My Baystate history

I’m running the Baystate marathon on October 22.  This will be my 37^th marathon.  I’ve been fortunate enough to run marathons in 10 states and two countries.  Along the way I’ve picked up six wins and five 2^nd place finishes.  I won’t be running for a top spot (or even a top spot in my age group) at Baystate but I’m hoping to break 3 hours which should put me around the top 100.

This will be my ninth time racing at Baystate and generally I’ve had good luck.

02/25/90 – 2:51:00, for 4^th place in a field of 250.  Ran this as a workout with GLRR teammates Art Demers, Dave Camire, and Don Alvey.  Very nearly caught Scott Graham whose neck is still sore from looking back to see where we were.

10/14/90 – 2:58:28, for 18^th place in a field of 202.  Ran this as a workout.  A rare treat to run the same race TWICE in the same year.

10/20/91 – 2:38:23, for 4^th place in a field 385.  Ran this to pace GLRR teammate Steve Peterson (Petey).  He bailed after slowing beyond 18 miles.  Once he dropped I upped the pace trying to get back down to a 6:00 average.

10/18/92 – 2:52:18, for 14^th place in a field of 380.  I put in a record 509 miles during this month including this workout at baystate.

10/17/93 – 2:51:25, for 19^th place in a field of 379.  Ran this with Byrne Decker to pace Mike Beeman.  I kept stopping for “bathroom breaks” then having to catch back up.  It seemed like I rarely ran with them.

10/18/98 -  2:21:36, for 1^st place in a field of 682.  Aiming for a sub 2:22 to qualify for the Olympic Trials.  Not a perfect day, a bit warm with 55 at the start and 72 at the finish.  Eric Beauchesne and Alex Tilson joined me and teammates Byrne Decker and Dan Verrington as we attempted to run an even paced sub-2:20.  I pulled ahead with Tilson at 15 and then got clear of him at 21. The time is considered the event record although the course was slightly different (started and finished at the Tyngsboro Tech school).

10/18/09 – 2:59:41, for 75^th place in a field of 1,561.  Aiming to break 3 hours and be the last person under 3 hours.  I came very close on both accounts running a very even pace throughout.

10/17/10 – 2:58:06, for 79^th place in a field of 1,565.  Ran to test my foot.  Felt really good so I picked it up the last 9 miles.

My oldest Baystate shirt