Looking back

30 Years ago = Sept. 1983 – This was my sophomore year at U-Lowell and I raced twice. We kicked off the season at the Dartmouth Invitational where I was top UL finisher in 6th place overall running 29:50 over the 5.8 mile distance. We put our top 7 all across the line within 1:09. Dartmouth won the meet with 37 points but we finished a strong second place with 77 points (5 points up on arch rivals Keene State). Two weeks later we headed to Worcester for the Holy Cross Invitational. I was first UL finisher in 4th place overall with a 26:50 over the hilly 5.2 mile course. We won the meet with 47 pints, edging BC and Brandeis who both finished with 55 points. 25 Years ago = Sept. 1988 – I only raced twice during this month. The first race was the Dubliner 5 mile in Lowell MA. Conditions were perfect (66 degrees and rainy) and I took full advantage, beating a field of over 1,000 runners. I ended up setting a (then) PR of 23:27 running splits of 4:35/4:58/4:43/4:40/4:32. Three weeks later I ran the NEAC (New England Athletic Congress – the name of USATF NE back in those days) 15km championships in Wilton NH. The 15k had a tough climb in the second mile but a very fast descent later in the race. I ended up in 3rd place running a then PR of 46:52. My 5k splits had each one faster than the last, running 16:06/15:29/15:17.