40 years ago – May 1979: I raced six time over
the final month of my freshman outdoor track season. Kicked off the month with
a personal best in the ½ mile with a 2:20.9 in a home meet against Methuen.
Teammate (and Billerica High School hall-of-fame runner) Kevin Curtin won in 2:02.
Two days later I ran in a freshman/sophomore meet at Wilmington. I ran a 2 mile
personal best of 10:50.0 losing to Hines (Haverhill) by almost exactly one
minute. Next up was the mile in a dual meet against Austin Prep where I set a
mile PR of 5:28. A week later I was back in the 2 mile running an 11:03 to take
fourth place in a meet against Lawrence. At this point I earned my first
outdoor track letter by getting 22 points. Points were based on your place in
each meet. I closed out my freshman year with an 11:04 2 mile on the Haverhill
track finishing second in the Freshman Championship meet. I think it may have
been the MVC or Northern Area Freshman meet.
35 years ago – May 1984: I ran 278 miles over
this month with no days off and three races. The aim was the NCAA championships
late in the month. I started the month off with a win at the Eastern
championships in New Britain CT. Wayne Levy (U-Mass) who is still racing well
at age 49, and I battled back and fourth for a good deal of the race. I ended up
taking the win on a kick running 31:19. Three weeks later I was back in Cape
Giradeau Missouri where I was felled by the heat the year before. This time
temperatures were in the mid-90s but they had water and sponges which I took
advantage of pretty much every lap. I ran a pretty conservative race, maybe due
to fear of passing out. It paid off as I ended up taking third place in 30:39.
Three days later I ran the Friends of Lowell 10k road race and ran just hard
enough to win (which I did in 32:01).
30 years ago – May 1989: I only raced once
during this month, but my training was decent as I covered 400 miles with no
days off. My one race was a 5.5 mile hilly run in Haverhill, MA. I passed
through 5 miles in 24:36 on my way to a win over the field of 250 in 26:54. I
got a very nice director’s chair for a prize and the cats still enjoy sitting
on it and looking out the window.
25 years ago – May 1994: I ran 389 miles this
month and raced twice but was bothered by the right side of my back which
turned out to be a possible stress fracture and tendonitis of the ilio psoas.
First up was the Academic Achievers 5k in Dover NH. I somehow got the time
wrong and showed up 2 hours early. Ugh! It was a rainy day with temps in the
50s so it wasn’t very pleasant sticking around. I ended up taking the win in
15:12 in a field of only 93 runners. Two weeks later I ran the Bedford Rotary
12km race. I picked up $200 for the win and a (then) course record of 36:59. I
was helped when Rachid Tbahi missed the start! He caught me at four but I
pulled away at 7 miles.
20 years ago – May 1999: I took it relatively
easy this month as my left knee, arch and ankle all giving me woes. My mileage
was fairly low (348) but I did race five times. I think the marathon at the
start of the month played a big part in that. I headed out to Pittsburgh for
the USA marathon championships, mostly because I wanted to try and qualify for
the Olympic trials. It was warm and a lot of guys dropped out after the half. I
ended up sneaking out a top 10 finish as I caught 2 guys in the last 100
meters. I picked up $1,000 for the 10th place finish and another $250 for
getting under 2:22 (the qualifying standard for the trials) with a 2:21:55. Six
days later I took on Eric Morse and 107 others at the Mt Kearsarge road race. I
pulled away from Eric just after the 5m mark as we entered Rollins State park.
I ran scared from that point on and held off Eric by 23 seconds with a course
record 51:02. Two weeks later Eric and I battled over the Bedford Rotary 12k
which was the site of the USATF New England championships. We broke away after 3 miles and I kept close to Eric through 10k. He
went on to win in 37:14 with me 10 seconds back in second place. A week later
Eric and I raced again but in this race the victory (his) was never in doubt.
He took off in the first mile of the Wachusett Mountain race and never looked
back taking the win in 24:18 (course record). I had a fight with Richard Bolt
for the entire climb only getting him by 2 seconds in the last ½ mile (24:32 to
24:34). The next day I went up to Kennebunk Maine and won the “Live your
dreams” race in a 5m course record of 24:39.
