Looking back: May 1982

40 years ago – I raced 11 times in my final season of high school track and it really beat me up! We trained hard back then with at least two hard workouts a week and usually two meets a week. The total distance raced wasn’t all that much, only 9.98 miles but I think the constant racing ground me down. We kicked off the month with a dual meet against Lowell which we won 91-53. I took first in the half (2:06) and ran a leg of the winning mile relay team (3:46 – my split 54). The relay team was all distance guys with Bernie Brown, Jim Sullivan and Glenn Burlamachi. Three days later I took a third place running 9:10 for the 3,200 meters at the Loucks Games (White Plains, NY). The race was held at 4:30pm and temperatures were in the upper 60’s and low 70’s.  The pace was all over the place with the leader throwing in fast quarters then slowing things down.  Although the mile splits were pretty even (4:35/4:35) the quarters ranged from 74 to 62.  The 9:10.8 lowered my Billerica Memorial High School outdoor track record which still stands as the school record. Next up was a dual meet against our hated rivals (nah, not really hated rivals but we didn’t like losing to them) Chelmsford. We lost the meet 91-54. I ran “as slow as possible” to win the 2 mile in 10:15 and ran on the losing mile relay team (56.0). Three days later it was off to Methuen for the Merrimack Valley league meet. I took first in the mile with a 4:28 and ran a 55 in the mile relay. A few days later I ran a 4:52 mile to win in a dual meet against Methuen. The final dual meet of my high school career was an away meet at Haverhill. I ran the half (!) and the mile relay. We ended up losing the meet, but I won the half in 2:02 and ran a 54 in the relay. My final race of the season was the State Class meet at B.C. I finished 5th in a highly disappointing 9:38. I qualified for the state meet but was feeling so beat up and tired that I chose not to go.

With Bernie Brown and Jim Sullivan