August - old races

I've neve enjoyed racing in August, I hate the heat.  This year it looks like I'll only have the Mt Ashland race in the books.  Looking back to August long gone by…

20 years ago – I ran two track races and two road races, picking up three wins and one second place finish. Started the month with a sub-9 effort at the GLRR track series two-mile. My 8:57 was good enough for the win over Dave Cremin (9:02) and Bob Hodge (9:03) but didn’t even come close the series record (Hodge – 8:50). Ten days later I won in a course record at the Londonderry Old Home day 5k. The first and last mile ran over what is now the Millennium Mile course, so the last mile is a killer! The course record could reach 20 years this weekend unless someone shows who can run under 14:47. Next up was the finale at the GLRR series which was the highly anticipated mile (at least highly anticipated by me). I held off Chamberas, Cremin, and Hodge to win in 4:14.7. My final race of the month was the USATF NE (called NEAC back then) 5km road champs down in Greenwich RI. I lost on a kick to Eric Morse who ran 14:24 to my 14:25.

27 guys under 5 minute pace!

15 years ago – Not a pretty month, I raced four times and the best effort was probably the Exeter 10km (it was also the only pay-day, I picked up $300 for the win). Started the month with the USATF 10m championships at Newburyport. My training log says “felt lousy, 90’s and humid”. I took 5th in 51:26. Nine days later I took 6th at the Corporate challenge 5k (now called Cigna) in Manchester. I ran it because there was a $250 bonus for non-winners who broke 15:00. I ran 14:55 for 6th place. Late in the month I went to Italy where I had a lousy run at the Challenge Stellina, finishing in 10th place. I closed out the month with the win at Exeter in 30:28.

10 years ago – Another four race month, a nice $$$ month with $650 total won. The highlight was probably taking 5th (top USATF) at the Bridge of Flowers 10k in 32:26. Newburyport (51:34) tied my best finish in the 10m heatfest, where I took 2nd place. The other two races were in the mountains of Italy (Susa – 9th place) and Austria (Kitzbuhel – 3rd place) in preparation for the World championships.

5 years ago – I was having trouble with my plantar fascia, which is also my woe today. Doing the Triathlon at Cannon Mountain did not help (I had lousy biking shoes). I was the first person into the transition with a kick-stand on my bike and ran one of the fastest times for the 1,000’ climb up Cannon. My swimming killed me, but 18th place overall was about what I’d hoped for. Next up was the Lynn Woods 10m relay, one of my favorites and a New England classic. It was not my day, I ran an ugly 14:13 for 24th fastest time. A couple of days later I ran the 6km Chamberas race in Carlisle and took 10th place. I wrote in my training log “felt awful, arch crappy”. Sounds like a typical day!

Fast times in 1995