Canterbury XC

 I’ve raced at the Canterbury Shaker Village 11 times including 5 times doing this XC race which is part of the CAR Series.  Over the last few years each time I’ve done the XC race it has featured a different course.  I like the “old” course with a lot of fields and a big climb.  Even the two loop 1.5 mile course was fun.  This version included some very nasty trail with a lot of little up/down and twisty turns and a few stream crossings to keep you focused on where you were going.  Even the field loop was tough with the grass not mowed (or chewed by the cows).  That meant slow going and a lot of worry on my part about my calf, hamstring, and knee.  I’d be running cautiously, this was no cross-country race, this was a full on trail race.
 
I met up with Ernie Brake and Scott Clark and we headed out for an easy preview of the course.  I found it to be well marked but you really had to pay attention to where you were going (it also helped that I saw Ellen Raffio’s course preview on Strava and got a detailed retelling from her prior to the run).  We only had one spot where we stopped and weren’t entirely sure which way to go, but there were cones and flags on the right and nothing on the left.  There wasn’t anything to stop you from going left and two of the top three guys went the wrong way during the race.  This is why it is so important to check out the course when you can.  It is such a nice venue, but I heard that they aren’t as supportive of the needs of the race as they should be.
 
On to the race.  I was hoping to give Ernie a good run in the 60+ age group and based on previous years figured a top 10 finish might be possible.  My number one goal was to not get hurt!  A decent sized field (128) took off on a short loop around vegetable garden before heading off for the bigger loop around the (deep) grass field.  It felt fast, uncomfortably fast and Ernie already went by me after ¼ mile.  We were 3:12 at ½ mile which was why it felt fast.  That was definitely quicker than I thought we’d go given the conditions.  I was in the top 10 but only just.  I moved up a little on the nice downhill then Terrence  Ferns flew by on the short but tough little uphill, Ernie also pulled away.  I kept them reasonably close through the Turning Mill Pond single track section where the footing wasn’t bad.  I caught Max Goupil on a stretch of the Factory Pond trail where the trail was especially hard to follow.  I went right and he went left to cross over a stream and that got me ahead of him.  I was glad to safely get through that part of the course and at 2 miles got to some better running.  The climb back up to the grass field was tough but I could see Terrence, Sam Wood, and Ernie not that far ahead (10-15 seconds).  I was hopeful when Ernie looked back to see where I was.  Then with about ¼ mile to go Scott Clark went flying by!  I’d not heard anyone behind me (and didn’t look).  That was a surprise.  I tried to latch onto him but couldn’t and soon after Eli Lemire went hauling on by (and very nearly caught Ernie).  I finished a wiped out 8th place in 20:55.  I heard after the race that 2nd place went off course a little and another guy in the top three lost over 2 minutes and ended up finishing 11th.  I’m happy to have gotten through this without making any injuries worse.
 
Overall Results – 128 finishers
Place     Time      Name                                  Pace      Sex         Age        City        St
1             16:23     Andrew Tuttle                    5:17       M           29                         
2             20:03     David Chorney                   6:28       M           36           Concord NH
3             20:30     Terrence Ferns                  6:36       M           55           Sutton NH
4             20:42     Sam Wood                          6:40       M           37           Laconia NH
5             20:46     Ernest Brake                      6:41       M           62           Sutton NH
6             20:46     Eli Lemire                           6:41       M           17           Weare NH
7             20:50     Scott Clark                         6:43       M           58           Gilmanton NH
8             20:55     Dave Dunham                    6:44       M           60           Bradford MA
9             20:59     Max Goupil                         6:46       M           14           Contoocook NH
10           21:14     Norman Goupil                 6:50       M           45           Contoocook NH
11           21:35     Andrew Strauss                 6:57       M           20           Amherst NH
12           22:43     Warren Bartlett                7:19       M           26           Loudon NH
13           22:50     Allison Davis                      7:21       F             36           Contoocook NH
14           23:17     Kara Haas                           7:30       F             53           Chelmsford MA
15           23:21     Sarah Burdette                  7:31       F             46           Concord NH
16           23:23     Vincent Perelli                   7:32       M           60           Hopkinton NH
17           23:26     Jeff Clark                            7:33       M           59           Holderness NH
18           23:47     Charlotte Boyington         7:40       F             13           Chester NH
19           23:51     Benjamin Strauss             7:41       M           53           New Boston NH
20           23:56     Jonathan Kovar                 7:42       M           54           Contoocook NH
 
