Thursday, September 23, 2021

Looking back - Sept 2016

5 years ago (Sept 2016): I raced three times over this month, a mountain race and two road races.  I started off with the Mt Greylock race which was now part of the USATF NE mountain circuit. Teammates Kevin Tilton and Dave Lapierre for the drive out.  Being part of the Mountain Circuit definitely helped the attendance as 167 turned out and more than half were USATF members. Teammate Matt Veiga shot out at the start with Tim Van Orden following.  A second pack formed, and I trailed by 15 seconds at the mile. Not much changed as we entered the park and the climb got a bit steeper.  I knew I was in 6th place now and also knew that everyone ahead of me was CMS which meant I wouldn’t score for the team unless I moved up a place.  The weather was ideal, sunny, dry, and just a little breeze.  I ended up taking 6th place and 3rd in the 50+. CMS swept the team titles with take the first 6 places in the open, top 3 in the 50+ and top 4 in the 40+.
Pl          Time     Name                            Age       City, St               Team   
1          55:14    Matthew Veiga               29         Lynn, MA            CMS     
2          56:51    Tim Van Orden               48         Bennington, VT   CMS     
3          57:43    Kevin Tilton                   34         Conway, NH        CMS     
4          57:48    Erik Vandendries            51         Chestnut Hill, MA CMS     
5          58:33    Ed Sheldon                    52         Hooksett, NH      CMS     
6          58:43    Dave Dunham                52         Bradford, MA       CMS     
20         1:10:11 David Lapierre               52         Chelmsford, MA   CMS     
 
Next up was the USATF NE 20km championships (Seasons 20k).  My plan this year was to try and be competitive with my fellow Senior (50-59) runners.  Race day was just plain nasty, although not “hot” it was 75 degrees and the dew point in the 70’s made it about as humid as possible without actually raining.  Ed went out as he normally does and was 5 seconds up at the mile.  Around the mile Jim Pawlicki strode by and I latched on.  Jim and I ran together, and he’d gap me on the uphill parts and I’d come back on the down.  I was 38:52 at 10k which was only 15 seconds slower than last year, before 8 miles it got ominously dark and then the skies opened up.  I pulled away from Jim Pawlicki on the climb after 10 miles.  I had my head up looking ahead at the line of guys in front of me when I heard Jim yell out “No!”.  I looked back and realized we missed the turn!  I started yelling “No, no, no” to the guys ahead who’d missed the turn ahead of me as I quickly reversed direction.  In all I ran an extra 50 seconds but others had it much worse. Jason Bui went back by me with 200 to go and powered to the line, I struggled in running 1:18:48 and taking 5th in the 50+. 

Kicking for the finish


50+ (41 finishers)
1          1:12:12 Peter Hammer    50         M          BAA
2          1:18:31 Michael Cooney   54         M          WRT
3          1:18:34 Scott Anderson   51         M          WRT
4          1:18:39 Charlie Bemis     53         M          WRT
5          1:18:48 Dave Dunham     52         M          CMS
6          1:19:23 Robert Cipriano   56         M          SRR
7          1:19:52 Ed Sheldon         52         M          CMS
8          1:21:11 Martin Tighe       58         M          CMS
15         1:29:42 David Lapierre    52         M          CMS
16         1:30:54 Philip Savoy Jr     54         M          CMS
 
My final race of the month was the USATF NE 10km championships (Lone Gull):  I was gunning for a sub-36 and would be looking for teammates Ed Sheldon and Jim Pawlicki to key off of.  Right from the gun it felt “quick” to me.  Every time someone went by I’d want to latch on but it always felt just a little bit too fast.  I reached the mile in 5:40 which was right around the time I thought I could run but it felt a lot tougher than I’d hoped.  I was fortunate always having someone around me.  Jim Pawlicki caught me before 3 miles (17:15) and we strode through 5k together in 17:56.  I still felt I had an outside shot at breaking 36 if I could hold pace.  Jim took off on the final climb to the 6 mile mark (I suck at hills) and Charlie Bemis (WRT 50+) went by at the crest of the hill.  I gave all I had left but every step I lost ground.  I crossed the line in 36:11 (clock time) with a chip time of 36:06.  The 50+ field was strong and I did not crack the top 10 (finishing 11th).  Our team took 3rd behind Whirlaway and a strong Somerville Road Runners squad.
 
 
50+
DvPl      Name                Age       ChipTime GunTimeTown               Club
1          Peter Hammer    50         0:33:14 0:33:18 Needham           BAA
2          Greg Picklesimer  50         0:33:24 0:33:28 Brighton             SRR
3          Pete Bottomley   54         0:34:58 0:35:04 Cape Elizabeth    Dirigo
4          Robert Cipriano   56         0:35:17 0:35:22 Brighton             SRR
5          John Ayers         50         0:35:36 0:35:39 Hamilton            WRT
6          Ed Sheldon         52         0:35:42 0:35:45 Hooksett            CMS
7          Scott Anderson   51         0:35:47 0:35:52 Truro                 WRT
8          Mark Reeder       56         0:35:53 0:35:57 Brighton             GLRR
9          Douglas Martyn   56         0:35:53 0:35:59 North Andover     WRT
10         Charlie Bemis     53         0:36:00 0:36:05 Derry                 WRT
11         Dave Dunham     52         0:36:06 0:36:11 Bradford            CMS
18         Martin Tighe       58         0:37:43 0:37:51 Providence         CMS
23         John Pajer          53         0:39:56 0:40:04 Leicester            CMS
24         David Lapierre    52         0:40:02 0:40:11 Chelmsford        CMS
26         Dan Verrington    54         0:40:03 0:40:12 Bradford            CMS
27         Philip Savoy        54         0:40:28 0:40:37 Shrewsbury        CMS
 

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