Monday, February 24, 2020

Oh Fudge!


I had a decent week with most of my parts not hurting too much.  So mid-week I decided to do a little speed work.  I did two times a mile on the treadmill and was happily surprised to feel pretty good running under 6 minutes (5:58 & 5:53).  I looked to the weekend schedule and considered the race in Amesbury right up until I saw that the entry fee was $45.  Yikes!  Instead I went with the Fudgcicle 5k in Tewksbury.  This would be the 26th time I’d run this going back to 1991.  The only race I’ve done more is Mt Washington.



Dave Lapierre was game for joining me, so we entered as a team.  The annual finale of the series is a “two-some” where the times are added for each teammate and awards are given in a bunch of categories.  I wasn’t really thinking about that part of it but more about where my race fitness was after exactly ½ of a year without racing.  That is the third longest drought in my 42 years of racing.  Dave and I met up at 7am and headed out for a loop to warm-up.  It was quite cool at only 20 degrees, but there was no wind and it was sunny and the street were dry.  The warm-up felt a lot quicker than it really was (not a good sign).  After a quick change of shoes and putting on my old GLRR singlet we did another mile to stay loose and not get too cold.  I bumped into Justin Daglish who had run an impressive 4:38 mile on the indoor track earlier this season.  I also bumped into long-time friend Mark Behan who had run a couple of decent times this year at the Fudge.  I checked on his goal time for the day and was happy to hear he was aiming to break 20 minutes.  My goal as well!  I told him “I’ll see you out there” as we lined up to go.  There was a nice moment of silence for Lou Peters (95 year old runner who was a staple on the local scene who had passed away the day before).  Then off the field of 150 went.



Right away I felt some serious soreness in my left quad and shin.  Damn!  That was new, never had that issue before.  I tried to relax as we headed slightly downhill for the first ½ mile.  I was in about 15th but just a step or two behind Mark who I was definitely focused on.  We passed a few people heading into the mile and the last person I went by was Clara Camire who I went by a little after the mile (6:16).  Mark accelerated and I did not go.  More like I could not go.  It seemed just a bit too fast to me.  I kept thinking “too early, wait”.  Not much changed to the 2 mile mark (6:18-12:34).  I was already dreading the two HILLS (really just little bumps) in the last mile.  I was also still trying to close the gap on Mark and keep sub-20 as a possibility.  I saw Mark take a very subtle glance back on the turn onto the main road.  I was 5 or 6 seconds back but would not get any closer.  I had no kick left in me and when Camire went by just after the 3 mile mark I had no answer.  I rounded the corner and saw the clock as I kicked it in with a 19:50 (6:23 pace).  D-La came in 28 seconds after me and we took the team category finishing 9th and 10th overall and taking 4th and 5th in the 50+.  No complaints from me, although this was the slowest I’ve ever run at Fudge it was right where I thought my fitness was and if nothing else it gives me a starting point.



