Looking back - 35 years ago

35 years ago: I raced 3 times in November 1986, closing out my senior year of cross country at the University of Lowell.  I started the month with a third place finish behind Dean Crowe and Are Naakim (both from BC). Crowe won the New England championship with a 24:06 over the 5 mile Franklin Park course around and through the golf course. I finished six seconds back and one second behind Crowe.

The following week I was leading the NCAA qualifier race in Philadelphia with a little over a mile to go I was sent off course. The first 50 runners were sent the wrong way and the result was the top ranked teams were given a pass to the National Championships. My final college XC race was a windy and warm 10k in Riverside California. I ran with the lead pack for the first 4.5 miles then got buried as the guys with speed took off. I finished in fourth place in 31:09 with mile splits of 4:36/9:52/15:08/20:16/25:24/30:11 over the rolling terrain.

Cotter, Cakorous, McKenna, DD, Derrah