Oh Fudge!

I had a decent week with most of my parts not hurting too much.  So mid-week I decided to do a little speed work.  I did two times a mile on the treadmill and was happily surprised to feel pretty good running under 6 minutes (5:58 & 5:53).  I looked to the weekend schedule and considered the race in Amesbury right up until I saw that the entry fee was $45.  Yikes!  Instead I went with the Fudgcicle 5k in Tewksbury.  This would be the 26^th time I’d run this going back to 1991.  The only race I’ve done more is Mt Washington.



Dave Lapierre was game for joining me, so we entered as a team.  The annual finale of the series is a “two-some” where the times are added for each teammate and awards are given in a bunch of categories.  I wasn’t really thinking about that part of it but more about where my race fitness was after exactly ½ of a year without racing.  That is the third longest drought in my 42 years of racing.  Dave and I met up at 7am and headed out for a loop to warm-up.  It was quite cool at only 20 degrees, but there was no wind and it was sunny and the street were dry.  The warm-up felt a lot quicker than it really was (not a good sign).  After a quick change of shoes and putting on my old GLRR singlet we did another mile to stay loose and not get too cold.  I bumped into Justin Daglish who had run an impressive 4:38 mile on the indoor track earlier this season.  I also bumped into long-time friend Mark Behan who had run a couple of decent times this year at the Fudge.  I checked on his goal time for the day and was happy to hear he was aiming to break 20 minutes.  My goal as well!  I told him “I’ll see you out there” as we lined up to go.  There was a nice moment of silence for Lou Peters (95 year old runner who was a staple on the local scene who had passed away the day before).  Then off the field of 150 went.



Right away I felt some serious soreness in my left quad and shin.  Damn!  That was new, never had that issue before.  I tried to relax as we headed slightly downhill for the first ½ mile.  I was in about 15^th but just a step or two behind Mark who I was definitely focused on.  We passed a few people heading into the mile and the last person I went by was Clara Camire who I went by a little after the mile (6:16).  Mark accelerated and I did not go.  More like I could not go.  It seemed just a bit too fast to me.  I kept thinking “too early, wait”.  Not much changed to the 2 mile mark (6:18-12:34).  I was already dreading the two HILLS (really just little bumps) in the last mile.  I was also still trying to close the gap on Mark and keep sub-20 as a possibility.  I saw Mark take a very subtle glance back on the turn onto the main road.  I was 5 or 6 seconds back but would not get any closer.  I had no kick left in me and when Camire went by just after the 3 mile mark I had no answer.  I rounded the corner and saw the clock as I kicked it in with a 19:50 (6:23 pace).  D-La came in 28 seconds after me and we took the team category finishing 9^th and 10^th overall and taking 4^th and 5^th in the 50+.  No complaints from me, although this was the slowest I’ve ever run at Fudge it was right where I thought my fitness was and if nothing else it gives me a starting point.



