 5:02 Sean Livingston 40 M 341 Barrington RI
3 3 M4049 15:46* 5:05 Tom Doody 47 M 133 Pelham NH
4 4 M4049 15:54* 5:07 Titus Mutinda 45 M 450 Lowell MA
5 5 M4049 15:56 5:08 Joshua Brown 41 M 462 Burlington VT
6 6 M4049 15:57 5:08 Jonathan Fortescue 41 M 334 Wellesley MA
7 7 M4049 16:04 5:10 Joe Shairs 41 M 363 Peabody MA
8 1 M5059 16:05* 5:11 Craig Fram 50 M 338 Plaistow NH
9 8 M4049 16:10 5:13 Scott Anderson 44 M 336 New Bedford MA
10 9 M4049 16:12* 5:13 Mike Cooney 47 M 335 Chelmsford MA
10 45 16:13* Henry Scollard 45 M 325 Cambridge MA
52 11/123 M4049 16:24 5:17 Wayne Levy 43 M 145 Waban MA
53 12/123 M4049 16:24 5:17 Terry McNatt 44 M 110 Needham MA
54 13/123 M4049 16:26* 5:18 Mike Platt 47 M 340 Needham MA
55 14/123 M4049 16:26 5:18 Tim Van Orden 41 M 405 Bennington VT
59 15/123 M4049 16:29 5:19 Joe Lemay 43 M 165 Danbury CT
60 16/123 M4049 16:30* 5:19 Dave Dunham 45 M 369 Bradford MA

Rhody

I'm pretty anxious for Rhody.....

I don't really like 5km's, it just seems like an all out sprint. I like longer races when you get to find a rythm.

Anyway, I'm hoping for a 40+ PR tomorrow and I'm going to go out for it (5:10) and see what happens. If you don't give it a shot you never know.

Good luck to everyone racing in the USATF NE champs tomorrow!

Track

I hit the track yesterday with Dan, Albee, and Diana. We all did the same workout - 3x1,000m at 5km race pace. It seemed to go well for all of us, so hopefully the transition from mountain racing to 5km racing will go smoothly.

2m warm-up

1m on track doing strides

3x1,000 with 600 rest

3:17.1

3:16.1

3:14.9

3 warm-down

picture of albee heading to Harney peak in SD

May 2009

I got 361 miles for May which is the most I've hit since getting injured back in August of 2008. I had weeks of 87, 80, 78, 80, and 85. The final day of May was also my biggest mileage day of the year with 18 miles. It has been 133 since I last missed a day, the only day I've missed so far this year. Right now I'm about 200 miles behind where I was last year but I think I'm in pretty decent shape. I'm doing less mileage but running at a fast pace.


So far this year I've raced 26 times. Results from May:
Bear 3m trail race - 1st 17:09
USATF 12km champs - 46th 41:45 (13th - 40+)
Wachusett mountain - 9th 33:35 (3rd - 40+)
Trav's 3m XC race - 9th 16:43 (2nd - 40+)
Pack Monadnock mountain - 9th 67:36 (1st - 40+)

High point of the month: Summit of

Harney Peak SD - 7,242'

Week ending 05-31-09

Mon – 5am Industrial park 6 – 46:38 sore from racing twice over the weekend.
11am 3m run on Cuttyhunk Island with Cathy – 35:12

Tues – 2m (13:33) on Treadmill at lunch right into 4 mi on road with Jack total 44:06
PM at Dan’s work, Bird Sanctuary 6 with Dan and Greg P – 43:54

Wed – Lunch run o/b 6 in 42:34 hands frozen, rain and 45 degrees
PM at Dan’s work, Bird Sanctuary 6 with Dan and double-j – 41:22

Thur – Out at 11am to get my rotator cuff PT. 1pm 2m on my own then 10 with double-j looping Winni, total 86:36.

Fri – lunch run 6 on treadmill sped up every 1 minute to sub 6 pace – 39:58
PM Winni 6 with Ken T – 42:40

Sat – Winni loop from Dan’s house – 76:05

Sun – 3 w/up – 22:55, 10 mile race up Pack 67:36, 1.5 down the mountain to the car 13:41, then another 3m up and down Temple mountain on the Wapack trail 31:12. Picture above of the winning 40+ at Pack Monadnock (Tim Van Orden, Dave Quintal, dd).

Total for the week = 85
Month = 361
Year = 1,651
Life = 105,762