Feb in the olden days

30 Years ago

I had a pretty solid indoor track season and rolled through February running 6 races.  I started the month just missing the (Methuen) track record with a 9:41.6 win in the 2 mile in a dual meet against Central.  Two days later I anchored two relays (2m & mile) at the State Relay championships setting a PR in the half (2:05) and the quarter (56.0).  On the 12^th I set the League Meet record in the two mile with a win in 9:38.0.  The old record was set by Austin Preps John Callahan (9:39.6).  A week later I set the Billerica HS record with a third place finish at the Northern area meet, running a 9:31.  Flynn and Perkins (Danvers) both ran 9:27 to take first and second place.  I finished the month out lowering my school record by a few tenths (9:30.7) at the State Championships where I finished second (Flynn first in 9:13).

  

20 Years ago

I raced five times in February of 1991, all road races.  I started the month off with a tie at the Lynn Stew Chase.  Lou Ristano and I broke away from the field and took turns leading into the wind.  We decided to cross together, I believe I was awarded the win in 48:31.  A week later I set (the still standing) course record at the Tewksbury Fudgcicle series.  I broke Buddy Bostick’s record of 15:31 with a 14:57 on a perfect 40 degree day.  The following week I was back in Tewksbury getting a win in 17:10 (taking it easy because I was racing the next day) on a cold 10 degree day.  The next day I got a hard fought win at the Paddy Kelly 5m which (in addition to the Lynn race) was part of the first Hockomock Swamp Rat series.  I took the win in 24:29 with Ritchie and Woodman close behind in 24:44 and 25:01.  The final race of the month was a (then) Greater Lowell Road Runners staple, the Two-some relay.  I teamed up with Petey to take first running the 3.6 mile leg in 18:11 (Petey ran 19:05).  We held off Art Demers and Mike Woodman who finished second in 38:21.

15 Years ago

I only ran three races in February of 1996 but I made the best of it with two wins and a second place.  I got buried at the Cape Elizabeth Mid Winter Classic as Rob Pierce ran a course record 51:10.  I was happy with my race noting “I was alone from 2m on and it was exactly zero degrees out there”.  I ran 51:56.  The following weekend I ran the Bradford Valentines race and set the still standing course record of 24:31.  Dan Verrington and Umass Lowell coach (and then CMS teammate0 Gary Gardner were with me through 2.5 when I broke away for the win.  Gary and Dan took second and third in 25:00 and 25:10 respectively.  My final race of the month was the Dartmouth Invitational indoor track meet.  Craig Fram and I heard that a bunch of fast guys would be there trying to qualify for Nationals.  It turned out we were the only two people entered in the 5,000.  We decided to alternate 800m each until 2 miles then it was ‘anybodies race’.  I took the lead at 2 and beat Craig running a 14:52.  Definitely an unusual race.

10 Years ago

February of 2001 was a busy month for me with 6 races.  I ended up with five wins and a second place.  The first weekend was a killer double, which was part of another Hockomock Swamp Rat series.  I ran the Lynn Stew Chase on Saturday taking second place (losing by one second on a kick) in 48:09.  The next day I dragged my tired and sore body up to Cape Elizabeth for another shot at the mid-winter classic.  This time I got a surprise win in 53:51 with Bob Winn shadowing me much of the way before taking second in 54:41.  I was sick as a dog after the race.  The effort definitely took a big toll.  The following weekend I doubled again, this time two snowshoe races.  On Saturday I went up to Plattsburgh NY and raced in the first US Snowshoe championships.  I took the win by just over 3:30 over Ben Nephew.  The following day I directed and raced over 5km of groomed ski trails at Windblown Ski area taking the win in 21:47.  A week later I took a victory at the Hawley Kiln race in very slow conditions covering the 7m course in 1:01:21 and noting that I “bonked really bad in the last mile”.  The final race of the month was another HSR series race, this time back in Amherst for the DH Jones 10m.  The footing was awful with snow, ice and rain during the race.  I managed a win in a “very slow” 55:04.