Looking back 2014

5 years ago: June 2014

I headed out to Ohio and Indiana with Eric Morse to do some state high points and also hit some county high points, a few

interesting/unusual sites and get some running in at various parks.

The trip:

Parks - Sharon Woods Metro Park, Buck Creek State park, Carriage hill Metro Park, Taylorsville Metro Park

Peaks - Mt Miserable (1490), Campbell hill (1549), Hoosier Hill (1257)

County High points - Logan (1549), Champaign (1390), Darke (1240), Wayne (1257), Union (1140), Clark (1305), Madison(1205).

State high points - OH & IN

World records - 1st concrete street, shortest street

Next up was the Mt Ascutney race; this would be my 11th attempt at this race. Of the series races this is probably my favorite since it is all up on paved road. This is the one that gives you some sort of idea whether you are ready for Mt Washington or just blowing smoke. I hoped for the former but feared the latter. Eric Blake was out of sight by the mile as he just crushed the field setting a new course record of 27:57. I ended up in 32:09 8th place finish. Our CMS team had a great day with six in the top 11. We finished first in all three team categories (open, masters, seniors).

1 27:57 Eric Blake 35

2 30:59 Drew Best 32

3 31:05 Brandon Newbould 32

4 31:17 Peter Gurney 25

5 31:26 Jim Johnson 37

6 31:59 Todd Callaghan 44

7 32:00 Tim Mahoney 34

8 32:09 Dave Dunham 50

9 32:19 Erik Vandendries 49

10 32:49 Ross Krause 34

11 32:51 Kevin Tilton 32

USATF New England 5 mile championships:  It was warm (70s) and there was a very strong wind to contend with. At least the headwind would be during the first half of the race and then a tailwind for the last two miles. It took me most of the first mile to catch the lead women’s pack and I hit the mile in 5:46. I slowly moved by people and after the first ½ mile of the race was only passed by one or two people. I ran out of steam on the final downhill and only just barely held off the top woman. I can’t complain about finishing third in the 50-54 in a New England championship!

Top 5 50+

1 Robert Cipriano 54 28:12 Somerville Road Runners

2 Dan Verrington 51 28:31 Central Mass Striders

3 Dave Dunham 50 28:37 Central Mass Striders

4 Paul Hammond 54 28:49 Whirlaway Racing Team

5 Michael Cooney 52 28:57 Whirlaway Racing Team

Mt Washington weekend - I couldn’t race this weekend due to the unknown ankle injury (I was still waiting for the MRI results), but I headed up to Mt Washington anyway. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the race from the sidelines. The other two times since 1988 that I couldn’t race I was either not at the race or in the press van. It was interesting seeing the race from this perspective. On Monday I got word about my injury, fortunately it is not (yet) a stress fracture but a bone bruise of the calcaneus and inflammation of the sub-talar joint. A bone bruise is not good; it can lead to a stress fracture. So my plan was to try and see how running the next couple of days went, with the hope of being able to do the U.S. Mountain champs (Loon July 6). If I make it that far I’d have to take three weeks off after the championships to let the calcaneus heal.

USATF New England open and master’s championship:  After missing a week due to the bone bruise and ligament issues in my right foot, I’d started back running tentatively. I wasn’t sure how I’d hold up, but I was willing to give it a go. I found myself in last place right away and tried to relax. Jim, Todd, and Dan were a little ahead and the first quarter was slow (83+). Dan’s group slowly pulled away and I found myself alone after Joe O’Leary went by just after the mile. My foot started to hurt a lot around half-way and my calf (probably from favoring) was twinging. At 2 miles Dan was 12+ seconds ahead, but I was running my own race and kept trying to not completely fall apart. With 3 laps to go he was 12 seconds up, with 2 laps left it was down to 9 seconds, and at the gun lap it was 5 or 6 seconds. With 200 to go he was still 4 or 5 seconds ahead but I found another gear and caught him in the last 100 meters. At the end I got him by just over 1 second. I hit the track hard, wheezing and trying to breathe. Man that hurt!

Men 50+

1 17:21.74 Dave Dunham 50 CMS

2 17:22.99 Daniel Verrington 52 CMS

3 19:55.92 Michael Quinn 50 SRR

4 20:11.80 Andrew Merlino Jr 50 Shamrock

5 20:59.24 David Lapierre 50 CMS