Looking back (way back)

30 Years ago – March 1989: I ran 431 miles with no days off.  I only raced one time that month as I was in training for my first marathon and doing a lot of hard workouts.  The only race I did was the USATF (then NEAC) New England 30k championships in Boylston.  My plan was to run through the half-marathon in 5:10 pace then ease up for the last 5 miles.  My training was based on attempting the marathon at 5:10 pace so this would be more like a hard workout than a race.  The Stu’s course is tough, and, on this day, I had CMS ace Scott Bagley to deal with.  We rolled through 10k in 31:39, and then our second 10k was 31:37.  We hit the ½ marathon in 66:45 and I eased up.  Bagley took off with team leader Don Drewniak yelling to him that I was falling apart.  I remember thinking that was funny, because I felt great.  Bagley ended up winning and I took second place in 1:37:54. Bagley’s time is the fastest run over the certified course with my time the second fastest.  In 1989 the average income per year was $27,450 and a gallon of gas cost 97 cents!

25 Years ago – March 1994: I ran 316 miles with no days off, but a groin and back injury were still bothering me, so I did stay away from the racing scene.  My only race during the month was the Total Sports 5k in Londonderry NH.  Mike Beeman (of Mike Beeman’s Total Sports) put on the race.  Teammate, training partner, and friend, Byrne Decker and I tied for the win in a field of 56 runners.  We ran 16:09.

20 Years ago – March 1999: I ran 439 miles with no days off, but I was hampered by calf issues and a badly sprained ankle.  My only race of the month was the Melrose Police chase ½ marathon which was the USATF NE championships.  The race had nearly 1,600 finishers on a cloudy 40-degree day.  Times were a bit slow over the rolling course with a winning time of 1:07:21. I ended up a disappointing 5th place but was only 9 seconds out of the win.  I remember the entire pack of about a dozen guys sticking together through 10 miles.  It really didn’t string out until the last mile or so.  The finish on the Melrose middle school track was crazy.  The four guys in front of me were in lock-step entering the track.  Dwyer & Snow from the CMS “track team” battled with Hammer (BRC) and Darley (GBTC) right to the line.  Dan Verrington was the final scoring member of CMS crossing the line in 11th place in 1:09:09.  The top 11 within 48 seconds!  Craig Fram was the top master’s runner in 1:07:47.

    1   1/183  M1929 1:07:21   5:09 JACK DWYER             24 M BRIGHTON MA               269 CMS

    2   1/406  M3039 1:07:21   5:09 PETER HAMMER           33 M WABAN MA                 1396 BRC

    3   2/183  M1929 1:07:23   5:09 RUSTY SNOW             29 M WATERTOWN MA              882 CMS

    4   3/183  M1929 1:07:26   5:09 JESSE DARLEY           26 M SOMERVILLE MA            1439 GBTC

    5   2/406  M3039 1:07:30   5:09 DAVE DUNHAM            34 M BRADFORD MA               267 CMS

    6   4/183  M1929 1:07:33   5:10 CHRIS MAGILL           26 M ALBION RI                1026 BAA

    7   5/183  M1929 1:07:41   5:10 JASON CULLINANE        29 M SOMERVILLE MA             200 CMS

    8   1/290  M4049 1:07:47*  5:11 CRAIG FRAM             40 M PLAISTOW NH              1335 WHIRL

    9   3/406  M3039 1:08:00   5:12 JIM DANDENEPU          31 M TAUNON MA                1161 BAA

   10   6/183  M1929 1:08:01   5:12 DAVID MARCUS           28 M SOMERVILLE MA            1156 BAA

   11   4/406  M3039 1:08:09*  5:12 DAN VERRINGTON         36 M BRADFORD MA               957 CMS

15 Years ago – March 2004: I ran 300 miles with no days off but was still recovering from hamstring tear at the attachment. I only raced twice during the month.  The first was a late season snowshoe race on the Merrimack River trail.  I won the 3.3-mile dash in 21:43.  A week later I turned 40 and celebrated by getting my ass kicked at the Merrimack River trail 10 mile.  I ended up finishing in sixth place overall in 1:06:19, CMS teammate Paul Low ran an excellent 58:23 to win the race.

1 58:23 Paul Low            30        

2 1:00:19 Ben Nephew    28        

3 1:01:50 Chris Mahoney  26

4 1:02:53 Michael Cohen  25

5 1:03:35 Richard Bolt      33        

6 1:05:42 Matthew Curran  46

7 1:05:51 Paul Young       38

8 1:06:20 Dave Dunham   40

9 1:07:59 Ken Clark         41

10 1:08:15 Abedon Pichardo 35

11 1:09:36 Donald Fay     30

12 1:09:51 Rob Smith      36

13 1:10:36 Bob Kearns     33

14 1:11:08 Kelli Lusk        34

10 Years ago – March 2009 – I covered 354 miles with no days off racing three times.  I kicked off the month with a trip out to Oregon for the USSSA snowshoe national championships.  It was a fun trip getting to hang out with Richard and Kelly and racing in some crazy deep snow!  I finished a very surprising 6th place at the championships running 47:57 over the two-loop 10km course.  I was in fifth place from 1 mile until 50 meters before the finish where I was outkicked for the final spot on the U.S. Team. 

1 Peter Fain CA M 35-39 44:30

2 Kelly Mortenson MN M 35-39 45:01

3 Charlie Werheim CO M 45-49 46:11

4 DJ Snyder ID M 20-24 46:34

5 Robert Bolton SD M 45-49 47:48

6 Dave Dunham MA M 45-49 47:54

7 Aaron Rogerston NY M 30-34 49:01

8 Mark McManus CA M 35-39 49:13

9 Daren Brungardt CO M 25-29 49:42

10 Sylvester Coons NV M 35-39 50.18

Six days later I headed out to the Catamount snowshoe race in Hillsdale NY.  This was a cool end of the season race that was held just before sunset.  The trail was solidly groomed for fast running.  I gapped the field on the climb and was able to hold off teammate Tim Van Orden for the win in 22:44 over the 2.6-mile course.

From my blog post in 2009:  After a brief course description we were off. After a 1/4 mile it sounded like Tivo and I were on our own. I knew I needed to get some space on Tivo before the downhill or I wouldn't be able to hold him off. At the top (1.2 miles and 950' of climb) I guessed I was 30-40 seconds up and afterwards found out I was 48 seconds in front. I pushed hard on the down, but never felt smooth. I guess I looked like crap, which was how I felt. Tivo closed the gap to 32 seconds, but I held on and got my 2nd win of the season in 22:44 (14:48 to the top and 7:56 down).