Looking back - 10 years ago

10 Years Ago:  I had a very busy July of 2012; I ran 406 miles with no days off and raced 11 times (!!!).  I started the month off with the unusual race distance of 4 kilometers at the (incorrectly named) “Four on the Fourth” which was held on July 1st in Concord, NH.  I was in the lead as late as ½ way but came a couple of seconds short of the win (but topped Verrington).
    1   1/13   Rich Smith                  42 M ENFIELD           NH   13:36  5:29
    2   2/13   Dave Dunham             48 M BRADFORD       MA   13:38  5:29
    3   1/6    Dan Verrington       50 M BRADFORD       MA   13:50  5:34
    4   1/3    Tristan Amaral             18 M WARNER          NH   13:50  5:34
 
Three days later I ran the Carson Memorial 2 mile on the Chelmsford MA parade route.  The first quarter mile was frantic with little kids and some adults sprinting out then pretty much stopping when reality hit. ½ mile splits: 2:32.3, 5:12.2 (2:39.9), 7:47.5 (2:35.3), 10:31 (2:44).  CMS teammate Jim Pawlicki was heading into his kick for the line and he encouraged me to go with him.  I found a little bit extra but couldn’t stay with Jim as I crossed the line in one second behind him.
 
Place Div/Tot  Div   Time    Pace  Name                   Ag S Race# City/state             
    1   1/168  M1929    9:10  4:35 Ruben Sanca        25 M     7 Dracut MA              
    2   2/168  M1929    9:12  4:36 Jeffrey Veiga         21 M   485 Lowell MA               
 
CMS finishers
   17   3/124  M3039   10:04  5:02 Mike Quintal        34 M   587 N. Andover MA          
   31   6/124  M3039   10:30  5:15 James Pawlicki     37 M   435 Lynn MA                
   33   2/239  M4049   10:31  5:16 Dave Dunham      48 M     4 Haverhill MA           
   40   4/101  M5059   10:47  5:24 Dan Verrington     50 M   229 Bradford MA            
  109  12/239  M4049 12:17  6:09 David Lapierre       48 M    55 Chelmsford MA          
 
Four days later (07-08) I was racing at Loon Mountain.  Teammate Kevin Tilton and I weren’t in the top 25 in the early going and he noted “I went to a mountain race and a road race broke out”.  I moved into the top 10 by the grass climb (we didn’t do the 2 mile “Nordic” section back then) a little after 2 miles.  I passed Kevin on the downhill before Upper Walking Boss and he powered on by me on the Boss and then I returned the favor.  The race finished on the top of North Peak (for the first time) so I didn’t lose any spots taking 4^th place and top 40+  CMS had a good day with five in the top six, Jim Johnson won the race by a minute, Martin Tighe was top 50+ by nearly 2 minutes, and I took the top spot in the 40+. 
 
Pl   Time   Name            Age       Div        Club      Points
1    43:16  Jim Johnson    35         M2039   CMS      100.00
2    44:15  Kris Freeman   31         M2039               97.78
3    45:06  Ross Krause    32         M2039   CMS      95.93
4    46:20  Dave Dunham  48        M4059   CMS      93.38
5    46:33  Phil Kreycik     28         M2039               92.95
6    46:49  Kevin Tilton    30         M2039   CMS      92.42
7    47:13  Mark Mayall    40         M4059   NBB       91.63
8    47:32  Peter Gurney  23         M2039               91.02
9    48:06  Todd Callaghan 42      M4059   GCS       89.95
10   48:28  Judson Cake   34        M2039   Acidotic 89.27
 
16   49:54  Tim Mahoney 32         M2039   CMS      86.71
18   51:09  Sam Wood     26         M2039   CMS      84.59
30   54:27  Martin Tighe   54         M4059   CMS      79.46
86   1:07:29 David Lapierre 48      M4059   CMS      64.11
148 1:20:00 Walt Kuklinski  63      M6099   CMS      54.08
 
Two days later (07-10) Dan Verrington and I headed to Newburyport for the River Rivals track series.  Dan and I alternated every ½ mile in the 2m trying to run steady 80 second quarters.  I had a good kick left and put 7 seconds on Dan in the last 400 to win in 10:40.  Next up was the next event on the track, the 800.  We had a chance to do a couple of laps warm-down while the last of the 2 mile runners finished up then it was over to the line.  I took the lead from some of the younger kids who flew out for the first 100 meters and held that lead until 500 meters.  At that point Dan went by, I mustered a kick and caught back up to Dan with 100m to go and edge him at the line in 2:26.  A week later we were back at it, this time on the track at Amesbury.  It was hot (90) and humid and I felt awful.  I tried to do my part but after I led the first 2 laps Dan was on his own running to a 10:43 victory with me 9 seconds back in 10:52.  The half was not pretty.  Dan buried me again, taking the win in 2:25 to my 2:29. 
 
