Most races in a month

This August I raced 7 times which is my biggest August all-time and ties for the 11th most races in a month.

Month	Year	Races	Rank
May	82	11	1
Feb	82	10	2
June	93	9	3t
Jan	82	9	3t
April	81	9	3t
May	80	9	3t
July	06	9	3t
Jan	09	8	8t
Feb	07	8	8t
July	00	8	8t
Aug	11	7	11t
Feb	11	7	11t
Jan	91	7	11t
May	81	7	11t
Jan	80	7	11t
April	80	7	11t
May	07	7	11t
Dec	07	7	11t

US trail 10km national championships

I headed down to North Carolina for the third consecutive year to act as the USATF liaison for the 10km trail championships.  This would be the second year that I’d also be competing over the very tough up/down course in Laurel Springs straddling the Eastern Continental Divide.

I flew down very early on Friday and meandered around the North West part of NC bagging five County High points.  I arrived at the race site in the afternoon and had a big spaghetti dinner before settling in for a (rough) sleep.   I was up at 5:30 seeking out coffee and once I found some race day prep began.

I found the flattest loop I could and did 5 loops to get 3 miles warm-up, then changed into my race flats and did another mile with some strides.  I felt pretty lousy and very nervous, both are good signs.  My hope was to run at least a minute faster than last year with a stretch goal of 1:30 faster than my 48:58 in 2011.  TiVo and I jogged around a bit waiting for the start and listened to the introductions of the big guns who were running.  There were a couple of sub-14 5k guys and I heard a 28 minute 10k runner and a sub-4 miler.  The field sounded like it was pretty deep.

It seemed like all 150 guys sprinted off the line for the first ½ mile of downhill.  I just wanted to stay on my feet and keep race director Jason Bryant in sight.  I was around 30^th place at the end of the first downhill (300’ in ½ mile) and started to move up during the next ½ mile climb back up to the start area.  I’m not very good at descending but I held my position as we dropped another 300’.  I worked hard on the next climb (the longest in the race and during the nearly 400’ of uphill I moved up into the top 20.  I checked my watch as we passed the start/finish, knowing we were approximately halfway through.  I had run low 24 through this point last year and was happy to be running just over 23 minutes this year.  I was recovering on the descents because I just couldn’t run hard enough without running right off the narrow trail.  I looked ahead and could see 4 or 5 guys I thought would be catch-able with two climbs left.  It was surprising to see TiVo was one of those guys.  He was having a rough day.

The 200’ climb from 4 miles to 4.5 took a lot of concentration.  I was trying to run as hard as possible but also trying to save something in the tank for the final climb.  I passed Tim on this climb and closed on a couple of other guys.  The switchbacks on the next drop really slowed me down but I kept the four guys in front of me in sight.  I was really looking forward to the final climb!  I don’t think I climbed all that fast but I was consistent and the guys slowly came back.  It wasn’t easy getting around them on the narrow trail but a few calls of “on your right” and a couple of well placed elbows got me by.  Knowing the course and being able to pay out the effort evenly was definitely helpful.  I rolled into the finish line in 14^th place running 2:15 faster than last year (but getting the same place).  The big surprise was taking first in the 45-49 getting a gold medal for my efforts and also taking second place in the master’s category (40-49) to earn $200.

I’m finally starting to feel like I’m fully recovered from the calf injury and rounding into shape.  I’ll be aiming for a master’s personal best for 10 Km next month, just need to stay healthy.

1 Joe Moore                 27                                            0:41:37

2 Ryan Woods               32        Appalachian Mtn Goat   0:41:46

3 Bobby Mack               26                                            0:42:05

4 Jared Scott               28                                            0:42:36

5 Alex Varner               26        Bull City TC                  0:42:58

6 David Roche               23                                            0:43:40

7 Mario Mendoza          25                                            0:43:54

8 Matthew Grey            23        Rosemont RC                 0:44:05

9 Chris Wiley                42        Atlanta TC                    0:44:33

10 Tim Sykes                30                                            0:45:12

11 David Bell                 27                                            0:45:32

12 Justin TeBockhorst  26                                            0:45:48

13 John Kenworthy       23                                            0:45:53

14 Dave Dunham            47        Central MA Striders     0:46:44

15 Brandon Mader        27                                            0:46:49

16 Andy Highlander      24        Chattanooga TC            0:47:18

17 Duncan Hoge            23        Bull City TC                  0:47:24

18 Brian Lang                25        Rosemont RC                 0:47:28

19 Tim Van Orden         43        Central MA Striders     0:47:52

 