    1 Peter Caron          214   1/6   21 M2029 LOWELL     MA   17:21  5:35

    2 Justin Daglish       158   1/14  42 M4049 CARLISLE   MA   17:41  5:42

    3 Michael Luebeck      155   1/8   34 M3039 MAYNARD    MA   18:35  5:59

    4 Bob tremblay         321   1/28  52 M5059 Chelmsford MA   18:55  6:06

    5 Burger King          194   2/8   33 M3039 Boston     MA   19:03  6:08

    6 Fabio Piergentili    398   2/28  57 M5059 ANDOVER    MA   19:08  6:10

    7 Mark Behan           326   3/28  56 M5059 NEWTON     NH   19:43  6:21

    8 Clara Camire         349   1/20  31 F3039 Beverly    MA   19:45  6:22

    9 Dave Dunham          479   4/28  55 M5059 Bradford   MA   19:50  6:23

   10 David Lapierre       196   5/28  55 M5059 Chelmsford MA   20:18  6:32

   11 Ken Warren           481   6/28  58 M5059 WILMINGTON MA   20:26  6:35

   12 Jim Rhoades          309   7/28  51 M5059 Lowell     MA   20:39  6:39

   13 Simonetta Piergenti  325   1/19  55 F5059 WILMINGTON MA   20:42  6:40

   14 Matt Theodoros       198   3/8   37 M3039 Andover    MA   20:43  6:41

   15 Dan Ackroyd          356   2/14  45 M4049 TEWKSBURY  MA   20:47  6:42

   16 Richard Friesner     476   4/8   38 M3039 NORTH CHEL MA   20:56  6:45

   17 Wayne Cole           181   5/8   36 M3039 LOWELL     MA   20:58  6:45

   18 Steve Tomasl         478   1/16  62 M6069 Derry      NH   20:59  6:46

   19 Frank Corsaro        176   2/16  63 M6069 METHUEN    MA   21:01  6:46

   20 Chris Spinney        330   8/28  59 M5059 CARLISLE   MA   21:19  6:52

   21 Ken Goodin           169   3/16  65 M6069 LOWELL     MA   21:22  6:53

   22 Sharon O'Grady       138   1/19  47 F4049 Chelmsford MA   21:23  6:53

   23 Sean Moody           229   3/14  40 M4049 AMESBURY   MA   21:26  6:54

   24 David Perloff        189   2/6   26 M2029 Chelmsford MA   21:26  6:54

   25 John Mulroy          391   4/16  64 M6069 READING    MA   22:16  7:10

  Mens Seniors Teams

--------------------------------------------------

   1.  D-La & LaDave                          

            19:50   20:18 =   40:08

         Dave Dunham, David Lapierre

   2.  Unknown                                

            20:59   28:55 =   49:54

         Steve Tomasl, James Lincoln

   3.  The Whack and a Doodle                 

            22:39   28:26 =   51:05

         Michael Hopkins, Tony Espinola

   4.  Feet's don't fail us now               

            24:06   29:13 =   53:19

         Peter Wasylak, Joe Ferreira

   5.  Mark & Phil                            

            19:43   35:29 =   55:12

         Mark Behan, Phil Petschek

   6.  That Which Does Not Kill Us Only Prolong

            35:52   37:03 = 1:12:55

         Alan Foulds, John Bradley



MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 59

    1     4 Bob Tremblay        52 Chelmsford         MA   18:55

    2     6 Fabio Piergentili   57 ANDOVER            MA   19:08

    3     7 Mark Behan          56 NEWTON             NH   19:43

    4     9 Dave Dunham         55 Bradford           MA   19:50

    5    10 David Lapierre      55 Chelmsford         MA   20:18

    6    11 Ken Warren          58 WILMINGTON         MA   20:26

    7    12 Jim Rhoades         51 Lowell             MA   20:39

    8    20 Chris Spinney       59 CARLISLE           MA   21:19

    9    27 John Feehrer        55 Westford           MA   22:34

   10    28 Michael Hopkins     52 SALEM              NH   22:39

   11    31 Ronald DesMarais    57 BILLERICA          MA   22:46

   12    34 Ken O'Brien         55 PEABODY            MA   23:00

   13    38 Michael Andreottola 50 HAVERHILL          MA   23:27

   14    41 Keith O'Brien       55 SOUTH CHELMSFORD   MA   23:50

   15    47 James Hughson       52 Billerica          MA   24:14

   16    49 David Penn          54 MELROSE            MA   24:17

   17    50 Mike Kent           56 Billerica          MA   24:26

   18    58 Fil Faria           55 Tewksbury          MA   25:18

   19    63 Will Naser          55 Natick             MA   25:44

   20    81 Scott Casper        51 SOUTH CHELMSFORD   MA   27:54

   21    82 Donald Caron        55 Windham            NH   28:18

   22    83 Tony Espinola       55 DRACUT             MA   28:26

   23    86 James Lincoln       59 Lowell             MA   28:55

   24    90 Joe Ferreira        54 LOWELL             MA   29:13

   25    92 David Morang        57 MERRIMACK          NH   29:35

   26   123 Phil Petschek       58 N Andover          MA   35:29

   27   129 John Bradley        50 PEABODY            MA   37:03

   28   136 Mike Brodeur        56 Tyngsborough       MA   43:14