Favorite races

Last Saturday I ran the Wachusett Mountain race for the 15th time.  Pic by Krissy above.  I really enjoy this race although the new trail version is not really suited to my strenghts (too much downhill on single-track).

Picture above is from the 1999 race where Eric Morse set the still standing course record (24:18).  Richard Bolt and I had a battle with me just edging him 24:32 to 24:34.  The next day I ran 24:39 in Kennebunk taking the win over Chris Teague.

Here are the races I've done the most:

Rank	Info	Dist.	Type	Dates	No.	Best Place	Worst Place	# of wins	Best time	Worst Time
1	Mt Washington	7.60	Mtn	1988-2009	20	1	31	3	1:00:37	1:10:40
2	Wachusett Mountain	4.30	Mtn	1995-2009	14	1	11	3	0:24:37	0:28:20
3	Pack Monadnock	10.00	Mtn	1992-2009	12	1	9	3	0:59:13	1:11:43
4t	Merrimack river trail	10.00	Trail	1995-2008	10	1	12	3	0:56:42	1:06:19
4t	Newburyport	10.00	Road	1985-2008	10	2	80	0	0:50:10	0:59:29
4t	Rotary race	7.45	Road	1994-2009	10	1	46	2	0:36:59	0:41:55
7t	Carson Memorial	2.00	Road	1984-2006	9	1	22	5	0:09:20	0:10:40
7t	Mt Kearsarge	5.00	Mtn	1995-2005	9	1	10	3	0:51:23	1:01:31
9t	New Bedford 13.1	13.11	Road	1990-2009	8	1	243	1	1:05:02	1:27:46
9t	Stu's 30K	18.63	Road	1988-2001	8	1	5	5	1:37:54	1:48:34

Week Ending 05-30

A few tests this week.  Slowly upped the mileage and tried out the foot with some "faster" running in the Danvers 5k.  Also tested my foot on some rougher terrain, running hard on the uphill parts at Wachusett Mountain.

M - Lunch run 3: 20:02, PM River o/b 4: 28:37
T - Ind Park 4 @ 5am: 29:20, Lunch run 3: 20:22
W - 5am Petey's rail trail run 53:30, Lunch run 3: 21:04, 6:30 PM Danvers warm-up on the course then 5k (3.14) in 18:10. 1m warm-down.
Th - lunch run 3: 21:33 (ankles pretty sore), PM Winni 5m 38:32
F - Lunch 3: 21:25, PM Winni 5 with Dan, Ken, and JJ: 36:58
Sat - Warm-up marking the course at Wachusett.  Ran the race with Paul K for the first 2m then on my own. 36:03.
Sun - Winni 5m @ 7am with TiVO, Dan, and Mark B: 39:40

Total for the week = 60m
Month 144
Year 761
Life 108,132

2010 Mt Washington predictions - Women

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Rank	First	Last	Prediction	Age	Team
1	Brandy	Erholtz	sub 115	32	NB Outdoor
2	Nicole	Hunt	sub 115	40	Saucony
3	Megan	Kimmel	sub 115	30
4	Laura	Haefeli	sub 120	42	Fleet Feet
5	Megan	Lund	sub 120	26	Adidas
6	Christine	Lundy	sub 120	39
7	Kristin	Price	sub 120	28	Brooks
8	Amber	Moran	sub 120	31	INOV8
9	Shewarge	Amare	sub 120	23	West Side RR
10	Rachael	Cuellar	sub 120	28
11	Camille	Herron	sub 120	28	Brooks
12	Sara	Donahue	sub 120	29	GBTC
13	Liza	Grudzinski	sub 120	30	RIADHA
14	Caitlin	Smith	sub 120	29
15	Lisa	Goldsmith	sub 120	45
16	Tara	Cardi	sub 120	41	Narra
17	Jennifer	Campbell	sub 120	27
18	Alison	Bryant	sub 125	31
19	Scarlett	Graham	sub 125	24	GBTC
20	Liz	Turner	sub 125	25	NBB
21	Christin	Doneski	sub 125	39	GSRT
22	Tara	Wommack	sub 125	27	GBTC
23	Gina	Lucrezi	sub 125	27	Inov-8
24	Julie	Peterson-Menosky	sub 125	50	TG
25	Abby	Mahoney	sub 130	32	CMS
26	Dawn	Roberts	sub 130	38	GSH
27	Rachel	Cieslewicz	sub 130	30	Newton
28	Cathy	Pearce	sub 130	47	WRT
29	Kelli	Lusk	sub 130	40
30	Suzy	West	sub 130	47	CSU
31	Bonnie	Ritchotte	sub 130	37	GCS
32	Michelle	Weiler	sub 130	42	GVH
33	Carry	Buterbaugh	sub 130	38	MTC
34	Amanda	Brewster	sub 130	29	CRC
35	Mary	Churchill	sub 130	34
36	Ann	Rasmussen	sub 130	46	GSRT
37	Jacqueline	Shakar	sub 130	50	CMS
38	Pam	Moore	sub 130	46
39	Karen	Encarnacion	sub 130	44	SRR
40	Jaime	Falcon	sub 130	32
41	Amber	Ferreira	sub 130	28	GCS
42	Becky	Hutchinson	sub 130	28	CRC
43	Jen	Malik	sub 130	31	GVH
44	Jennifer	McHale	sub 130	31
45	Heather	Searles	sub 130	27	GSRT
46	Sara	Wagner	sub 130	38	Salomon