 

about 3.5 miles in...photo by Tad Davis

North Carolina peakbagging

For the third consecutive year I headed down to Laurel Springs NC to act as the USATF liaison at the trail 10km national championships.  I try to make the most of these trips, so this time I plotted out five County high points I could bag the day before the race (I was also planning on running in the championships).

My 5am flight out of Boston had me arriving in Charlotte at 7am, giving me the entire day to drive north into the mountains.  My first stop was Youngs Mountain, the highest point in Rowan County (1,090’).  I parked at the base of the mountain in the Morning Star Baptist church parking lot and ran up the access road in 6:20 and back down in 4:47.  I added on another 13 minutes to get a nice three mile run to start the day.

Next up was the highest point in Davie County, at 1,010’ it was actually a nice scenic farm with a bit of a view despite the low overcast.  This high point was a “drive-up” and I just spent a couple of minutes at the two most promising highest points to ensure I reached to top.  Then I was off to Forsyth County which was another drive up at 1,100’ in the town of Tobaccoville.  This wasn’t very scenic, just someone’s backyard, which only meant a couple of minutes ensuring I’d hit the highest point before heading off.

My fourth stop of the day was the nicest, the very scenic Hanging Rock State park.  Moores Knob at 2,579’ is the highest point in Stokes County.  This was the run I was looking forward to!  The parking lot at the beach was at 1,690 feet so I’d be getting a nice 900’ of climbing to loosen up prior to the big race.  I plotted out a 5 mile loop that had me on the summit in 1.5 miles by climbing up the Moore’s Wall loop trail which had a lot of stone steps.  I enjoyed the climb despite the heat (high 80’s) and humidity and was on top in 22:44.  I spent 3 minutes on top checking out the view from the observation tower and finding the benchmark.  The downhill was a bit rocky but all in all a nice loop.  It took me 33:21 to run the downhill 3.5 miles.  I took it pretty easy, hoping to avoid beating up my quads.  Total time for the very scenic run was 58:54.  I stopped in the visitors center and got a few postcards and a refreshing ice cold Coca-Cola before heading off for my final point of the day.

I reached the Alleghany County high point (Catherine Knob-4,175’) around 3 pm and checked out the possible route off of Cheek Mountain road.  There was a vehicle parked at the track that leads to the top, so I decided to continue on to Doughton Mountain road and parked in the saddle (3,520’).  It was still a good three mile run with over 600’ of climb and descent.  I took it pretty easy and tagged the summit in 16 minutes and was back down in 12 minutes for a total time of 28:08.  I checked out the family cemetery that was located just above the road and then called it a day and headed off to Laurel Springs.

I had a good race the next day, taking 14^th overall and top 45-49 for a gold medal in the national champs.

Week ending 08-28-11

I dropped down a bit (87 miles) this week, hoping to run well at Lynn Woods and the US 10km trail champs.  Both went well and I had an exciting ride home through the hurricane when my flight got canceled...

M - 415am Industrial Park 5 in 3720, Lunch 4 in 2843, and Dan's work 6 in 3950.
T - 415am Ind Pk 5 in 3716, lunch 4 in 2819, and Dan's work 6 in 3935.
W - Lunch 4 in 2808.  6pm Lynn woods warm-up alone 2432 plus a mile of strides, 2.5 in 1405, and 2.5 warmdown with Dave Q.
Th - Lunch 4 in 2952 (pf really sore), PM Dan's work 6 in 4025.
F - 7am 3m run up and down Youngs Mountain, Noon 5m run up/down Moores Knob, and 2pm 3m run up/down Catherine's knob.
S - 8am 3 mile warm-up, then another mile of strides, 10km trail nationals (46:43), 3 mile warm-down
S - 730am Winnekenni out/back 8 plus 2x 1m basin loop = 1:23:08

