Looking back - April 2018

5 years ago: SEA 5k: I signed up for the CARS series and this would be my first race of the 8.  I had missed the opening race last weekend due to a conflict with the USATF championships. The race has a bunch of loops around the big industrial park.  A few guys (and one gal) flew out at the start. I was hoping to get under 18 minutes but the wind was pretty nasty.  I caught the first woman soon after the mile and we caught one of the fast starters at 1.5.  That'd be the end of passing for me.  Soon after Erin Lane (the top lady) accelerated, and I couldn't match.  My official time was 18:10. I did end up winning the Age Graded category which I guess is something.

 1   1/3    MOPEN   17:40   5:42 Timothy Lindberg  24 M   242 Ashland NH             73.49%
 2   2/3    MOPEN   17:51   5:45 Samuel Berube     17 M    33 Bow NH                   73.31%
 3   3/3    MOPEN   17:56   5:47 Kirpal Demian       16 M   117 Bow NH                  73.86%
 4   1/3    FOPEN   17:58    5:47 Erin Lane             37 F   276 Hopkinton NH           83.26%
 5   1/13   M5054   18:09   5:49 Dave Dunham       54 M    17 Bradford MA             83.75%
 6   1/9    M4549   18:34    5:59 Mark Laprade        45 M    67 Bedford NH              76.54%
 7   2/13   M5054   18:36   5:59 Scott Clark            52 M   198 Gilmanton NH          80.54%
 8   3/13   M5054   18:41   6:01 Darin Brown          51 M    48 Madison NH             79.56%
 
Last year in the weeks leading up to the Merrimack River trail race we had to clear some sections of the course that always seem to need cleaning up.  Little did we know that the stewards were trying to end use of this unofficial trail.  This year that section would be unusable.  So, this year would feature some significant changes.  The decision was made to create a loop instead of a strict out-back, along with that we’d add a new trail up the power-line and a just (barely) finished trail to the turn.  Hopefully people would run around the same time as previous years and more importantly they would have an enjoyable experience.
 
There was little to no wind and temps would be in the low 50’s during the race.  The course was dry and in great shape.  At exactly 9am with a “Ready, Set, CAYUGA!” we were off!  A few guys passed me and by the half-mile I was in 12th place.  I could hear footsteps behind me and true to her word Kassandra Marin was sticking with me.

Me, Kassandra, and Justin about ½ mile in

The new power-line trail had Justin Daglish walking by the top.  I closed from 15 seconds back to just a couple of seconds when we popped out on the power-lines and got some water.  The new part after this was just fun.  I felt I was gaining on the climbs and losing ground on the flats as Kassandra was still right behind me.  Finally, the 93 under-passed loomed ahead and I knew I only had a few minutes to go.  I crossed the line just under 1:07 and happy with a 50+ win if not a top 10 finish. 
 
27th Annual Merrimack River Trail race
Place    Time     Name               Gen/Age           Town, State      Club
1          1:01:24 Brandon Newbould        M36      Nottingham, NH WRT
2          1:03:09 Kurt Hackler     M41      Alstead, NH      
3          1:03:34 Patrick Rich      M41      S.Hamilton, MA CMS
4          1:03:57 Tim VanOrden  M49      Bennington, VT CMS
5          1:04:40 Colin Carroll      M33      Andover, MA     CMS
6          1:04:44 Robert Jackman M35      Warwick, RI      CMS
7          1:04:57 James Pawlicki  M43      Lynn, MA          CMS
8          1:05:21 Michael Luebeck            M32      Maynard, MA     GLRR
9          1:06:27 Michael Peyron  M42      Boston, MA      
10        1:06:27 Aaron Stone      M35      Greenfield, MA 
11        1:06:54 Dave Dunham   M54      Bradford, MA     CMS/GreyWolves
12        1:07:08 Kassandra Marin           F28       Merrimack, NH  AcidoticRacing
13        1:07:31 Justin Daglish   M40      Carlisle, MA       GLRR
                                                                                               