Age Graded Results
1             20:46     16:31     77.77     Ernest Brake                      62          Sutton NH              
 2            20:55     16:56     75.86     Dave Dunham                    60          Bradford MA            
 3            20:50     17:10     74.88     Scott Clark                         58           Gilmanton NH            
 4            20:30     17:19     74.23     Terrence Ferns                  55           Sutton NH              
 5            23:23     18:56     67.85     Vincent Perelli                  60           Hopkinton NH            
 
60-69 results 18 finishers
Place     Time      Name                                  Pace      Sex         Age        City        St
1             20:46     Ernest    Brake                    6:41       M           62           Sutton    NH
2             20:55     Dave      Dunham               6:44       M           60           Bradford              MA
3             23:23     Vincent Perelli                   7:32       M           60           Hopkinton            NH
4             25:06     Richard Clymer                 8:05       M           63           Concord               NH
5             26:20     Vincent Sampo                  8:29       M           60           Canterbury          NH

Chelmsford and Friends Alumni XC race

I’d been struggling a bit this month with a very sore knee and finally got the results, a minor meniscus tear and a burst cyst.  If I could get the inflammation under control I wouldn’t need a cortisone shot, so I began working on consistently applying volataren gel.  In the meantime it was back to racing again.  I’d been planning on a return to the Chelmsford and Friends Alumni XC race.  I’d done this race 10 times and was looking forward to heading back.  The only drawback is that the race takes place at 11 a.m. on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  I’m usually the only one at work on that day and they sort of count on me to cover.  I took 2 hours of leave and was off to Chelmsford in time for a course preview warm-up.  The course was in great shape, no mud or snow and only a little leafy section in the single-track above the outdoor track.  I decided to go with road flats with the course being in such good shape.  After switching into those and my lime green Billerica singlet I headed out for another mile to stay loose.  It wasn’t cold but the 45 degree temps seemed chilly with the wind blowing.  It was nice catching up with some people I rarely see.  A lot of Greater Lowell Road Runners were present and so many familiar faces.  Keith O’Brien (Chelmsford 1982) puts on a fun event.  30+ from 18 schools and ranging in age from 12 to 82 lined up and Richie Blake sent us of (Richie would both time and run the race!).

Don Fay, Keith O'Brien (not really from Brica), Me

Dave Dechellis took it out with fellow Billerican Don Fay and I in tow.  Dave pulled away quickly and by ½ mile in he was on his own and on his way to a 44 second win.  Don had beaten me by 43 seconds at USATF NE three weeks before and my goal today was to keep him as close as possible.  We hit the mile together in 6:14, this is the fastest mile of the course.  He pulled away right after that and immediately put 4-5 seconds on me. 

I kept the gap about the same and even closed a little right before 2 miles (12:56).  I kept working as hard as I could but could not narrow the gap.  Over the last .7 of the 3.2 mile course he put another 8 seconds on me to take second place 13 seconds in front of me.  I quickly changed shoes, did a 1.5 mile warm-down and zipped back to work to get back to my desk by noon.  Great fun!

