Last weekend we had the sixth race in the seven race USATF NE mountain series. If nothing else it has been an interesting year. The 50+ field has been strong, even stronger than 2016. With one race to go (Bretton Woods on 10/01) it is a tight race! My teammates Ed Sheldon & Erik Vandendries along with acidotic Racing’s Jim Boule are all within 13 points (based on best 4). Since it a “best 5 of 7” a lot could happen in the final race. I’ve probably got the easiest path to winning the series since I’m ahead and I tend to do better in the up/down courses (although they are very bad for my ankles). I need to score more than 85 points to increase my best of total, while Ed moves up with more than 81 and Erik moves with more than 82 points. Jim needs to do Bretton Woods to get his 5th race. He’d need to win the race outright to move ahead of me. Ed and Erik could pass me if I score less than 85 points and they score more than 90 points and 93 points respectively. Basically I win if I beat them but since the course is “open” we may not see each other during the race depending on route choices.
Name Age City, St Team #raced Points Best 4 Best5 Low
Dave Dunham 53 Bradford, MA CMS 6 541.81 370.35 456.81 85.00
Ed Sheldon 52 Hooksett, NH CMS 6 529.22 367.01 448.84 81.83
Erik Vandendries 52 Chestnut Hill, MA CMS 5 445.97 363.21 445.97 82.76
Jim Boule 50 Campton , NH aR 4 357.32 357.32 ---------------
So far the top four 50+ in the USATF Mountain series have had some good back and forth with each of us winning at least one of the races. Ed Sheldon won at Pack Monadnock and Wachusett. He is the fastest runner among us and also a strong climber, he is kicking-butt on the roads at the USATF NE grand prix. Having said that, he also was top 50+ at the USATF NE trail 50km championships showing he has some amazing range. Erik Vandendries won at Greylock, he is a strong climber who is coming off of a knee injury. He also competes in bike Mountain climbs (sometimes the day before a running race). Erik is strongest on the steepest climbs, but showed he can also change gears by taking the lead on the flatter upper parts of Greylock. Jim Boule won at Loon Mountain by a huge margin. He is strongest on up/down courses and very good on technical trail. He took 2nd place at the USA mountain champs only a few seconds out of the top spot.
2017 USATF NE mountain series
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Sleepy Hollow
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Pack
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Wachusett
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Cranmore
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Loon
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Greylock
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Dave Dunham
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1
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2
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2
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1
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2
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3
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Ed Sheldon
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3
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1
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1
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4
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6
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2
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Erik Vandendries
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4
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3
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3
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-
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3
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1
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Jim Boule
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2
|
-
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5
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2
|
1
|
-
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