Totals
Week - 87
Month - 371
Year - 2,545
Life - 112,746

Kicking for the finish at Lynn Woods - Pic by Krissy K

Lynn Woods Relay

I tried to take it easy for a couple of days after the Moose Relay (on Sunday) in anticipation of another relay (Lynn Woods) and the US 10KM trail championships this week.  By easy I mean easy running but not really dropping down my mileage too much.  I tripled (three runs a day) on Monday and Tuesday then slept in on Wednesday morning.  Dan Verrington organized a CMS team to run at Lynn woods and it turned out to be the same team we had three years ago when we set the masters course record of 55:12.  Although the course being run now is very similar the change eliminated the 200 meters of flat pavement that we used to run at the start and finish of each leg.  Instead we now had a 200 meter stretch of trail that added another drop/climb to the already tough course and also added a 180 degree turn around a cone.  All things considered the course would run somewhat slower than in years past.

We had a perfect night for racing with reasonable temperatures for late August (low 80’s) and the humidity wasn’t that bad.  Joe Shairs, David Quintal, and Dan all headed out together for a warm-up, but it would have been way too early for me since I was running the final leg.  The worst part about this was the waiting!  About five minutes before the race started I headed out for my warm-up.  I ran over the course to get a feel for how hard it would be.  There is very little flat on this course, nothing super steep, but you are always climbing or descending.  I saw Joe looking strong heading into his last half mile.  Then I caught Dave heading out and moving us up into third place.  I got back and changed into racing flats and headed out to do another mile with some strides.  Dan went flying by about ½ mile into the race and he was just moving into second place when I saw him.  He was chewing up the GBTC lead and putting some time on the Somerville Road Runners masters team.

I waited on the line for Dan to come in and tried to calm my nerves.  Joe predicted that Dan would be leading the race when he came in, and he asked me how much lead I needed.  I told him “at least a minute”.  I wasn’t kidding; the anchor for Somerville (Greg Picklesimer) is one of the top 40+ runners in New England.  Mostly I just hoped to hold him off for as long as possible.

Caleb Evanter from GBTC was off and flying, I heard “8 seconds back” from Dave at about ½ mile into the race.  I pushed as hard as I could and tried to keep him in sight.  I check my watch at the 180 degree turn and he was 16 seconds ahead of me.  A few steps later Picklesimer went by like I was standing still, he’d made up 17 seconds on me in the first half of the race.  We turned right onto the steep single-track section and I was surprised as he seemed to come back and doubly surprised that we were both rapidly closing on Evanter.

The biggest consistent drop is over the next part of the course and both those guys just flew.  I gave all I had but they slowly pulled away and had a great battle back and forth right to the line (with only 3 seconds between them at the end).  I ended up running 14:05, Evanter ran 13:49 which was 16 seconds faster than me…so from the turn to finish we ran the same time.  I guess I’m a stronger climber.  Picklesimer nearly ran the fastest time of the day coming up just one second short.  It was a lot of fun having such a close race and each of us having someone to run against.  It is not only unusual to have three teams finish within 16 seconds but also for each leg to be so closely matched.

