Pack Monadnock – This is the third most run race for me
trailing only Mt Washington (25) and Wachusett Mountain (20). Since 1995 I’d
run it 15 times and was not particularly eager about my 16th. I’d
spent the three days prior to the race bagging six state high points down
south. I was a little beat up and going on less than normal sleep. I knew that
a few of my CMS teammates in the 50+ age group wouldn’t be racing so I was
hoping to do well. The first couple of Mountain Circuit races had very strong
Senior runners and we’d all finished very close.
I met up with Craig Fram (WRT) at the ski area parking lot
across from Miller State park and teammate Tim Van Orden and top female runner
Jamie Woolsey joined us for the ride back to downtown Wilton, NH. Craig and I
did an easy 2 mile warm-up then I got on my racing flats and did another ½ mile
over to the line. The 50+ field was going to be strong despite a few of the top
guys from Wachusett not running. Teammates Ed Sheldon and Dave Lapierre were
racing along with Christopher Smith (SRR), Brian Ruhm (GCS), Fram, and Mark
Reeder (GLRR). Reeder had placed second in the 50+ last year and his time (just
under 1:12) was about what I thought I could do on this day.
It was very humid at the start and temps were in the upper
60’s. Thankfully there was a light rain for most of the race which kept things
almost into the comfortable range. My plan was to go out conservatively for the
first 5 miles and then see if I could make up some ground. The first 5 rolls
with “only” 470’ of climb, the second 5 miles climbs 1420’ including the really
tough climbing from 8-10 of 1210’. The last mile in Miller state park has
grades steeper than Mt Washington and is always a lot of “fun” as anything can
happen.
I was left in the dust at the start, but felt that my pace
was okay. I wasn’t in the top 50 for the first flat ¼ mile. By the mile mark
(260’ of climb = 7:19) I’d moved up to 20th place but was over a
minute behind Ruben Sanca. More important to me was that I was in
6th place in the 50+ and 20 seconds behind the big pack of about 10
guys. That pack had 3 of the seniors I was hoping to run with, but it was very
early in the race. The next mile had some good downhill that helped me close
the gap on Craig Fram and Pat Ard (both sporting the Whirlaway red singlets).
The big pack was 25 seconds ahead at two miles and I felt I was getting into a
groove (6:33 mile). A little after 2 miles I caught Craig and Pat. I seemed to
be running the downhill parts faster and the uphill parts slower so there was
some back and forth. By three miles (6:21-20:13) the big group had broken up
and a few of the guys came drifting back. At the same point I pulled ahead of
Craig (and into 5th in the 50+). Pat and I caught Brian Ruhm which
moved me up to 4th in the 50 and right at the four mile mark we
caught Michael Narcisi who had been in the big group (6:53-27:06 @ 4). Pat and
I continued back and forth, but mostly he was ahead of me. He seemed very
strong on the ups. We hit 5 miles in 33:19 and he gapped me. I had no
response.
The next couple of miles I kept my head up and focused on the
guys in front of me. I could no longer see Ed Sheldon who was leading the 50+
crowd. I could see Christopher Smith and Mark Reeder who were running together
25 seconds ahead of me at 6 miles (6:49-40:08). Soon after 6 it looked like
Mark was struggling a bit. He fell behind Chris and was soon caught by Pat who
was looking very strong. I hit 7 miles in 46:41 (6:33) and Mark was almost
within catching distance. I drew even with him at about 7.5 and pulled ahead as
we hit route 101 and the 8 mile mark (53:55-7:14). Pat had passed Chris who
still looked solid. I was 22 seconds behind him in 3rd place in the
50+ and 11th place overall.
We were now on my favorite part of the
course, nothing but climb, and it was long steady climbing. I shifted into low
gear and kept focused ahead. At 9 miles (1:02:18) I’d closed the gap to 13
seconds and noticed that Chris was not cutting the tangents. He was running
down the middle of the state park road while I was taking advantage of fewer
steps on the many twists. By 9.5 miles I’d caught him and I ran as hard as I
dared when I went by (I didn’t want him latching on). As I turned onto the
final nearly straight ¼ mile steep nastiness I could see Ed Sheldon up ahead and
he was power-walking. I kept rolling but was too far behind to do anything
except put a small dent in his lead. I ended up crossing the line in
10th place overall and 2nd in the 50+ in 1:11:55.