2010 Mt Washington Ranking

In a typical year on 23 men run under 1:15 and 10 women run under 1:30. The highest totals for each are from 2008 (the last year the race was the US championship) when 53 men broke 1:15 and 25 women broke 1:30.

I’m predicting 85 men and 47 women to break 1:15 and 1:30 respectively. If this happens it will be a huge record by each group.

Predicting results is a tricky thing, especially in a year like this with it not only being the 50th and the US championship but also being the ONLY qualifier for the US team. There has to be a record number of people running who have great road times but are untested on the mountain. These people are the bane of anyone trying to handicap the race. A 2:14 marathon might well run under an hour, then again he might step off the course at 2 miles. Nothing indicates success on the Mountain better than previous results on the Mountain. Of course all of this also assumes “normal” weather on race day (whatever that might mean).

So here are my rankings based on previous results, current form (if I could figure that out), and plain and simple educated guesses. To anyone who doesn’t like their rank, I say “make up your own rankings”.

Rank	First	Last	Prediction	Age	City	St
1	Joseph	Gray	sub 102	26	Lakewood	WA
2	Rickey	Gates	sub 102	29	woody creek	CO
3	Eric	Blake	sub 102	31	New Britain	CT
4	Jeffrey	Eggleston	sub 102	25	Greece	NY
5	Max	King	sub 102	30	Bend	OR
6	Zachary	Freudenburg	sub 105	31	st louis	MO
7	Matthew	Byrne	sub 105	35	Scranton	PA
8	Kevin	Tilton	sub 105	28	N conway	NH
9	Luke	Watson	sub 105	29	State College	PA
10	Justin	Fyffe	sub 105	30	E Dumemrston	VT
11	Jim	Johnson	sub 105	33	Salem	NH
12	Tommy	Manning	sub 110	34	colorado springs	CO
13	Joel	Bourgeois	sub 110	39	Grand-digue	NB
14	Jason	Bryant	sub 110	37	Elkin	NC
15	Matt	Russell	sub 110	27	Wells	ME
16	Francis	Burdett	sub 110	45	Worcester	MA
17	Daniel	Princic	sub 110	30	Reading	MA
18	Alex	Nichols	sub 110	25	Colorado Springs	CO
19	Andy	Ames	sub 110	47	Boulder	CO
20	Eric	Morse	sub 110	45	Berlin	VT
21	Daniel	Hocking	sub 110	30	Dover	NH
22	Shiloh	Mielke	sub 110	30	Weaverville	NC
23	Timmy	Parr	sub 110	28	Gunnison	CO
24	Scott	Rowe	sub 110	35	Dover	NH
25	John	Tribbia	sub 110	28	Boulder	CO
26	Ben	Nephew	sub 110	34	Mansfield	MA
27	Sean	Livingston	sub 110	41	Barrington	RI
28	Brendon	Mahoney	sub 110	30	San Francisco	CA
29	Andy	McCarron	sub 110	27	Keene	NH
30	Matthew	Clark	sub 110	27	Amherst	MA
31	Justin	Freeman	sub 110	33	New Hamton	NH
32	Chris	Lundstrom	sub 110	34	Minneapolis	MN
33	Chris	Siemers	sub 110	29	Arvada	CO
34	Michael	Smith	sub 110	30	Flagstaff	AZ
35	Richard	Bolt	sub 110	39	Portland	OR
36	Jared	Scott	sub 110	27	Flagstaff	AZ