Teams with leg splits

1 . GBTC                                                  56:46

  ADAM GREENSPAN             14:11     14:11

  ALEX GOMES                     27:45     13:34

  MATHEW WEISSINGER   42:57     15:12

  CALEB EVANTER                56:46     13:49

2 . SRR-BADASS IN BLACK                                56:49

  CHRIS SMITH                    14:08     14:08

  ROBERT CIPRLANO            28:20     14:12

  JON MAY                            43:14     14:54

  GREG PICKLESIMER          56:49     13:35

3 . CMS 40+                                        57:02

  JOE SHAIRS                      14:12     14:12

  DAVE QUINTAL               28:27     14:15

  DAN VERRINGTON          42:57     14:30

  DAVE DUNHAM                57:02     14:05

4 . SRR - GIMPY IN GOLD                  58:23

  BRENDAN KEARNEY            14:57    14:57

  SEAN MCDONOUGH             29:54  14:57

  MATT FUHRMEISTER           44:22 14:28

  ALEX WHITE                      58:23     14:01

5 . WICKED SALTY                    1:00:36

  ERICH O'NEILL                  14:57     14:57

  DAVID LONG                      29:53     14:56

  MICHAEL SMITH              44:40     14:47

  SCOTT CARRIER            1:00:36     15:56

Leg Times

1 ALEX GOMES               GBTC                            13:34

2 GREG PICKLESIMER     SRR                            13:35

3 CALEB EVANTER          GBTC                           13:49

4 DOUG CHICK               THE COMEBACKS      13:53

5 MATT VEIGA               STILL GOT IT             13:57

6 ALEX WHITE               SRR                              14:01

7 DAVE DUNHAM           CMS 40+                      14:05

8 CHRIS SMITH             SRR                              14:08

9 ADAM GREENSPAN     GBTC                           14:11

10 ROBERT CIPRLANO    SRR                             14:12

11 JOE SHAIRS              CMS 40+                      14:12

12 DAVE QUINTAL         CMS 40+                     14:15

13 ALEX DEROSA            MPTR                           14:24

14 MATT FUHRMEISTER SRR                            14:28

15 DAN VERRINGTON     CMS 40+                                    14:30

Our times in 2008

Joe – 13:18

David – 14:04

Dan – 13:47

Me – 14:03

Moose on the loose relay

My sister put together teams again for the Moose on the loose 10 mile relay and I was looking forward to seeing how much ground I'd gained over last year.  In 2010 I'd hurt my Plantar Fascia at the Sapienza race and spent 6 weeks doing very little running and when I wasn't running I was in a walking boot.  The relay was my first attempt at anyting fast after Sapienza and I'd run 13:46...which was surprisingly fast.  My hope for this year was to run under 13:30.

I was teamed up with my brother in law John who would be running legs 2 & 3.  I'd run the first and last legs with about 42 minutes break.  My plan was to run leg one all-out then run the anchor leg in about 6:00 pace.  I headed out for a warm-up on the course and tried to come up with an estimate at about where each mile would be (they weren't marked).  At least that would give me an estimate of my pace.  After another mile with strides I headed for the start line.  Unlike last year (when I ran with Titus Mutinda for almost the entire loop) I was alone in front by 200m into the race.  I kept the effort consistent and kicked in pretty hard over the last half mile.  I was happy with the result, a 13:23 (5:21 pace).  I handed off to John and headed for the car to change shoes. 

Next up was a 2 mile warm-down.  I ran out to the water-stop then followed John as he ran in for his first loop (around 21 flat).  I changed into another pair of racing flats and headed out for another 2 miles (call that a warm-up) and had just enough time for a drink of water before John returned...running an excellent sub-42 five mile.

I went out reasonably hard and had a lot of fun as there were people to pass.  I kept thinking that everyone I passed moved us up in the results.  I was also thinking that if I pushed it we might come in under 70 minutes.  I hit the line in 14:10 (5:40 pace) and was pretty spent.  I headed out for another 2 miles as a final warm-down and cheered on everyone coming in.

It was a great day out with the Dunham Running Club (not named after me) and a 15 mile day for me.

Week Ending 08-21-11

Another good week of mileage along with 3 races. Time to come down a bit to prepare for the US 10km trail championships this weekend.


M - 415am Industrial Park 5 in 36:26. Lunch 4 in 28:23, PM Winni 6 alone in 42:54

T - 415am Ind Pk 5 in 36:53, Lunch 4 in 26:42 (fast), PM Dan's woods 6 in 39:32

W - Lunch 4 in 27:49, PM track workout in Nashua 4x400 & 4x200

Th - Lunch 4 in 29:08, PM Winni 6 in 42:13

F - Lunch 4 in 28:27, PM Dan's woods 5 in 37:20, Later Derby Street mile in 4:57.9

S - 6am 4 with Petey on the River in 36:53, into 4 more alone in 32:04

S - Moose Relay in Nashua. 3 warm-up, 1m of strides, 2.5 race, 2 mile warm-down, 5 minutes later 2 mile warm-up, 2.5 mile race, 2 mile warm-down.

