August 1989

30 years ago (August 1989):  I logged a respectable 435 miles (average 100 per week) for this month and raced four times.  First up was the Salem (NH) 10 mile trail race.  This was my kind of trail race!  It featured a mile on the road then four miles on the Windham rail trail, then return.  This was WAY before the trail was paved and the mile of road was the section that just recently got completed (a beautiful section in Windham from Old Rockingham road to Range Road).  Back in those days that section was swampy and overgrown.  The main trail was dirt and often a roller-coaster ride due to the dirt bikes that tore it up.  It is so much nicer now!  I won the race in 53:29, heading out in an “easy” 27:28 and coming back in 26:01 (with a 15:10 last 3).  Over 135 showed up for the race and were treated to a ton of snacks (I think it was Drakes) that were donated because they were all past the Best By date. Classic!  Three days later (08/09) I hit the Cawley Stadium track to take a shot at Bob Hodge’s GLRR 2 mile series record.  Pat Sweeny and Brad Hurst did the early pace-setting taking me through the mile in 4:29, splits of 67, 67, 67, and 66 brought me home in 8:56.  Leaving Hodgie’s record of 8:54 untouched.  A week later I returned for the “1 mile” edition of the series.  It was a blast as Bob Hodge and Dave Cremin pushed the pace with splits of 65/64/65 before I was able to muster a kick and bring it home in 61 for a win in 4:15.  Hodgie (4:16) and Crem-dog (4:17) were right there.  My final race of the month (08/26) was the Exeter Kiwanis 10k.  The race always attracted a good crowd as they had cash 5 deep.  A good size pack stayed together through four miles before Andy Ronan made a move and broke things up.  I managed to get by Hodge at 5m and snag fourth place ($100) with a 29:35. Ronan won in 29:15.