PLACEl
NAME
TOWN
AG SPLIT NetTime
1
Alfredo Vigueras Woodland, CA
35 1:07:24 2:14:16
2
Eddy Hellebuhck Albuquerque,
NM 1:07:25 2:16:55
3
Stephen Switt Middletown, CT
28
1:07:26 2:17:23
4
Randy Ashley Brevard, NC
33 1:09:18 2:19:19
5
Johnathan Hume Lakewood, CO
31 1:08:06 2:20:06
6
Craig Dickson Olympia, WA
31 1:08:47 2:20:17
7
Jason Bodnar Davie,
FL 28 1:10:35 2:21:14
8
Fred
Keiser
Unk, OH 27 1:10:35 2:21:25
9
Carlos Paradelo Temple, AZ
25 1:08:08 2:21:32
10
Dave Dunham Bradford, MA
35 1:10:39 2:21:52
May 8, 1999 Mt Kearsarge hill
climb
1 1/19 M3039 51:02 6:01 DAVE
DUNHAM 35 M
BRADFORD
MA
Course record
2 2/19 M3039 51:26 6:03 ERIC
MORSE
34 M MONTPELIER
VT
3
1/11 M0129 52:42 6:12 RICHARD
BOLT 28 M PEPPERELL
MA
4
3/19 M3039 53:24 6:17 THOMAS
ANDERSON 34 M KEENE
NH
5
4/19 M3039 55:02 6:29 EDWARD
SHELDON 34 M MANCHESTER
NH
6
2/11 M0129 56:19 6:38 RYAN
LAFLEUR 25 M
WHITINSVILLE MA
7
3/11 M0129 56:52 6:42 KEVIN
BECK 29
M CONCORD
NH
17
1/12 F3039 1:06:29 7:50 SUZY
WEST
36 F PUTNEY VT
18
2/12 F3039 1:06:59 7:53 SUSAN
LACHANCE 39 F LUNENBURG
MA
May 22, 1999 USATF NE 12km
champs @ Bedford NH
1 1/117 M3039 37:14#
5:00 ERIC
MORSE
34 M 214 BERLIN
VT
CMS
2 2/117 M3039
37:24# 5:01 DAVE
DUNHAM 35
M 1 BRADFORD
MA CMS
3 3/117 M3039
37:58 5:06 CHRIS
TEAGUE 30
M 339 CHELMSFORD
MA GLRR
4 4/117 M3039
38:06* 5:07 TOM
DOODY
37 M 337 PELHAM NH
GLRR
5 5/117 M3039
38:09 5:07 BYRNE
DECKER 32
M 457 YARMOUTH
ME CMS
6 1/43 M2029
38:17 5:08 JESSE
DARLEY 26
M 435 SOMERVILLE
MA GBTC
7 6/117 M3039
38:24 5:09 JAMES DANDENEAN
31 M 264 TAUNTON
MA
BAA
8 2/43 M2029
38:29 5:10 RYAN
CARRARA 22
M 338 HOLLISTON
MA GLRR
9 3/43 M2029
38:32 5:11 DEON
BARRETT 25
M 432 CANTON
MA
GBTC
10 7/117 M3039
38:38 5:11 WAYNE
LEVY 33
M 288 WATERTOWN
MA BAA
11 4/43 M2029
38:46 5:12 RICHARD
BOLT 28
M 211 PEPPERELL
MA CMS
12 1/120 M4049
38:48* 5:13 MARK
DONAHUE 40
M 197 MIDDLETOWN RI
CMS
13 5/43 M2029
38:53 5:13 ERIC
BEAUSHESNE 29 M 340
CHELMSFORD MA GLRR
May 29, 1999 Wachusett Mountain race
1
24:14 Eric
Morse
20-39M Berlin,
VT
CMS
2
24:32 Dave
Dunham
20-39M Bradford,
MA
CMS
3
24:34 Richard
Bolt
20-39M Pepperell,
MA
CMS
4
25:45 Fergus
Cullen
20-39M W. Hartford,
CT
HTC
5
26:31 Tom
Anderson
20-39M Keene,
NH
CMS
6
26:56 Edward
Sheldon
20-39M Manchester, NH
GCS
7
27:37 Mike
Casner
20-39M Keene,
NH
CMS
8
28:06 Len
Hall
40-49M W. Lebanon, NH
9
28:13 Bob
Hodge
40-49M Clinton, MA
CMS
10
28:27 Eric
Beauchesne
20-39M Chelmsford,
MA
GLRR
15 years ago – May 2004: I covered
286 miles with five days off during this month. I missed the days due to a torn
calf muscle post-Wachusett Mountain that cost me 6 weeks in the boot. The month
started off okay with a fourth place finish at Prospect Mountain (Morse won in
34:53) running 38:03. A week later I ran the “Fit 4 kids” 5k in Exeter where I
took 11th place with a 16:53. A week later I finished 9th in 27:33 at the
Wachusett Mountain race and that was pretty much the end of my year with the
calf issue.
10 years ago – May 2009: I got in a
decent mileage month (361) with no days off and five races. I started the month
with a win at the 3 mile “Bear run” trail race in Carlisle. I was alone from
the start but ran scared and won by 29 seconds over the three mile course in
17:09. A week later I was back at the Bedford Rotary 12k which again was the
host of the USATF New England championship. I had a good back-forth fight with
longtime rival (CSU) Terry McNatt. He beat me but I had a decent race setting a
masters PR running 41:45. The following weekend I tried a double race, running
the Wachusett Mountain race on Saturday. It was a new course with some tricky
footing on the downhill part (it also didn’t go to the summit). I finished in
9th place and was 3rd master. The next day I ran the Trav’s trail race, which
is one of my favorite races. I took 9th place (2nd master) in 16:43. The final race
of the month had me back at Pack Monadnock, a race I truly dislike but have
done more than a dozen times. I went out a bit too fast (30:32 at the half) and
that may have hurt my climb. I took 9th place in 1:07:36 and was top master.
5 years ago – May 2014: I was recovering from
walking pneumonia during this month which put a bit of a damper on racing
during this month. I couldn’t resist getting out there for the USATF NE
mountain series, finishing first in the 50+ at Sleepy Hollow (05/04/14), Pack Monadnock
(05/11/14 – missed the 50+ course record by 14 seconds) and Wachusett Mountain
(05/24/14). I also snuck in a road race taking 6th overall and
first in the 50+ with a 17:11 at the Exeter (NH) PTO 5k.
No comments:
Post a Comment