Totals
Week - 93
Month - 284
Year - 2,458
Life - 112,659

Derby Street mile

A few weeks back I did the High street mile and after running 5:01.9 I thought that I had a shot at breaking 5 so I decided to take a shot at the Derby Street Mile. Friday traffic was lousy and I showed up in Salem a few minutes later than I normally like to in order to get my warm-up. I met up with David Quintal and we headed out to check the course. Smart move, there are a few tangents to cut in the course and you definitely would want to take advantage of that. We did a 3 mile warm-up then I put on my racing flats and headed out for another mile with some strides. The race started a bit late so there were some nervous moments on the line waiting. Boom we were off and I found myself out of the top 50 in the first 200 meters. Man, people just sprinted off the line! It was funny when reality hit and people around me slowed (sometimes almost to a full stop). I slowly moved through the crowd and hit the 1/4 mile in 71.8. There was a slight downhill in the first quarter and I'd hoped to run right around 72 (based on my split at High Street). DQ was 2 or 3 seconds ahead and I worked on closing the gap. I passed some more people and hit the half in 2:26:.2 (74.8 split). Right where I wanted to be but I hadn't closed on David at all (in fact he was probably 3 or 4 seconds up at the half). I tried to work the third quarter and passed one or two other people but the split was slow 3:34.4 (78.2). There was a slight uphill and a bit of a headwind, so maybe that accounted for the slower split. It looked like I held the same distance to DQ (3 or 4 seconds) but he then went into his kick and I'd get no closer. I pushed as hard as I could hoping to break 5 and closed on the group in front of me. I crossed the line in 4:57.9 (73.5) for 13th place overall and 4th in he 40+. Not a bad run for me. Next up: Moose 4x 2.5 relay.

My 2 cents:
I never saw a porta-john at the start of this race. Maybe I missed something but it is a bad scene when you have 400 runners and no bathroom. In the results I'm listed as "David". I've NEVER put my name as David in any race I've ever done, I bet the timing company does an auto-complete on name fields to save time. Also, I have no city or state listed...probably because I put one in but didn't list a zip-code. Again the timing company probably only uses the zip code.

1 SEAN DUNAN 1164 M 22 M2029 1 GARDNER MA 4:27
2 CHRIS CHAPRUET 351 M 19 M0119 1 DANVERS MA 4:36
3 NICK RENNIE 458 M 27 M2029 2 SALEM MA 4:37
4 DOUG CHICK 416 M 32 M3039 1 LYNN MA 4:42
5 BEN STRAIN 451 M 33 M3039 2 BEVERLY MA 4:42 CMS
6 MATTHEW VEIGA 467 M 24 M2029 3 LYNN MA 4:47
7 JASON BARNES 139 M 48 M4049 1 SALEM MA 4:48
8 RON COOPER 321 M 33 M3039 3 MARBLEHEAD MA 4:51
9 ERICH O'NEIL 285 M 19 M0119 2 BEVERLY MA 4:52
10 DAVID QUINTAL 432 M 48 M4049 2 SALEM NH 4:53 CMS40+ 
11 BRETT BUDZINSKI 271 M 36 M3039 4 N.ANDOVER MA 4:54
12 JOHN AYERS 452 M 45 M4049 3 BEVERLY MA 4:57
13 DAVID DUNHAM 425 M 47 M4049 4 4:58 CMS 40+

Looking back

25 Years ago

I only raced twice in August of 1986; I was training hard preparing for my final Cross-Country season at U-Lowell and used the races to check my fitness.  At the Lowell Firefighters race (5 mile) I took second place in 24:32.  Larry Olsen was the winner in 24:24, Larry always showed up to race and this was one of the first times I’d gone up against him.  We’d race many times over the next couple of decades.  The other race I did was also in Lowell, the very popular Dubliner race.  Over 1,200 turned out for this run on a perfect day for racing.  I didn’t really “have it” on this day running 24:34 to take second place to Doug Sweezey who ran 24:03.

