The 10s

10 years ago: January 2010 – I got in a bunch of double-race weekends this month, mixing in some road with a lot of snowshoe.  I started the month at the Salem MA Frosty Four.  I kind of got stuck out there alone and struggled on the one hill which also happened to have a lot of snow on it.  No complaints with a fourth overall and a masters win.

1 Mike Quintal     M3039   31         M          N Andover MA     21:22    5:21

2 Alex Gomes     M2029   21         M          Peabody MA        21:40    5:25

3 Dave Dunham  M4049   45         M          Bradford MA        22:22    5:36

4 Brett Rickenbach M3039 34         M          Danvers MA        22:52    5:43

The next day was a 4.5 Km race at Beaver Brook in Hollis, NH.  I was pretty sore (foot and shin) but want to race as many snowshoe races as possible in 2010.  Double-J and I did a warm-up on the roads.  The course was dusted with some powder and the base seemed to be a solid sheet of ice.  This meant it would be fast.  I was hoping for a top five finish and get out of the race no more injured than I entered it.  It seemed like a lot of guys raced on New Year’s Day so that would not be an excuse.  The race went off in a flurry of snow.  I planned on looking at the turn to see who was chasing (I could hear a couple of guys right behind me).  I hit the turn in 8:33 and was a bit surprised to see that Steve Wolfe was only 7 seconds back!  I'd beaten him at Prospect last week by 2:14, but it would take a lot to best them in this race.  I kept thinking "get to the uphill then kick", but when I finally got to the uphill I had no kick.  I struggled in to take fourth in 17:10. Steve kept it close for the 40+ title finishing a scant 12 seconds back. 

1 15:48  Jim Johnson       CMS      32M      Salem NH

2 16:24  Tim Cox             aR         36M      Northwood NH

3 16:43  Robert Jackman  TNT       27M      Warwick RI

4 17:10  Dave Dunham     CMS      45M      Ward Hill MA

5 17:22  Steve Wolfe        aR         45M      Merrimack NH

Next up was the Turner Trail race (Pittsfield MA 01/09/10).  Not much to say about this, I had a good race on the climb and held on for the descent.  It was basically climb on one side of the hill and come down the other.  The warm-up and warm-down with a big CMS contingent was fun.

1.  Jim Johnson               32M      45:10            

2.  Corey Watts               21M      46:42 

3.  Dave Dunham            45M      46:59

4.  Tim Vanorden             41M      48:20 

5.  Matt Westerlund         37M      48:50

6.  Tim Mahoney              30M      49:20 

                                                                                 

Top of Turner

The following week I headed out to Western Mass for the weekend.  First up was the Greylock Glen.  After warming up I headed out to check out the bridge crossing that I heard would be tricky.  I wasn't too worried about the missing first plank but was anxious about tripping on the way over.  Over 100, including some fast road runners, took off for the 3.5 miles of racing.  I felt like I was sprinting all-out to the bridge.  I was in 6th as we started the climb but was passed almost immediately by Ross Krause (Wildman race winner).  I closed the gap as the climb continued and passed him back along with Tim Mahoney.  I could see TiVo close and pass Miller (who was power-walking) and I was able to get within a couple of steps of them as we crested the climb.  That was it for me as we began to drop like mad on the fast snowmobile trails.  For some reason I thought there was one more climb, but I must have been thinking of another version of the course.  I ended up holding on but got schooled by TiVo in the 40+ category.  120 finishers was a great showing for a race at the very edge of MA. 

1 JIM JOHNSON              32M      CMS Polar Bears  25:31    6:42

2 MARK MILLER               29M      BAA                   26:21    6:56

3 GREG HAMMETT            32M      CMS Polar Bears  26:45    7:02

4 TIM VANORDEN            41M      CMS Polar Bears  27:02    7:06

5 DAVE DUNHAM             45M      CMS Polar Bears  27:48    7:18

6 ROSS KRAUSE               30M                              28:09    7:24

7 TIM MAHONEY              30M      CMS Polar Bears  28:18    7:26

8 PAUL BAZANCHUCK       55M      WMM                 30:33    8:02

After much debate about Brave the Blizzard (Guilderland, NY) having snow, JJ and I headed off with assurances from the race

director that there would be a race, it wasn't going to be pretty but it was going to happen.  We headed to the old Williams College ski area on Berlin road for a run/hike up and down Berlin Mountain. This is the sixth highest peak in MA and it is also the Rensslear NY county high point.  I've also read that there is no higher point on a NY border (go ahead prove me wrong).  We did the 1,200' climb in 31 minutes (including 5 minutes on top and 5 minutes putting on snowshoes), then had a blast coming down in 12 minutes of sliding and running (and taking a couple of massive spills. 

On the Summit of Berlin Mountain

On race morn we were among the first to arrive.  My goal was to keep Tim V in sight for as long as possible.  Justin Bishop led for most of the race with JJ and TiVo keeping him moving, they all came in within 13 seconds.  I rolled in later that day to take fourth for the second consecutive year.  I ran as hard as I could but all in all the first double SS weekend of the year was a disappointment.  I think everyone who finished in front of me should finish in front of me but in both races, I thought I'd be able to maintain a much better percentage behind.

1 Jim Johnson                 M32      24:44    06:41

2 Justin  Bishop               M28      24:53    06:44

3 Tim    VanOrden          M41      24:57    06:45

4 Dave   Dunham            M45      26:58    07:17

5 Ahmed Elasser              M47      27:39    07:28

I had some injury issues (foot) after this and was just able to bounce back by the end of the month to take on the Sidehiller’s race in Sandwich NH.  It was a qualifier for Nationals which was one of my goals.  CMS had a great turnout at the race taking eight of the top 16 spots.  Looking now, only 3 of the guys in the top 16 have never been a member of CMS.  I took 10^th place overall and was tops in the master’s category.

Place     First      Last                  City, State          Age       Team Name       Time    

1          Kevin     Tilton                Conway, NH        28         CMS/Inov-8        31:08   

2          Josh      Ferenc               Alstead, NH        28         BAA                   31:20   

3          Jim       Johnson             Salem, NH          32         CMS/Inov-8        31:25   

4          Peter     Mallett               Manchester, NH   26         CMS                  31:47   

5          Charles  Therriault           Newmarket, NH   24         Acidotic             32:12   

6          Ben       Nephew             Mansfield, MA     34         CMS/Inov-8        32:32   

7          Bob       Jackman            Warwick, RI        27         TNT                   33:25   

8          Tim       Cox                   Northwood, NH   36         Acidotic             33:44   

9          Danny   Ferriera              Concord, NH       27         Acidotic             34:01   

10         Dave     Dunham            Ward Hill, MA      45         CMS/Atlas          34:04   

11         Steve    Wolfe                Merrimack, NH    45         Acidotic             34:05   

12         Eric       Morse                Berlin, VT           44         CMS                  34:44   

13         Jim       Pawlicki             Beverly, MA        35         CMS                  34:51   

14         David    Principe             Cranston, RI       43         TNT                   35:03   

15         Stan      Snow                 Dunbarton, VT    43         GSRT                 35:05   

16         Dave     Quintal              Salem, NH          46         CMS                  35:33   

5 years ago: January 2015 – I missed some time with back woes (spasms) missing 25 days.  I did not race during the month.  Similar to now I was putting in about 3 hours a day working out.  Unlike now I was mixing in rowing (about 1 hour a day).  I still have the ERG rower but haven’t used it in a few years.  I prefer the bike as the lesser of all evils.