    1 Peter Caron          214   1/6   21 M2029 LOWELL     MA   17:21  5:35

    2 Justin Daglish       158   1/14  42 M4049 CARLISLE   MA   17:41  5:42

    3 Michael Luebeck      155   1/8   34 M3039 MAYNARD    MA   18:35  5:59

    4 Bob tremblay         321   1/28  52 M5059 Chelmsford MA   18:55  6:06

    5 Burger King          194   2/8   33 M3039 Boston     MA   19:03  6:08

    6 Fabio Piergentili    398   2/28  57 M5059 ANDOVER    MA   19:08  6:10

    7 Mark Behan           326   3/28  56 M5059 NEWTON     NH   19:43  6:21

    8 Clara Camire         349   1/20  31 F3039 Beverly    MA   19:45  6:22

    9 Dave Dunham          479   4/28  55 M5059 Bradford   MA   19:50  6:23

   10 David Lapierre       196   5/28  55 M5059 Chelmsford MA   20:18  6:32

   11 Ken Warren           481   6/28  58 M5059 WILMINGTON MA   20:26  6:35

   12 Jim Rhoades          309   7/28  51 M5059 Lowell     MA   20:39  6:39

   13 Simonetta Piergenti  325   1/19  55 F5059 WILMINGTON MA   20:42  6:40

   14 Matt Theodoros       198   3/8   37 M3039 Andover    MA   20:43  6:41

   15 Dan Ackroyd          356   2/14  45 M4049 TEWKSBURY  MA   20:47  6:42

   16 Richard Friesner     476   4/8   38 M3039 NORTH CHEL MA   20:56  6:45

   17 Wayne Cole           181   5/8   36 M3039 LOWELL     MA   20:58  6:45

   18 Steve Tomasl         478   1/16  62 M6069 Derry      NH   20:59  6:46

   19 Frank Corsaro        176   2/16  63 M6069 METHUEN    MA   21:01  6:46

   20 Chris Spinney        330   8/28  59 M5059 CARLISLE   MA   21:19  6:52

   21 Ken Goodin           169   3/16  65 M6069 LOWELL     MA   21:22  6:53

   22 Sharon O'Grady       138   1/19  47 F4049 Chelmsford MA   21:23  6:53

   23 Sean Moody           229   3/14  40 M4049 AMESBURY   MA   21:26  6:54

   24 David Perloff        189   2/6   26 M2029 Chelmsford MA   21:26  6:54

   25 John Mulroy          391   4/16  64 M6069 READING    MA   22:16  7:10




  Mens Seniors Teams

--------------------------------------------------

   1.  D-La & LaDave                          

            19:50   20:18 =   40:08

         Dave Dunham, David Lapierre

   2.  Unknown                                

            20:59   28:55 =   49:54

         Steve Tomasl, James Lincoln

   3.  The Whack and a Doodle                 

            22:39   28:26 =   51:05

         Michael Hopkins, Tony Espinola

   4.  Feet's don't fail us now               

            24:06   29:13 =   53:19

         Peter Wasylak, Joe Ferreira

   5.  Mark & Phil                            

            19:43   35:29 =   55:12

         Mark Behan, Phil Petschek

   6.  That Which Does Not Kill Us Only Prolong

            35:52   37:03 = 1:12:55

         Alan Foulds, John Bradley



MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 59

    1     4 Bob Tremblay        52 Chelmsford         MA   18:55

    2     6 Fabio Piergentili   57 ANDOVER            MA   19:08

    3     7 Mark Behan          56 NEWTON             NH   19:43

    4     9 Dave Dunham         55 Bradford           MA   19:50

    5    10 David Lapierre      55 Chelmsford         MA   20:18

    6    11 Ken Warren          58 WILMINGTON         MA   20:26

    7    12 Jim Rhoades         51 Lowell             MA   20:39

    8    20 Chris Spinney       59 CARLISLE           MA   21:19

    9    27 John Feehrer        55 Westford           MA   22:34

   10    28 Michael Hopkins     52 SALEM              NH   22:39

   11    31 Ronald DesMarais    57 BILLERICA          MA   22:46

   12    34 Ken O'Brien         55 PEABODY            MA   23:00

   13    38 Michael Andreottola 50 HAVERHILL          MA   23:27

   14    41 Keith O'Brien       55 SOUTH CHELMSFORD   MA   23:50

   15    47 James Hughson       52 Billerica          MA   24:14

   16    49 David Penn          54 MELROSE            MA   24:17

   17    50 Mike Kent           56 Billerica          MA   24:26

   18    58 Fil Faria           55 Tewksbury          MA   25:18

   19    63 Will Naser          55 Natick             MA   25:44

   20    81 Scott Casper        51 SOUTH CHELMSFORD   MA   27:54

   21    82 Donald Caron        55 Windham            NH   28:18

   22    83 Tony Espinola       55 DRACUT             MA   28:26

   23    86 James Lincoln       59 Lowell             MA   28:55

   24    90 Joe Ferreira        54 LOWELL             MA   29:13

   25    92 David Morang        57 MERRIMACK          NH   29:35

   26   123 Phil Petschek       58 N Andover          MA   35:29

   27   129 John Bradley        50 PEABODY            MA   37:03

   28   136 Mike Brodeur        56 Tyngsborough       MA   43:14


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