Looking back - February 2012

10 years ago – February 2012: I raced 6 times over this month but only totaled 20.8 miles of racing.  I covered 362 miles in training which was my best February in 11 years.  I started the month with a trip to the Fudgesicle 5k in Tewksbury (02/04).  Conditions were decent with the temperature at 29 degrees with sun and zero wind. I had a fun time battling with Dave Corbett who had won the week before.  He helped push me to my fastest time so far that year with a winning 17:20, 3 seconds up on Dave.  We must have changed leads more than a dozen times along the way.

1 Dave Dunham  47 M4049 Bradford   MA   17:20  5:35
2 David Corbett   28 M2029 Stoneham   MA 17:23  5:36
3 Festus Mbuva   30 M3039                       18:23  5:55
4 Peter LaGoy     52 M5059 hopkington MA 18:38  6:00
5 Daniel Regan   17 M1519 Tewksbury  MA 19:05  6:09

The following weekend Eric Morse and I headed off to Missouri to bag the high point and do some racing.  We were working towards standing on the highest point in each state.  I had one blank spot on the map in the southeast prior to this trip.  A few months back Eric saw that the USATF “winter” cross-country championships were in St. Louis which is only 100 miles from the state high point, so plans were forged and off we went. As we got closer to Taum Sauk (1,772’) the rain turned to snow.  Not surprisingly when we got to the parking lot we were the only ones exploring the park on this day.  We changed into our running gear and ran the ¼ mile (paved path) to the top of Missouri.  We climbed about 2 feet from the parking lot.  After the obligatory pictures we headed off for another 45 minutes of running mixing it up with some on the Ozark trail but mostly on the slushy park road. 

On top of Missouri with Eric and Action Dave

After we bagged the state high point we headed back to St. Louis and the scenic Forest Park.  It is always a good idea to scout the course if possible, that way there are no surprises on race day.  The course was approximately 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) loop that would be run multiple times, for the masters (age 40 and up) that would mean 4 loops. It was cold (19 degrees) and windy (over 20 mph) and the wind chill was 4 degrees on race day.  We met up with Tim Van Orden just before the start and also bumped into old New England rival Rusty Snow (now living in CA) just before we lined up.  About 100 of us took to the line and off we went.  I went out hard but not crazy and found myself in about 50^th at 1 km (3:20).  I steadily moved through the fast starters and was in the mid 30’s for place at 2 km (7:01)and completed the second loop (4 km) in 14:07.  At that point I’d moved up to about 25^th.  I reached 6km in 21:14 matching strides with two guys from the “Running Republic of Boulder” club.  At 7km Eric flew by and put about 4-5 seconds on me from 800 to 400 to go.  Eric very slowly came back but he had just a little more than me, crossing the line 1.6 seconds ahead.  It turned out that Eric was the only one to pass me during the race.  It was definitely a fun weekend.

1 Christian Cushing-Murray        44 SANTA ANA CA         26:08.1 5:16 COMPEX RACING
2 Rusty Snow                            42 SANTA BARBARA CA 26:11.9 5:17 SANTA BARBARA RUNNING AND RACI
 
12 Tim Van Orden                     43 BENNINGTON VT      27:24.4 5:31 CENTRAL MASS STRIDERS
21 Eric Morse                            46 BERLIN VT               28:15.0 5:41 Central Vermont
22 Dave Dunham                       47 BRADFORD MA         28:16.6 5:42 Central Mass Striders
 

The next weekend (02/19) I decided to do the USATF NE track champs when the snowshoe weekend was cancelled due to a lack of snow.  I decided on an unusual triple.  I signed up for the masters 800m, masters 200m and the open 3,000m. 

Sam Wood joined me for a scenic run along the Charles River.  There was only one heat for the masters 800 and I was looking to run faster than I did at Dartmouth earlier this year (2:26).  I met my goal with a 2:24.54 masters PR.  Next up was the 200, which was the next event on the track.  I changed from t-shirt to "speed-suit" and did an easy mile on the infield.  I drew the inside lane, which was good for me on the very high banked track.  Everyone shot out and was out of sight in the first 100.  The field basically all crossed the line as I hit the final straight away.  I gave it my all and crossed in 33.06 (a 40+ PR and the first time I've EVER run in an official 200m race).  With a little more time before the 3,000 I headed out for 2 miles looping around the Harvard Stadium.  I was in dead-last right away and stayed there for most of the race. After the mile I was steadily clicking off 39's and closed and on three guys.  I passed them all but got passed back in the last 100.  I was pleased to hit 9:50.73 for the 3,000.  All in all it was a fun day, there were a lot of races to watch and I got in some decent runs. 

 
Mixed 800 Meter Run Masters
  1 Andrew Darien         41 Eliot Track            2:08.63 
  2 Dave Dunham          47 Central Mass         2:24.54 
  3 Dave Menard           46 Boston Athle          2:26.80 
 
Mixed 200 Meter Run Masters
  1 Roy Charette           50 Mass Velocit           25.95   2
  9 Dave Dunham         47 Central Mass           33.06   1
 
Men 3000 Meter Run
  1 Eric Ashe                 23 Boston Athle           8:29.45 
31 Dave Dunham          47 Central Mass           9:50.73 
 
Next up was the USATF New England 10 mile championships (race #1 in the 7 race Grand Prix series).  Dan, Dave La, and I headed out to Amherst together.  I had a very specific time goal in mind but was also looking at this as a race where I'd try to be aggressive and run with some 40+ guys who've always been ahead of me.  The wind was strong so I worked my way up to a big group in front of me.  That group had teammate Joe Shairs in it and Tim Van Orden was in the front of the pack of about 10.  I hit half way (28:50) and was passed by a couple of guys who were flying.  I was working back and forth with Ben Ndaya (RUN) but we just didn't seem to gain any ground.  The last mile was tough as it is essentially ¾ of a mile uphill and on this day it'd be straight into the teeth of the wind (it was my worst mile of the day).  I kept it together as best I could but 3 or 4 guys (including George Adams) blew by me in the final ¼ mile. I was very excited to see the clock and break my stretch goal with a 57:15 for 8th place in the masters.
Masters Results

1   Binney Mitchell         43   1/104  M4049 BURLINGTON, VT      GMAA   56:22  5:39
2   Todd Callaghan       42   2/104  M4049 BEVERLY.MA                        56:24  5:39
3   Joe Noonan             43   3/104  M4049 BURLINGTON, VT      GMAA   56:35  5:40
4   Tim Van Orden         43   4/104  M4049 BENNINGTON, VT     CMS     56:46  5:41
6   George Adams         41   6/104  M4049 GILSUM, NH CMS                 57:08  5:43
7   Gregory Putnam      42   7/104  M4049 STONEHAM, MA        CMS      57:11  5:44
8   Dave Dunham         47   8/104  M4049 BRADFORD, MA        CMS      57:15  5:44
     Joe Shairs               43  11/104  M4049 PEABODY, MA          CMS       57:47  5:47
     Jason Porter            42  13/104  M4049 BEDFORD, NH          CMS       58:24  5:51
     Dan Verrington       49  15/104  M4049 BRADFORD, MA        CMS       59:45  5:59
     Ernie Brake              50   5/105  M5059 N SUTTON, NH         CMS       59:49  5:59
     Scott Clark               46  19/104  M4049 GILMANTON, NH      CMS      1:00:36  6:04
     David LaPierre         47  58/104  M4049 CHELMSFORD,  MA   CMS      1:13:27  7:21