Looking back - July 2001

July of 2001 (20 years ago): I only raced twice but had a total of 58 miles of racing! I took 10th place at the USATF NE 8 mile road race championships at Stowe VT in 41:12. I was disappointed with the time and place and noted in my training log "felt lousy, Dan almost got me".

1          39:47    Paul Mwangi                   34         OSSINING NY     WESTC
2          40:21    David Hinga                    25         LOWELL MA        MVS
3          40:29    Greg Wenneborg             33         TUCSON AZ       
4          40:35    Chris Magill                     28         ALBION RI          BAA
5          40:36    Craig Fram                     42         PLAISTOW NH     WHIRL
6          40:39    Eric Morse                      36         BERLIN VT          CMS
8          40:44    Byrne Decker                  34         YARMOUTH ME    CMS
9          40:48    Larry Sayers                   41         BELLOWS FLS VT CMS
10         41:12    Dave Dunham                 37         BRADFORD MA    CMS
11         41:16    Dan Verrington                39         BRADFORD MA    CMS
12         41:25    Alan Bernier                    26         EXETER NH         CMS
15         41:39    Mike Payson                   38         FALMOUTH ME    CMS
21         42:17    Rod Viens                       33         SUNAPEE NH       CMS
25         42:33    Scott Clark                      35         GILMANTON NH   CMS
27         42:53    Kevin Beck                     31         CONCORD NH     CMS

Two weeks later (07-28-01) I headed out to Crystal Mountain WA for the 50 mile trail championships. I ended up finishing second to Bill Emerson who power-walked away from me on the big climb from 30-36 miles. I kept him in sight (as close as 30 seconds at 46 miles) but was never able to pull him back in. I ended up taking 2nd place in 6:59:15.
 
From Racewire:  The men's competition could hardly have been deeper or more exciting. Seven men, including the finest trail ultrarunners from around the country (and Canada) remained within a minute for the first half of the race. Only near the end of the second long climb, after 38 miles, did local hope William Emerson and pre-race favorite Dave Dunham pull away, both scorching the following 5 mile gravel road downhill (the only non-trail section of the course) at under 6 minutes per mile. Emerson had led the way, exhibiting one of the most unexpected phenomena in the sport. Specializing in fast-packing and long-range power-walking, Emerson was actually able to WALK away from a running Dunham (one of the world's top-ranked mountain runners), on the steepest uphills. The two were never more than two minutes apart, and at 44 miles Dunham had closed to within 30 seconds. But this was Emerson's turf and he was not to be denied, responding by pulling away to a close but secure victory over the last 6 miles of gnarly, rocky trail along the raging White River.
 
1    William Emerson         M37    Redmond WA        6:58:14   8:22
2    Dave Dunham             M37    Bradford MA           6:59:19   8:23
3    Clark Zeland               M28    Lynchburg VA         7:07:56   8:34
4    Dennis Poolheco         M40    Glendale AZ           7:17:17   8:45
5    Eric Clifton                 M43    Albuquerque NM    7:17:51   8:45