On my way to Maine for the Longfellow Frostbite race I stopped at Mackworth Island to check out the trail. It was a nice 1.5 mile (just a little short) with only a little mud and ice. It seemed very popular as the lot was nearly full. Got in my two loops with a quick visit to Gov. Baxter's pet cemetery.
Last year I was fortunate enough to win the Canterbury XC race series and the prize was free entry to the "Snow or no, we go" series. This five race series takes place at a few locations near Canterbury (2 at the Shaker Village). Thank you to the Raffio's for putting on this series and for the freebie! As the name indicates these races are held no matter what the conditions are. Hopefully some will be snowshoe races (which is the primary thinking behind the series) but with the lack of snow and 50 degree weather (with heavy rain) the last couple of days there was no doubt this would be a trail race.
I wasn't sure about doing the race as my ankle has been feeling pretty lousy and the idea of uneven running had me concerned. I started feeling pretty good late in the week, with a quick treadmill run on Thursday and a fast outside run on Friday. After that I figured I'd just give it a shot. The only goal would be to not get hurt, anything else would be a bonus.
I was one of the first to arrive, but the tent was set up and I quickly got my number. Bumped into Tom Raffio who seemed pretty fired up about the race, a lot of positive energy! I put on micro-spikes and headed out onto the course. The dirt road to the cornfield was very icy (and had a big puddle about 50 meters into the course) and then I dipped down to the cornfield. It was also very icy but mostly just icy crust. Unfortunately, under the crust was a lot of water. My feet were soak by 1/2 mile. I'm glad I checked out the course as there were opportunities to avoid the worst of the puddles if you paid attention. It was 30 degrees and snowing a bit but not terrible out there, the wind was a bit chilling. I completed the 2 mile loop and chose to run back to the finish (to see how long one loop was, it was 2.35 miles) instead of continuing around again for the four mile course. I did an out/back on the Northern Rail Trail (solid ice) as an add on to get in a four mile warm up.
I quickly changed into race gear (shorts and longsleeve with Delta Dental Singlet) and had enough time to put in another half-mile. I chose to go with Inov-8 trail shoes with the micro-spikes. It looked like a good turnout with maybe 50 doing either the 2+ mile or the 4+ mile course. Kara Haas looked to be the main competition (she nearly beat me at the Millennium Mile). We chatted briefly and her goal was the same as mine...don't get hurt!
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| Seemed like no one wanted to get on the starting line |
Off we went, and one of the Prospect Acres Obstacle Course runners took it out. It felt quick to me and I was in no rush, figuring I could always try to push it on the second lap. I took the lead at 1/4 mile in and after 1/2 mile couldn't hear any pursuers. I checked my watch every half mile and was happy with the effort and how even my splits were. I started lapping runners by my second time around but found the second lap a bit tougher as my feet were really wet and that did not help with traction. I looked back once as I turned into the cornfield and could see Kara just ahead of the guy who took it out. The cornfield part was very rough so I returned my concentration to watching my footing. It felt like I was giving a good effort, I was wheezing which meant I was pushing pretty hard.
I hit four miles in 27:25 and battled a 2 mile runner right to the finish. I had just enough time to hightail it to my car and grab my camera to get the next 3 runners coming in. After that, Kara joined me for a 2.4 mile warm-down ON THE ROAD. Kara may have talked me into doing the USATF NE masters mile at the end of the month since it is part of the All-Terrain Series. Time will tell.
Results (I'll update when they post them)
1 Dave Dunham 28:22
2 Kara Haas 30:23
3 Adam Crete 30:37
4 Steven Nelson 30:51
5 Rachel Fountain 34:18
2023 - Snow Or No We Go Results | Second Wind Timing
The following week I sat firmly on the fence about racing. I did a workout on Tuesday (2 x 1 mile in 5:44 & 5:36) that left me a little sore, but happy about where my fitness is at. On Thursday I got my 2nd COVID booster and ran the River course putting out the mile markers. The course was in great shape and running it got me fired up to race. Thursday night into Friday I was pretty sick from the shot. Fever, chills, and just feeling miserable. I bounced back a bit Friday afternoon and decided I’d go to the race and play it by ear.
I was not back to 100% but felt a lot better than the previous day. I met up with Greg Putnam and headed out on the course for a warm-up. As is always the case it was a bit muddy over the first 200 meters and then it was nice running. Greg continued on for a long run while I headed back to get into race gear. I went with Inov-8 trail shoes which have great traction. Right before the start I bumped into teammate Adam Malek who was wearing Kahtoolah traction devices over his race flats. He was going to have EXCELLENT traction! After a few final instructions the field of 118 was sent on our way. I got out well and had no trouble over the messy and narrow first part. Once we turned onto the trail proper a few guys flew by. I settled in with Kassandra Marin in about 15th place. My goal was to run around 7:00 miles for the first and last 3 miles and try to average about 8:00’s for the tough four miles. That’d get me home in about 1:10, which based on how I was feeling seemed about right. A 6:50 and a 6:53 got me to the 2 mile mark feeling pretty good. I moved ahead of Kassandra and closed on two guys in front of me during the third mile (6:37). Jeff Walker (the one from Maine) apologized for breathing down my neck on a downhill and then flew by wishing me well. I caught up to the Londonderry High School XC kid when he stopped at the 4 mile waterstop (8:34). I knew that’d be the slowest mile of the day and tried to enjoy the fantastic stretch of running on the new trail from 4 to 5 miles (7:55). The next couple of miles had me closing on Jeff on the uphills and him burying me on the downhills. Running back through the crowds heading out meant really paying attention. It was also nice getting cheers from folks along the way. Richie Blake was the first person I saw on the way back as he was heading up the powerline hill, he still had the energy to offer encouragement. I also saw Emer O’Donoghue and Paul Grant who both gave me an enthusiastic “go get him”. As late as 8 miles I still thought I had a shot at Jeff, but he had something left in reserve and really buried me over the final mile. I closed with a 6:53 and 6:57, so I didn’t fall apart but I did not have anything left. I think the lack of running over the last 6 months played into that. Jeff ended up breaking his 55-59 age group record and my time got me the 3rd fastest ever in the 55-59. Pretty happy with breaking 1:10, but surprised that 13th place overall was only good enough for 6th in the 50+. A very strong age group indeed! I finished my 15th River, so I’ve officially run half of the races. There are 14 people who have done 15 or more of the races. So happy that North Medford Club (and Sau-Mei) took on the race and kept it going.
30 years ago today I set the still standing course record at the Nipmuck trail marathon breaking Rich Fargo’s 3:07. The course featured two out & back runs, first south for 6.5 miles then the northern section for 6.6 miles. From my training log. “2 mile warm-up, felt okay. Felt very good, going easy through the ½. Moved into first at 18 miles and really pushed the last section. Splits: 6.5 – 41:15, 6.5 43:24, 6.6 48:14, 6.6 49:01. Petey (Steve Peterson) won the ½ in 1:33:15”. I noted that I passed Petey at 22 mile. The half marathon ran over the second half of the course (the northern part which was much tougher) and started after the marathon.
