Looking back - August 2017

August 2017: Kingman farm trail race: I met up with Jim Boule (aR) who also hadn’t raced since Loon so there would be some competition.  It went out faster than I could go and I found myself in 7th place as we got onto the trail.  By the ½ mile I was in second place about five seconds behind the leader.  I held on to second place in 23:37 over the 3.3 miles

  
1 Thomas Jarvela          22:51    M32      Stratham, NH    FindMyTrail.org
2 Dave Dunham            23:37    M53      Bradford , MA    CMS
3 Kassandra Marin         24:13    F27       Merrimack, NH  SISU Project
4 Jim Boule                   24:38    M50      Campton, NH    acidotic RACING
5 Amani Harvey            24:53    M13      Durham, NH      Granite State Flash

I hadn’t done the 4 mile in Epsom in five years but it timed out right to do it this year.  Don Yeaton gave me a free entry as a past winner which made it much easier to decide to do this race!  I scouted the course on Wednesday and felt I would be able to run under 6:00 pace.  As I’d expected Dylan Tuttle and Shane McCartney took it out at the start.  I found myself about 5 seconds back as I passed the mile in 5:47. I went around the cone at 2 miles in 11:33 (5:46 2nd mile) with Shane just a couple of seconds ahead. By 2.5 miles I’d caught and passed Shane and I was starting to pull away.  I heard Shane yell “Don’t let him go” as I gapped Dylan.  I ended up holding on with a 5:47 last mile to win in 23:19.  Since the course is new, I got the course record.  That won’t last long!

    1 Dave Dunham        53 M Bradford, MA        23:19  5:50 
    2 Dylan Tuttle           20 M Aton, NH              23:45  5:57 
    3 Shane McCartney   20 M Nw Durham, NH    24:31  6:08 
    4 Mike Barry             61 M                    NH  25:35  6:24 
    6 David Audet           52 M Concord, NH         27:01  6:46 
    7 John Tuttle            60 M Aton, NH              27:31  6:53 

I was really excited to run in the Lynn Woods relay.  Jim Pawlicki had pulled together two strong teams, a 40+ and a 50+.  I did a little research and found the fastest time for a 50+ team was the 64:39 by the North Shore Strides back in 1992.  I thought our squad would be close to that time which added to the excitement.  I lined up with 88 other first leg runners and it was a mad dash at the start.  I moved up to 7th place by the mile (5:57).  I slowly gained some ground on Pat Rich and the guy between us as we headed up the Goat Path which is the only single-track section of the course.  Pat just glided away looking strong as I hit 2 miles in 11:57.  I was tying up but managed a 2:46 getting me across the line in 14:44.  I was very happy to have gone under 15 and bring the team through let one in 7th place.  My time was the 12th fastest of the day and top 50+ leg time.  CMS guys had four of the top 17 leg times.

Top Leg times
1          12:55    KEVIN GREENE CLUB TRUCK TRACK CLUB         Open

2          13:26    JOHN PRIZZI    FILTHY JAMES  Open
3          13:48    GREG KRATHWOHL       TEAM GLOUCESTER      Open
9          14:34    PATRICK RICH  CENTRAL MASS STRIDERS        40+
14        14:44    DAVE DUNHAM CENTRAL MASS STRIDERS        50+
16        15:04    NICK TAORMINA           CENTRAL MASS STRIDERS        40+
17        15:07    JIM PAWLICKI   CENTRAL MASS STRIDERS        40+
All Time 50+ Teams
1 1:03:47          2017     CMS Dave Dunham 14:44          Chris Smith  16:09  Martin Tighe 16:23 Paul Young 16:31
2 1:04:39          1992     NSS  Wally Kurtz   15:38            Al Sproul      15:43  Mike Pelletier 16:08  George Michaud 17:10
3 1:04:47          2004     GBTC  Tom Whitney 15:45         Joel Bargmann 16:24  Bruce Bond 15:34  Tom Derderian 16:04
                                                                        
Overall finish of teams
1 . WICKED FAST                        Open      58:50
2 . CMS 40+                             40+      1:00:32
3 . FILTHY JAMES                        Open    1:00:37
4 . CLUB TRUCK TRACK CLUB         Open     1:01:45
5 . CMS 50+                             50+      1:03:47
SENIORS MEN (50-59)
1 . CENTRAL MASS STRIDERS 50+                    1:03:47
2 . WINNER'S CIRCLE SENIORS                 1:11:34
3 . COMP RACING WHEELMEN                   1:11:36

I hadn’t done the Race to the Top of Vermont this race since the inaugural running in 2008.  I had an open weekend and thanks to John Pajer I had a free entry to the race (I would not have done it due to the $60 entry fee).  My goal was to get under 40 minutes and hopefully give my fellow Senior runners Jim Boule (aR) and Erik Vandendries (CMS) a good race.  The race would climb 4.25 miles and gain 2,500’ on the mostly dirt toll road. I got on the line and had a decent start, fining myself in 10th place in the early going.  Kim Nedeau towed me through the mile in 8:33 which was a bit of a surprise.  Kim and Erik fell back during the second mile as I closed on and passed a few guys.  At 3 miles I realized I might be close to the time Erik ran last year.  I held onto fourth but later when I rechecked the time from last year that I realized I missed the record by 4 seconds.  Ouch.

1          35:29.4 Noah Hoffman  M28      Park City UT
2          37:02.6 Patrick Caldwell M23      Lyme Center NH
3          37:26.5 Taylor Washburn M32    Gill MA
4          38:29.2 Dave Dunham   M53      Bradford MA
6          38:58.3 Erik Vandendries M52    Chestnut Hill MA
7          40:02.7 Kim Nedeau      F38       Leverett MA
10        40:49.4 Jim Boule          M50      Campton NH
16        43:22.0 Tony Bates       M58      Salisbury VT
384 finishers
            Top 50+ times
1          Erik Vandendries 38:25  2016
2          Dave Dunham   38:29    2017
3          Erik Vandendries 38:58  2017
4          Martin Tighe     40:31    2009
5          Jim Boule          40:49    2017