The following weekend (07/22) I got some relief as I headed back to the Mountains for some “slow” racing.  I had a fun weekend camping at the race sight and even running up the course the day before with teammate Tim Mahoney.  I guess the track work was paying off as I took 2nd place overall and broke my masters PR.  It helped that I had Ross Krause dogging my every step until the last half-mile. With about 2 minutes to go I passed him and pushed for all I was worth.  I ended up crossing with my fastest last .7 and masters best of 31:04.  Double-J finished exactly one minute ahead of me and Ross rolled in 9 seconds behind me.  CMS had a fine day with four in the top six and 6 in the top 13.
 
 
1  30:04 Jim Johnson       M3039   35         Madison, NH       CMS
2  31:04 Dave Dunham     M4049   48         Bradford, MA      CMS
3  31:13 Ross Krause       M3039   32         Easthampton,MA CMS
4  31:43 Todd Callaghan   M4049   42         Beverly, MA        GCS
5  32:33 Tim Mahoney     M3039   32         Holyoke, MA       CMS
6  32:55 Robert Hult        M4049   42         Harvard, MA       
7  33:16 Philip Kreycik      M2029   28         Cambridge, MA   
8  33:44 Erik Vandendries M4049   47         Chestnut Hill, MA
9  34:10 Matthew Zanchi M28029   22         Natick, MA         
10 34:52 Quincy Schmidt  M2029   21         Vienna, VA        
11 35:10 Jonathan Rice    M3039   33         Lunenburg, MA  
12 35:23 Tim Van Orden  M4049   44         Bennington, VT  CMS
13 35:26 Martin Tighe      M5059   54         Providence, RI    CMS
 
Two days later it was back to Newburyport with Dan.  This time sometimes CMS teammate Ken Tripp joined us for the 2 mile.  Dan and I alternated ½’s with Ken tucked in (he didn’t think he could run as fast as we’d planned).  I took the lead with ½ mile to go and Ken went with me, I had a solid kick and took the win in 10:31.  Dan got revenge in the 800 which I took out for the first 100 meters.  He flew by me and put a big gap during the first ¼ mile.  I reeled him in a bit but never really got that close taking 2nd in 2:24.9. 
 
Four days later was the final race of the month, the USATF NE 5 mile champs at Carver. I went out smart, then passed a lot of guys after the mile 5:20/5:24/5:33/5:35/5:29
 
40+ (and 50+ finishers)                Cat Place          
19            Joseph     Navas      41            1              40-49       25:47.4   WRT
31            Titus        Mutinda   47            2              40-49       26:30.5   RUN
37            Dmitry      Drozdov   40            3              40-49       26:38.2   SRR
41            Robert     Cipriano   52            1              50-59       26:45.9   SRR
42            Todd        Callaghan 42            4              40-49       26:48.1   GCS
46            Joseph     Koech      43            5              40-49       26:56.2   RUN
51            Wayne     Levy        47            6              40-49       27:04.1   BAA
52            Douglas   Martyn     52            2              50-59       27:06.2   WRT
56            Greg        Putnam    42            7              40-49       27:15.9   CMS
59            Joe          Shairs      44            8              40-49       27:21.4   CMS
60            Dave        Dunham   48            9              40-49       27:22.8   CMS
61            Paul         Hammond 52           3              50-59       27:24.2   WRT
67            Henry      Scollard    48            10            40-49       27:35.6   WRT
74            Dan          Verrington 50          11            50-59       27:45.6   CMS
79            Greg        Ward       40            13            40-49       27:53.9   CMS
87            Tim           Van Orden 44          14            40-49       28:04.4   CMS
142          Dave        Mingori     45            26            40-49       31:10.4   CMS
176          David       Lapierre   48            28            40-49       32:11.4   CMS