Top 50+                                                                                 
11        1:06:54 Dave Dunham   54        Bradford, MA     CMS/Grey Wolves
17        1:11:24 Matt Curran      60        Gloucester, MA  Team Gloucester
23        1:14:48 Douglas Deangelis        51        Newbury, MA    Team Gloucester
25        1:15:35 Norris Gregg     51        Rockport, MA    Team Gloucester
32        1:17:48 Steve Whittey   61        Gloucester, MA  Team Gloucester
37        1:21:49 Mark Behan      55        Newton, NH      Winners Circle
41        1:22:32 Jeffrey Saeger   68        Dedham, MA     NEOC
43        1:22:39 Scott Spence     53        Groton, MA       Grey Wolves
 
I do not like to race at night, but sometimes you’ve got to do it.  It had been 10 years since I last did the CARS.  I’d done the NHTI race a few times before and I’ve done many other races on the NHTI campus so there would be no surprises. This was going to be a LONG 5k, I came up with 3.2 during the warm-up (and the race) and I was cutting tangents like a madman.  I saw that Scott Clark was four rows back as was Erin Lane and she had buried me at the SEA race.  Erin Lane went flying by as did a few others and by ½ mile into the race I was in 15^th place.  I was hoping for a top 10 finish (based on last year’s results) so there would be work to be done.  I passed a few as we headed down to the keyhole turn and then hit the wind, I caught a couple more as I reached the mile in 5:42.  After that I never looked at my watch during the race just focused on people ahead of me.  I ended up 9^th in 18:08 and first in the 50+. 
 
   

 
1   1/3    MOPEN   17:07   17:05   5:30 Sean McCauley     26 M    58 Canterbury NH        76.00%
2   2/3    MOPEN   17:13   17:11   5:32 Justin Orr             35 M   305 Dover NH              77.18%
3   3/3    MOPEN   17:33   17:30   5:38 Kirpal Demian       16 M   117 Bow NH                75.69%
 
    7   1/3    FOPEN   17:55   17:53   5:46 Erin Lane               37 F   312 Hopkinton NH        83.65%    17:58
    9   1/25   M5059   18:10   18:08   5:51 Dave Dunham        54 M    17 Bradford MA          83.91%    18:10
   11   2/25   M5059   18:28   18:26   5:56 Darin Brown          51 M    48 Madison NH          80.64%    18:41
   12   3/25   M5059   18:34   18:32   5:58 Scott Clark            52 M   198 Gilmanton NH       80.83%    18:36
   14   4/25   M5059   18:44   18:41   6:01 Glenn Miller           56 M   176 Campton NH         82.74%
 
Sleepy Hollow Mountain race – The 23rd annual USATF NE mountain series kicked-off in Huntington VT on a 39-degree rainy day.  I knew this would be my last realistic opportunity to get a win in the 50+ age group as teammate Tim Van Orden was just a few days away from entering the Senior category. The course was wet and would be muddy and slick. Nearly 300 took off at the start and I quickly counted 30 in front of me as we started the initial big climb.  I slowly worked my way up (.7 mile with 370’ of climb).  By the top of the first climb I’d got into about 15th place.  I love the final climb of the day, it is a bit nasty with single-track, roots, and rocks.  I closed on Steve Brightman (who turns 50 at the end of this year) and got to within a couple of seconds as we exited the single-track.  I crossed the line in 8th place in 50:54 taking the top spot in the 50+. 

1 45:43 Brandon Newbould        Mopen  WRT
2 46:37 Eric Blake                     Mopen  Woodbridge RC
3 47:14 Kurt Hackler                 M40+  
4 47:56 Eli Enman                     M40+   GMAA
5 49:30 Tim Van Orden             M40+   CMS
6 50:22 Peter Gurney                Mopen  GMAA
7 50:31 Steve Brightman           M40+   CMS
8 50:54 Dave Dunham              M50+   CMS
9 51:06 Eric Darling                  M40+
10 51:24 Cassandra Marin         Fopen   acidotic