37	Matthew	Haringa	sub 115	26	Brighton	MA
38	Kristopher	Houghton	sub 110	29	Albuquerque	NM
39	Ryan	Hafer	sub 110	24	colorado springs	CO
40	Tyler	McCandless	sub 110	23	State Coll	PA
41	Joseph	Navas	sub 110	39	N Eastham	MA
42	Mike	Quintal	sub 110	32	N Andover	MA
43	David	Bedoya	sub 115	33	Somerville	MA
44	Peter	Maksimow	sub 115	31	manitou springs	CO
45	Patric	Ard	sub 115	26	Raymond	NH
46	Andrew	Wommack	sub 115	26	jamaica plain	MA
47	Patrick	Rich	sub 115	33	S hamilton	MA
48	Ryan	Aschbrenner	sub 115	32	Waltham	MA
49	Dan	Verrington	sub 115	47	Bradford	MA
50	Henry	Scollard	sub 115	46	Cambridge	MA
51	Tim	Van Orden	sub 115	42	Bennington	VT
52	Scott	Simmons	sub 115	38	Durango	CO
53	Fergus	Cullen	sub 115	38	Dover	NH
54	David	Herr	sub 115	45	Canaan	VT
55	James	Pawlicki	sub 115	35	Beverly	MA
56	Edward	Breen	sub 115	28	Medford	MA
57	David	Quintal	sub 115	47	Salem	NH
58	Nicolas	Menzies	sub 115	31	Jamaica Plain	MA
59	Kevin	Tuck	sub 115	54	salt lake city	UT
60	Michael	Woodman	sub 115	44	Timonium	MD
61	Chad	Carr	sub 115	34	Cambridge	MA
62	Tomoaki	Uchiki	sub 115	36	jamaica plain	MA
63	Malcolm	Campbell	sub 115	39	Marietta	GA
64	Jordan	Zwick	sub 115	24	Rochester	NY
65	Rich	Marion	sub 115	48	Templeton	MA
66	Tristan	Colangelo	sub 115	28	Boston	MA
67	Kris	Freeman	sub 115	29	Thornton	NH
68	Ernest	Brake	sub 115	48	N Sutton	NH
69	Matt	Schadow	sub 115	31	Minnetonka	MN
70	Dewey	Peacock	sub 115	30	Bozeman	MT
71	Thomas	Brown	sub 115	24	Boston	MA
72	Todd	Callaghan	sub 115	40	Somerville	MA
73	Martin	Tighe	sub 115	52	Providence	RI
74	Robert	Espinosa	sub 115	26	Boston	MA
75	Michael	Guarascio	sub 115	26	boston	MA
76	Paul	Petersen	sub 115	18	Broomfield	CO
77	Tim	Mahoney	sub 115	30	Holyoke	MA
78	Chris	Mahoney	sub 115	32	Haverhill	MA
79	Rod	Viens	sub 115	42	Grantham	NH
80	Robert	Jackman	sub 115	28	Warwick	RI
81	Chris	Lowe	sub 115	28	Allston	MA
82	Mark	Rybinski	sub 115	55	Manlius	NY

Week Ending 05-23-10

Above - View from Mt Olga fire tower

Progress? 

M - 5am 5m with Petey on Rail trail - 44:51, Lunch run 3 - 20:25, PM bike :30
T - am bike :30, Lunch run 3 - 20:14, PM workout on treadmill at PT: Warm-up, 1m @6:00, Warm-down
W - am bike 1:00, Lunch run 3 - 20:30, PM Winnekenni 5m with JJ - 35:59
Th - am bike :30, Lunch run 3 - 20:31, PM 4m on trail - 34:23
F - 3m up/down and around Mt Olga - 28:38, PM 2:10 hike setting Northfield...then 5.3m running it 62:14.
S - 5.3 m sweeping course and picking up flagging 1:25:45
S - am bike :30, am Winnekenni 5m with DQ & MQ - 39:40

Totals:
Week = 47 miles run & 3:00 bike
Month 84
Year 701
Life 108,072

History - May gone by

Looking back:
30 years ago – I raced nine times as I neared the end of my Sophomore year at Billerica memorial high.

