Looking back - May 2017

 5 years ago – I only raced twice during this month.  First up was the Pack Monadnock 10 mile – This was my 17th time running the race. This year Pack moved to early May to accommodate the date change for Cranmore (USA Mountain champs June 3) and the move meant much better weather conditions.  It was only in the 50’s when I gathered up a few of the guys at Temple Mountain and drove back to Wilton (I left my mountain bike as my transport back after the race).  I felt like I went out pretty good, I was faster than last year and needed to be as my goal was to break 1:10.  I was in 13th place at the mile and by 2 miles I had slipped to 15th.  A little after 3 miles I noticed that CMS teammate Nick Taormina had fallen off the pack he was in.  I caught him around four miles and then set my sights on Steve Brightman (another CMS teammate).  Imoved up to 10th place and passed 5 miles in a little over 32 minutes.  At each mile I checked the distance to Steve and what I’d need to run for splits to break 70.  Finally we got to 8 and I was 14 seconds back and boom off went Aaron and Steve, they both buried me on the climb up route 101.  My split for that mile was decent but I lost ground. The final 1.2 miles in Miller State park are as steep (and steeper) than Mt Washington and the 8.8 miles leading up to that had worn me down.  Soon after Steve started power-walking which helped me close the gap.  He also was checking on the turns, so no one was surprised at where anyone else was.  None of us changed places over the last mile, I hit the line in 10th place in 1:10:29, a bit short of my goal but no complaints.
 
Place     Name                            Age       Cat        City, St              Time     USATF team
1          Brandon Newbould          35         M30-39  Nottingham, NH  1:04:16             WRT
2          Peter Asaro                    28         M1-29    Gloucester, MA   1:07:07            
3          Tim Van Orden               48         M40-49  Bennington, VT   1:07:34             CMS
4          Mark Rabasco                 22         M1-29    Pittsfield, MA      1:07:50             WMDP
5          Ed Sheldon                    52         M50-59  Hooksett, NH      1:08:41             CMS
6          Matthew Veiga                30         M30-39  Lynn, MA            1:08:50             CMS
7          Daniel Princic                 37         M30-39  Reading, MA       1:09:25             WRT
8          Aaron Stone                   34         M30-39  Greenfield, MA    1:09:42            
9          Steve Brightman             48         M40-49  Providence, RI    1:10:15             CMS
10         Dave Dunham                53         M50-59  Bradford, MA      1:10:29             CMS
11         Erik Vandendries             52         M50-59  Chestnut Hill, MA 1:10:37             CMS
                                                                                                                       
17         Nick Taormina                44         M40-49  Gloucester, MA   1:14:24             CMS
22         Regina Loiacano             43         F40-49   Gloucester, MA   1:17:54             CMS
32         John Pajer                     54         M50-59  Leicester, MA      1:22:00             CMS
57         Barbara Mcmanus                       49         F40-49   Rutland, MA        1:32:00             CMS
79         Stephen Laska                55         M50-59  Holden, MA        1:37:10             CMS
97         Kathleen Murphy             59         F50-59   Worcester, MA    1:41:34             CMS
99         John Martin                    64         M60-69  Hyannis, MA       1:42:09             CMS
119       Karen Berni-Giarusso       59         F50-59   Sutton, MA         1:47:04             CMS
134       Mary Sharkey                  67         F60-69   Grosvenordale, CT1:49:10            CMS
138       Kimberly Gordon             35         F30-39   Rutland, MA        1:51:12             CMS
181       Bernard Davis                 67         M60-69  Grosvenordale,CT            2:26:27             CMS

My only other race was Wachusett Mountain which was the third race in the USATF NE Mountain Series.  The race was a 2-in-one, you could choose to do the "up only" and finish on the summit or do the up and continue on for the round trip 10k.  I've done the race 21 times, but this version is only in its fourth year.  Typically, I'd only do the UP but this year the USA champs are up/down so I thought I'd give it a go. The field was impressive.  All of the typical Mountain characters were present.  The 50+ field looked very strong!  My focus was on teammates Ed Sheldon and Erik Vandendries, but I knew that Craig Fram (WRT), Jim Boule (at), Brian Ruhm (GCS), and Mark Reeder (GLRR) would be tough! I got a good start and found my pace quickly.  I locked in behind Fram with Ed well up in the early going.  I passed Fram a little after the mile and pushed on the downhill into the park as this would be my best chance to put some space on Erik V.  I had moved up to 15th place and then the really tough climbing starts (a little after 1.5 miles).  I started to close a bit on teammate Steve Brightman and was within 20 seconds of Ed.  Steve walked a bit as we turned into the parking lot for the final push to the top and I passed him.  He went flying back by me and got me by 2 seconds at the line. I was surprised that I'd made it into the top 10.
We circled around the fire tower on top and started the descent.  I caught Steve within a half-mile and went by trying to really push on the steeper downs as I closed on Ed.  I caught Ed at 4 miles and gapped him a little.  There was a tough little road climb at 4.5 and Ed went back past me.  I caught him again as we hit the dirt road and knew I'd need to get some distance on him as there was a tough little hill with about 1 mile to go.  What I didn't know was Ed took a massive spill (he was bloodied when he finished) soon after.  My down time was okay, I'd only done it one other time.  I can't complain about a 40 minute 10k that had 900' of climb/descent.  I definitely won't complain about a tenth and sixth place. 

Up & down
1 37:52.5          Tim Van Orden              M49      Bennington, VT CMS
2 38:03.9          Matthew Veiga              M30      Lynn, MA          CMS
3 38:23.5          Tim Harder                   M31      Somerville, MA  
4 39:34.7          Daniel Princic                M37      Reading, MA     WRT
5 39:47.4          Todd Callaghan M47      Beverly, MA       CMS
6 40:06.9          Dave Dunham               M53      Bradford, MA     CMS
7 40:20.0          Steve Brightman            M48      Providence, RI  CMS
8 40:53.3          Matthew Salminen         M28      Cambridge, MA  
9 41:01.6          Ed Sheldon                   M52      Hooksett, NH    CMS
10 41:44.6        James Pawlicki              M42      Lynn, MA          CMS

3 mile climb
1 19:56.9          Drew Best         35        Amherst, MA     aR
2 20:42.1          Tim Van Orden  49        Bennington, VT CMS
3 20:52.7          Matthew Veiga  30        Lynn, MA          CMS
4 20:59.1          Todd Callaghan 47        Beverly, MA       CMS
5 21:04.1          Tim Harder       31        Somerville, MA  
6 21:04.1          David Anderson 38        Madison, CT      
7 21:10.3          Daniel Princic    37        Reading, MA     WRT
8 21:17.4          Ed Sheldon       52        Hooksett, NH    CMS
9 21:36.6          Steve Brightman48        Providence, RI  CMS
10 21:38.9        Dave Dunham   53        Bradford, MA     CMS
11 21:48.6        Erik Vandendries52       Chestnut Hill, MA CMS
12 21:57.2        Craig Fram        58        Exeter, NH        WRT