Keith started in Billerica singlet and finished in Chelmsford

Place	Name	Sex	Age	Cat	High School	Time	Pace
1	Dave Dechellis	M	48	M45	Saugus H.S.	19:42.7	6:10
2	Don Fay	M	50	M50	Billerica Memorial	20:26.5	6:23
3	Dave Dunham	M	59	M55	Billerica Memorial	20:39.0	6:27
4	Rich Molloy	M	49	M45	Westford Academy	21:01.0	6:34
5	Jonathan Morris	M	55	M55	Methuen High	21:05.8	6:36
6	Kara Haas	F	53	F50	Westford Academy	21:39.6	6:46
7	Zack Roof	M	43	M40	Baylor School	21:48.7	6:49
8	Jim Rhoades	M	55	M55	Lowell High	22:38.2	7:04
9	Mark Blaisdell	M	66	M65	Wilmington H.S.	22:55.1	7:10
10	Keith O'Brien	M	59	M55	Chelmsford High	24:08.2	7:33
11	Mark Kohls	M	35	M35	Acton Boxborough	24:56.9	7:48
12	Glen Turgiss	M	60	M60	Chelmsford High	25:01.0	7:49
13	Kevin Christie	M	65	M65	Stoneham H.S.	25:02.4	7:49
14	Eric Beauchesne	M	53	M50	Chelmsford High	25:05.6	7:50
15	Peter Wasylak	M	68	M65	Dracut H.S.	25:10.3	7:52
16	Adrienne Ostler	F	39	F35	Tewksbury H.S.	25:21.5	7:55
17	Glenn Stewart	M	72	M70	Division Avenue H.	26:33.5	8:18
18	Matt Shapiro	M	51	M50	Chelmsford High	26:48.7	8:23
19	Liane Pancoast	F	65	F65	Jonathan Dayton	27:10.2	8:29
20	Mark Gallagher	M	59	M55	Chelmsford High	28:53.6	9:02
21	Rick Fijalkowski	M	56	M55	Lowell High	31:00.1	9:41
22	Andrea Cyr	F	38	F35	Shoreham Wading Rv	31:02.3	9:42
23	Lee Panas	M	61	M60	Chelmsford High	32:22.5	10:07
24	Anya Molloy	F	12	Fopen	Millis	32:29.1	10:09
25	Ella Haas	F	12	Fopen	Chelmsford	32:54.3	10:17
26	Trish Gabor-Therrien	F	45	F45	Magnificat H.S.	33:26.0	10:27
27	Richard Molloy	M	82	M80	Lowell High	34:01.3	10:38
28	Jim Stronach	M	66	M65	Tewksbury H.S.	34:27.4	10:46
29	Richie Blake	M	54	M50	Tyngsborough H.S.	34:27.5	10:46
30	Joe Ferreira	M	59	M55	Tewksbury Memorial	36:18.4	11:21
31	Rick Marais	M	72	M70	Lowell H.S.	47:04.7	14:43

Billerica colors

Third place prize

With RD Keith O'B

O'B showing off his flexibility 

Chelmsford Alumni XC over the years

 Ran the Chelmsford Alumni race again this year.  History below.

Date	Dist.	Time	PL	Fin	Master	Senior
11/25/2005	3.11	23:05					Ran through with O'b
11/24/2006	3.11	18:59	4	27	3		1 Cooney 1812 2 Eric B 1813 3 Doody
11/23/2007	3.11	18:56	4	20	3		Cooney took off after 2m then Doody went after him, Beauchesne just kept looking to make sure I didn't catch him.
11/28/2008	3.11	19:56	6	31	4		Easy at the start and progressively faster, not all out but pretty close (!)
11/23/2012	3.28	19:34	3	24	1		Jogged mile, ran 2nd mile, raced 3rd, then went in with O'B
11/22/2013	3.25	21:40	3	18	3		Workout ran with Keith O'Brien
11/28/2014	3.2	23:26	1	14		1	6 inches of snow!  Ran pretty hard, tired from racing day before.  Tied with O’B.
11/27/2015	3.25	21:00	3	23		2	Couldn't go with O'B and Jason Bui
11/24/2017	3.22	18:41	1	23		1	Out hard on my own, tough 2nd mile, good finish.  50 degrees sunny, just a little mud on the baseball field
11/27/2020	3.2	19:30	3	19		2	1 Scott Grandfield 18:56, 2 Tony Ly 19:16, Scott out right at strat, Tony by me at 1m, just couldn't go any faster
11/24/2023	3.2	20:39	3	31		2	Ran with Don Fay for about 1m, kept him within 4 seconds until 2.5 then he buried me (20:26).