Looking back - five years ago (June 2015)

Five years ago (June 2015) – I started off the month with the Pat Polletta 2 mile - The race is now a 2 mile held on the rail trail in Amesbury. My goal was to break 11 minutes, but with a dirt surface and 2 very tight turns I would be happy with anything under 11:10. I hit the first 1/4 mile in 82 seconds which was right where I wanted to be. I found myself in stride with Kara Haas who has been tearing up the roads. I pushed the pace a bit and found myself alone in fourth place as I hit the mile in 5:32. With a 1/4 mile to go I threw down what I had left I watched the clock tick away and 11 minutes slip past.  My chip time was 11:03.3 so that was my new 50+ PR.

Place     Time     Div       Name                City St               Age

1          10:16.6 TOP3-M Derrick Hamel   Northwood NH  31         M
2          10:19.5 TOP3-M Brent Trail        Littleton NH       28         M
3          11:01.8 TOP3-M Kevin St Laurent   Newmarket NH          27         M
4          11:03.3 M5059   Dave Dunham    Bradford MA      51         M
5          11:15.7 TOP3-F Kara Haas         Chelmsford MA  44         F
6          11:32.4 M4049   Michael Haas     Chelmsford MA  42         M
7          11:37.3 M5059   David Audet       Concord NH      50         M
8          11:41.3 M5059   Jim Quadros      Lowell MA         52         M

Six days later it was back to the road racing scene with the USATF New England 5k road championships – The Hollis “fast five” hosted the NE championships for the second time in three years. It was right around 90 degrees and the wind was blowing at 10-20 mph. I hit the mile in 5:14 in 82^nd place. Dan went by me at about ½ mile and he looked strong. I kept him in my sights but was also looking ahead to Craig Fram and a few other 50+ runners who weren’t that far ahead. I had a good second mile (5:13) hitting the 2 mile mark in 72^nd place. I had passed Dan and Craig during that mile but knew they wouldn’t be far behind if I faltered. Despite struggling I was only passed by 2 runners in the final mile (and I passed 2) so I maintained my 72^nd place to the finish line. I crossed the finish line in 16:30.2 which was a bit of a disappointment. I ended up 5^th in the 50-54 so no complaints about that.

Top 10 50+

56         1          M5054   Tom Thurston    51         16:04.5 5:12      GMAA
60         2          M5054   Scott Anderson  50         16:13.9 5:15      WRT
65         3          M5054   Alejandro Heuck            50         16:23.2 5:18      GSH
68         1          M5559 Doug Martyn     55         16:23.9 5:18      WRT
71         4          M5054   Chris Lawrence  51         16:30.8 5:20      BAA
72         5          M5054   Dave Dunham    51         16:30.2 5:20      CMS
76         2          M5559   Jim Miller          56         16:36.6 5:22      GMAA
77         3          M5559   Craig Fram        56         16:39.4 5:23      WRT
85         4          M5559   Ron Shaiko        55         16:46.6 5:25     
90         6          M5054   Daniel Verrington           52         16:47.7 5:26      CMS
94         7          M5054   Pete Bottomley  53         16:47.7 5:26      Dirigo
101       8          M5054   Henry Scollard   51         16:55.1 5:28      WRT
                                                                                                
The next weekend was the 55^th Mt Washington road race - This was my 25^th time racing up the Auto Road to the top of New England and it was the least prepared I’ve ever been. I thought if the weather was good and I had a solid run I might have a shot at Sumner Brown’s 1:12:37 from 1994. That is the fourth fastest time in the 50+ age group. The other three times by Craig Fram are so crazy fast that they are not even a consideration. With the traditional firing of the cannon nearly 1,100 of us took off. I got to the start of the climb in about 50th place which is typical. I could see Francis Burdett up ahead but didn’t see Craig Fram, they’d be the top two 50+ runners so I had my sights set on them. After the mile I locked onto teammate Todd Callaghan and we stayed within a few feet of each other as we started picking off more of the line of people in front of us. Francis was 15 seconds ahead and by now I realized Fram was not in the race. Todd and I had moved up to 25^th place by ½way (33:56). Somewhere on the long straight between mile 4 and 5 I caught and passed Francis and surprisingly also caught Kevin Tilton.  As I neared the top I heard them announcing the first woman. I dug a little deeper and they had to move the women’s finish banner out of the way as I crashed through the finish line (four seconds up on the top woman). I slogged over to the summit and on wobbly legs completed the final scramble up the rock pile to the top.

Top 10 50+

19         1:11:35 Dave Dunham    51         CMS
22         1:12:19 Francis Burdett  50         CMS
23         1:12:20 Erik Vandendries 50       CMS
38         1:16:42 Jeff Hunt           51         GCS
39         1:16:58 Mark Reeder      55         GLRR
56         1:20:28 Dan Verrington  52         CMS
59         1:20:51 Ernest Brake     53         CMS
71         1:23:16 Andy MacDonald 55       BAA
78         1:24:19 Jeff Gould          50         NMC
82         1:24:49 Keith O'Brien     51         GLRR
Francis, Erik and I swept the top 3 spots in the 50+ and along with Dan Verrington and Ernie Brake set a new team record, taking 17 minutes off of Whirlaway’s previous time.