20 Years ago

I was pretty busy in August of 1991, running five races (the most I’ve run in ANY August).  I started the month with a handicapped race in Windham NH.  The director had everyone estimate their finishing time and the slowest runner started first and everyone else following based on predicted finish time.  Theoretically everyone would reach the finish at the same time.  I was the last to start in the field of 30 and I ended up with the fastest time of the day over 10 KM (31:05), I’m not sure what place I got.  A couple of days later I hit the track in Worcester.  I’m not sure why I did this race, but Bob Hodge went so maybe we decided to head into CMS country and test ourselves.  I ended up taking first in the 2 mile, running 9:10.1.  Hodgie finished in second just 1/10^th of a second behind me.  A few days later I was back on the road running the Londonderry Old Home days 5 KM.  This is a tough race with a very fast first mile (over the Millennium Mile course), then a flat middle mile and a really tough final mile coming back up the first mile of the course.  I managed a 14:44 for first place.  The time is the still standing course record.  Four days later I hit the woods of Lynn for the Lynn woods relay.  Our “Sully’s Ice Cream” team set the still standing course record and I set the still standing standard for the 2.5 mile course (12:05) over the anchor leg.  My final race of the month was the USATF (then called NEAC) 5 KM road championships in Goddard state park (Greenwhich, RI).  A hurricane had come through the day before and due to downed trees they had to modify the course which turned out to be about 30 seconds long.  I took third place in 15:07 and bitter rival (kidding) Eric Morse took the win in 14:56.

15 Years ago

I raced three times in August of 1996, twice in Europe on the “Mountain Circuit”.  I started the month with a 2^nd place finish at the Bridge of Flowers 10 KM which also served as the USATF NE championships.  I was top New England finisher and just missed the old course record by 2 seconds, but was 32 seconds behind Moroccan Houssine Siba.  CMS had a very strong team taking 2^nd-6^th place!

   1 HOUSSINE SIBA           23 M   KINGSTON, NY                        1/77     31:10  5:02

    2 DAVE DUNHAM             32 M   BRADFORD, MA        CMS        1/156    31:42  5:07

    3 MIKE NAHOM               28 M   NEW MILFORD, CT CMS        2/77     32:09  5:11

    4 CRAIG FRAM                 37 M   PLAISTOW, NH        CMS        2/156    32:18  5:13

    5 ERIC W MORSE            31 M   BARRE, VT                  CMS        3/156    32:22  5:13

    6 DAN VERRINGTON      34 M   BRADFORD, MA        CMS        4/156    32:46  5:17

    7 GARY D GARDNER       25 M   KEENE, NH                CMS        3/77     32:46  5:17

    8 SEAN TYNAN                23 M   FOXBORO, MA          GLRR       4/77     33:19  5:22

    9 JONATHAN RUSSELL  21 M   WAKEFIELD, MA      WRT        5/77     33:34  5:25

   10 GEORGE LUKE              30 M   WALTHAM, MA        GLRR       5/156    33:42  5:26

   11 WAYNE LEVY                31 M   WATERTOWN, MA   BAA        6/156    33:45  5:27

   12 TERRANCE MCNATT    31 M   NEEDHAM, MA         CSU        7/156    33:47  5:27

   13 WAYNE A JACOB        41 M   MYSTIC, CT               CMS        1/173    33:54  5:28

   14 JAMES S GARRETT     31 M   BENNINGTON, VT   CMS        8/156    33:58  5:29

   15 ROBERT O'HARA          41 M   JAMAICA PL, MA      TVFR       2/173    34:06  5:30

   16 DAVID L RAUNIG       41 M   NEW LONDON, CT   CMS        3/173    34:09  5:30

   17 SCOTT BROWN            38 M   CANTON, ME            WRT        9/156    34:10  5:31

   18 RICHARD A BOLT         25 M   LUNENBURG, MA     CMS        6/77     34:17  5:32

The last two races were European Mountain races leading up to the World championship.  I was sick during the trip and never felt ready to race.  I managed a 5^th place finish at the Challenge Stellina in Susa Italy (5,000’ of climb) and a third at the Kitzbuhlerhorn race in Kitzbuhel Austria (4,000’ of climb).  Kitzbuhel is an unusual race as the race gets steeper as you progress.  The last 500 meters is marked out in 100 meter increments.  I ran my last 100 in 37 seconds!