The highlight was probably getting a victory at the Freshman/Sophomore championships in the 2 mile. I held off Steve Perkins (Danvers?) and Fernando Braz (yes we raced many times over the years) to win in 9:47. Although taking third in the mile at the Billerica/Chelmsford dual meet.The low point of the month was finishing 3rd in the half running 2:08 at Austin Prep (they had a funky 5-laps to the mile track).

25 years ago – Just one race and I finished a disappointing 7th (missing All-American by one place) at the NCAA championships in Los Angeles running 30:16. Chambo and I spent a week out in CA “recovering”.


20 years ago – I only raced twice during this month.


05-06-90 – Took third place in the New England 10m championships in Worcester. The late Larry Olsen took the race out in 4:42. Chris Schille won in 49:34 and I was 20+ seconds back just sneaking under 50 in 49:58.

05-19-90 – I picked up $300 taking second place at the Pepsi Police chase in Nashua NH. I ran in a pack of five for 5 miles then kicked like mad to run 30:06. Joe Rocha won in 29:53.

15 years ago –

05-07-95 – Finished second to Scott Bagley at the CMHC 10 mile in Worcester picking up $1,000 for my 50:45.

05-13-95 – Went to the US 25km National champs in Grand Rapids, it was a fun trip. I ended up 13th in 1:20:44. 3 mile splits = 15:20, 15:23, 15:30, 15:57, 15:50

05-21-95 – Tried to double at the Bedford Rotary 5k/12k. Ran 15:08 to take second behind Byrne Decker in the 5k, he buried me in the first mile. Then sat with the pack in the 12k and kicked like mad for the win in 40:22.

05-27-95 – Finished the month with a win and course record at Wachusett mountain – 24:37

10 years ago – 2000 was just about the end of me running “decent”. I had a pretty good May with the highpoint being a 5th place finish at the 12k NE championships.


05-06-00 Finished in third place at Mt Kearsarge, behind Morse’s near course record 51:22 and Fram’s excellent 40+ time of 52:31. I ran 53:08.

05-14-00 Finished in fourth behind Dan, Mike O’Brien and Eric B in 15:35 at the Kittery Outlet race. I think this was an out/back to a cone in the road.

05-20-00 Finished fifth at the USATF 12km championships in Bedford running a 38:13.

05-27-00 Finished out the month with a second place finish 35 seconds behind Eric Morse (24:32) in 25:17 at Wachusett Mountain.

5 years ago – I had a pretty weird May with six races and four 40+ PRs. I did some odd distance races which accounts for the PR’s when I was sick a good part of the month with a sinus infection.

05-03-05 I beat 8 people to take the win at the Felton Frolic trail race which was hosted by Petey (at noon). I ran 16:03 over 2.85 miles to beat Ken Tripp by a little over a minute.

05-07-05 I got “girled” by some Providence College lady who broke the women’s CR. The race was held up for a while as part of the course was blocked by a fallen tree. It was incredible windy. Somehow I ended up winning $50 despite finishing in 8th place.

05-14-05 I felt awful running the Prospect mountain race at Lake George. Teammate Richard Bolt took the win, beating me by over three minutes.

05-22-05 The final year of one of my favorite Mountain races. I took 10th place overall at the Kearsarge hill climb. Kevin Tilton beat me by nearly 10 minutes.

05-28-05 Another week and another 10th place finish, this time at Wachusett Mountain. Paul Low won in 25:30, beating me by nearly 3 minutes.

05-29-05 I showed up at Trav’s trail run and somehow forgot to bring racing flats! I borrowed a pair of 9.5 (I wear 8.5) and still had a decent run finishing 14th in 16:58.

Course records still out there - May

I have two records set in May of years gone by...

My CMS series record of 14:40 just passed 17 years on the books this week. They run the same loop, however they no longer finish in the parking lot. A couple of years they started keeping "new" course records so I guess this one should be retired. It is still the fastest time ever run at a CMS 52 week series race.

The Bear 3 mile XC race course record from last year (picture below), held up. Rich Marion would have broken it had he stayed on course. Part of trail racing is staying on course (heck, it is also part of road running). Bummer because Rich was a minute up on the chase pack.