After grabbing some water I slowly hobbled down the mountain
back to some dry clothes. The 1.3 miles down would be enough for me and I
called it a day. The 50+ field was indeed strong with six of us within 2:22 and
we all placed from 9th – 14th.
Top 10 in the 50-59
9 Ed Sheldon 51
Hooksett NH 1:11:33 M5059
10 Dave Dunham 52 Bradford
MA 1:11:54 M5059
11 Christopher Smith
50 Woburn MA 1:12:15 M5059
12 Brian Ruhm 51 Nashua
NH 1:13:21 M5059
13 Craig Fram 57
Exeter NH 1:13:39 M5059
14 Mark Reeder 56
Brighton MA 1:13:55 M5059
21 Steve Whittey 59
Gloucester MA 1:19:55 M5059
23 Matthew Curran 59
Gloucester MA 1:20:15 M5059
24 Jeff Gould 51
Gardner MA 1:20:26 M5059
34 David Lapierre 52
Chelmsford MA 1:23:04 M5059
Overall Results
1 Ruben Sanca M29 Lowell MA
1:02:32 M0129 WRT
2 Brandon Newbould M34 Nottingham NH
1:04:05 M3039 WRT
3 Tim Vanorden
M48 Bennington VT 1:06:45 M4049 CMS
4 Todd
Callaghan M46 Beverly MA 1:08:09
M4049 CMS
5 Steve Brightman M47 Providence RI
1:09:04 M4049
6 Christopher Chromczak M31 Delmar NY
1:10:18 M3039
7 Sam Gray M20 N Hampton NH
1:10:34 M0129
8 Patrick Ard M32 Raymond NH
1:10:54 M3039 WRT
9 Ed Sheldon
M51 Hooksett NH 1:11:33 M5059 CMS
10 Dave
Dunham M52 Bradford MA 1:11:54
M5059 CMS
11 Christopher Smith M50 Woburn MA
1:12:15 M5059 SRR
12 Brian Ruhm M51 Nashua NH
1:13:21 M5059 GCS
13 Craig Fram M57 Exeter NH
1:13:39 M5059 WRT
14 Mark Reeder M56 Brighton MA
1:13:55 M5059 GLRR
15 Gerard Polcari M48 Sudbury
MA 1:14:31 M4049
16 Michael Narcisi M32 Acton
MA 1:15:32 M3039 Sisu
17 Jeffrey Allen M15 Litchfield
NH 1:16:25 M0129
18 Pete Harley M45 Bristol
RI 1:17:24 M4049
19 Scott McCue M41 Needham MA
1:17:51 M4049
20 Joseph Sumner M63 Royalston MA
1:19:46 M6069
21 Steve Whittey M59
Gloucester MA 1:19:55 M5059 TG
22 Eric Smith M33 Gloucester MA
1:19:59 M3039
23 Matthew Curran M59 Gloucester MA
1:20:15 M5059
24 Jeff Gould M51 Gardner MA
1:20:26 M5059 NMC
25 Hans Larsson M43 New Boston NH
1:20:41 M4049
26 Leslie
O'Dell F40 Albany NH 1:20:48 F4049
CMS
27 Brian Gingras M26 Manchester NH
1:21:19 M0129
28 Tj Peckham M36 Gloucester MA
1:21:42 M3039 TG
29 Garrett Earley M17 Amherst NH
1:22:22 M0129
30 Jamie Woolsey F33 Oneida
NY 1:22:23 F3039
31 Madeline Rieders F17 Wellesley MA
1:22:32 F0129
32 Nick Coggeshall M35 More Valley RI
1:22:48 M3039
33 James Porter M42 Manchester NH
1:22:54 M4049
34 David
Lapierre M52 Chelmsford MA 1:23:04
M5059 CMS
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