Looking back - July 1996

 July of 1996 (25 years ago): Five races over this month, mixing it up on the roads and trails from 5k to 10 miles.  I started with the  Bridgton 4 on the Fourth - I led through a slow opening mile (4:52) then Rusty Snow took the lead for the climb to 2m (10:00/5:08).  Rob Pierce, Dan Verrington, and I were a step or two behind.  I took the lead on the downhill into 3 miles (14:54/4:54) with Rusty right on me.  I tried to drop him on the final little uphill but couldn’t shake him loose.  He flew by with 200 to go and won by 2 seconds (4:37 to 4:39 for our last miles).

    1   M1934 Rusty Snow              26 M Watertown, MA        19:32  4:53

    2   M1934 Dave Dunham           32 M Bradford, MA            19:34  4:54

    3   M3539 Robert Pierce            35 M Alfred, ME                19:55  4:59

    4   M1934 Sean Livingston         27 M Pawtucket, RI          19:59  5:00

    5   M1934 Dan Verrington          34 M Bradford, MA           20:01  5:01

 

Four days laer (July 8, 1996) Dan Verrington and I took on the Cranmore hill climb.  This was one tough course with ¾ mile of flat running then 1,200’ of climb in the next 2.25 with four distinct tough climbs.  Back then it was all run on the cat track with little (to no) downhill.  Dan went with me for the first 1.5 then fell off the pace.  I went on to set a new CR and took home a pair of snowshoes for the win. Those snowshoes are what got me interested in snowshoe racing, and I wore them when I won the first ever USA snowshoe national championships!
1 Dave Dunham 20:15                  2 Dan Verrington 21:15
 
Two weeks later (07/19/96) I competed in my “Hometown” race, the Sapienza Memorial 5M.  Newcomer on the scene Richard Bolt (sporting a Mohawk) took off at the start.  Craig Fram and I reeled him in after the mile (4:56) on the big climb.  I led until 1.5 when Craig moved to the front. We hit 2 in 10:08 (5:12) and 3 in 15:08 (5:00) when Craig pulled away to a 14 second victory.
    1 Craig Fram                M3039 Plaistow, NH                      25:05  5:01
    2 Dave Dunham           M3039 Bradford, MA                      25:19  5:04
    3 Richard Bolt              M2029 Lunenburg, MA                   26:39  5:20
 
On the 28^th I headed up to Manchester Vermont for the Race for the Cure.  I’m not sure why I did this race, but I was shooting for Eric Morse’s course record (1995-15:03).  I took it out in 4:46 and was all alone from ½ mile in the field of over 4,000 (mostly walkers).  I missed the CR by 3 seconds with a win in 15:06.

 
Two days later (07/30/96) I ran in the USATF NE 10 mile championships at Newburyport (Yankee Homecoming).  It was only 65 degrees but very humid.  I went with the second pack as Jerry Lawson, Art Smith and Abidi Bouazzo took off at the start.  Craig Fram and I fronted the pack with CMS teammates Gary Gardner and Dan Verrington.  We dropped some of the guys at 5 and Craig dropped me at 5.5, but I still thought I had a shot at sub-50 even as late as 8 miles…but wasn’t even close at the end as I ran out of gas.
 
1          48:45    Jerry Lawson      30         M3034   San Francisco, CA            NIKE                            
2          48:59    Art Smith           28         M2529   Cambridge, MA                                      
3          49:20    Abidi Bouazzo     25         M2529   New Paltz, NY                                                    
4          49:57    Craig Fram         37         M3539   Plaistow, NH               CMS                                         
5          50:23    Dave Dunham     32         M3034   Bradford, MA            CMS                                         
6          50:47    Gary Gardner      25         M2529   Keene, NH                 CMS                                         
7          50:49    Jon Russell         21         M2024   Wakefield, MA        Whirl                             
8          50:56    Eric Beauchesne  26         M2529   Chelmsford, MA       BAA                              
9          51:03    Jim Brunswick     27         M2529   Cambridge, MA       BAA                                          
10         51:07    George Luke       30         M3034   Waltham, MA           GLRR                                        
12         51:41    Dan Verrington    34         M3034   Bradford, MA            CMS