On the subject of records...I hear that the course at Lynn woods is changing after 40 years. That will be one that I'll be sad to lose. Also, congratulations to Ruben Sanca who smashed my U-Lowell School record with a great 14:05 at the Mt Sac relays in April. My record had held up for 23 years which is how old Ruben is. Couldn't have gone to a nicer guy!

Week ending 05-16-10

Left - Eric Morse Harwood Union Hall of Fame
Week ending 05-16-10


M - AM bike 1:00, lunch run 4m on rail trail 31:05, PM bike :30

T - AM bike 1:00, AM o/b run on rail trail w Petey 35:23, PM Physical therapy and bike :30

W - AM bike 1:00, lunch loops 3m in park 20:55, PM 4m in Danvers with JP, Brett, &2 - 31:35

Th - AM bike 1:00, lunch loops 3m in park 21:16, PM bike :30

F - Lunch loops 3m in park 20:54, PM Physical therapy and bike :30

Sat - Early AM slowly setting the Bear 3m course 40:23, Later picked up the flags 3m 23:19

Sun - 6:30 AM run up/down Vista Peak (Bolton Valley, VT) with Eric & Francis 41:38, PM bike :30

Totals:
Run 30 miles
Bike 6:30

Eric Morse Hall of Fame weekend

Spent some time this weekend up near Montpelier, VT attending Eric Morse's  induction ceremony for the Harwood Union High School hall of fame.  Finished the weekend with a run up/down Vista Peak (Ricker mountain in Bolton Valley) with Eric and Francis Burdett.

Possible Course Change at Northfield Mountain

I just spoke to my contact at Northfield. They had to drain the reservoir and due to some error they messed up the outflow pipes. This means that dump trucks are currently running up/down the road (at high speeds) 7 days per week until they fix the outflow pipes. There is a possibility that they will be finished by next weekend but not 100%. I'm going to work out a new course that would be run entirely on the south side of the mountain. We can cross the road high up, which means we can go to the summit but can't cross lower down. The major change (besides moving the course) would be that I may not be able to have a water-stop on the summit. A couple of things work in our favor if this happens. 1. Three weeks earlier in the season than previous years, so may be cooler. 2. Somewhat shorter course if we run on the south side.

I encouraging people to carry their own water due to unforseen construction at the mountain if you are not comfortable running 10K without water.

Week ending 05-09-10

Final week of recovery is over, now the long road back...

M - AM bike 1:00, PM bike :30 at PT, PM bike :45

T - AM bike 1:00, PM bike :30

W - Pm bike 1:00

Th - AM bike 1:00, PM bike 1:00

F - AM bike 1:00, PM bike 1:15

S - AM bike 1:00, AM run 3m = 25:08

S - Am bike 1:00, AM run 4m = 30:04


Totals for the week
Bike - 11:00
Run 7 miles

New England Runner Magazine

NER had a couple of accounts of the 1989 Mt Washington race.  Get the entire mag for a bunch of other stuff about the 50th running of the race - June 19, 2010.

Michael Quintal in the Eagle Tribune

Nice picture of Mike in the paper today...also another fine win for him as he is having a great year.

Week ending 05-02-10

I had hoped that this would be the final week of non-running, but my Dr. insists that I go 5 weeks...so another week to go.

M - am bike :30, pm bike 1:00
T - am bike 1:00, pm bike :30 (Physical therapy)
W - am bike 1:00, pm bike 1:00
Th - am bike 1:00, pm bike :45 (PT)
F - am bike 1:15, pm bike 1:15
Sat - am bike 2:00, pm bike :45
Sun - am bike 2:00

Total for the week - 14 hours biking

Double-j winning the Red Shoe Barn 5m last weekend.  JJ wore the "Dunham Rocks!" series t-shirt to honor my still standing (1996) course record at RSB.

Mt Washington updates

I'll be posting weekly updates on the race including a countdown of 50 memorable people and events at the Mt Washington road race.  I also hope to rank the field and whatever else I can think of to fill some time....

Regularly updated information about the Mt. Washington Road Race Hall of Fame is available any time on Facebook (facebook.com/mwrrhof), Twitter (twitter.com/mwrrrecords) and the Hall of Fame blog (mtwashingtonrecords.blogspot.com ). For other information about the race, visit www.mountwashingtonroadrace.com.

Yes, some people run up backwards...