Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Looking back - June 2018

 5 Years ago (June 2018): I raced 6 times this month mixing it up in the mountains, on the roads, and cross-country.  I headed up to North Conway on Saturday (June 2) for the Cranmore Mountain race the following day.  Robert Molnar and I hiked Kearsarge North which has a great view from the renovated fire lookout and spent the night bootleg camping.  During the race I was locked onto Jim Boule (aR), last year at Cranmore he was never more than a step behind me.  I went from around 30th to top 10 by the end of the first climb. I lost a lot of ground on the 12 minutes of descending and ended my first loop in 29:35. I moved up a bit on the second climb and started the second downhill in 10th place again.  I lost a little bit of time with a massive face-plant.  I ended up in 12th place and 3rd in the 50+, our team won the Open, 40+, and 50+ and I scored on all of the teams.  

Cranmore Mountain – 215 finishers
1          53:19     Patrick Caron      M21      Needham, MA     NTC
2          54:10     Tristan Williams   M32      Ctr Sandwich, NH 
3          56:11     Tim Van Orden    M50      Bennington, VT    CMS
4          57:01     Dan Chebot        M30      Belmont, MA       
5          57:38     Todd Callaghan    M48      Beverly, MA        CMS
6          58:01     Shaun Dever       M31      Brighton, MA       GBTC
7          58:41     Jim Boule           M51      Campton, NH      aR
8          59:35     Matthew Veiga    M31      Lynn, MA            CMS      
9          59:56     Brian Macilvian    M33      Weston, MA        
10         60:18     Mike Veilleux       M40      Weare, NH          GtrM RC
11         60:47     Brandyn Naro      M31      Manchester, NH   GCS
12         61:10     Dave Dunham     M54      Bradford, MA       CMS      

Next up I decided the race in Concord (Over the River and through the woods) one of the CARS series races.  The race featured a mix of road, bike path, and XC trail.  It crossed over the Merrimack river...hence the name of the race.  My goal was to break 6's and not aggravate my ankle any more than it already was.  I felt good as we headed out and was in 8th place in the early going.  A little after the mile we turned onto the XC portion.  I hit 2 miles in 11:36, happy to have stayed under 6's for the unpaved part.  I was more concerned about my place and although in third I could still hear the two guys right behind me. I can't complain about an 18:12 (5:48 pace) effort for 3.13 miles.  

14th Annual Over the River and Through the Woods Run for the Animals – 189 finishers, 20 50-59
June 9, 2018        5 Kilometers (Accurately Wheel Measured)         Concord, NH
Place Div/Tot  Div   Guntime Nettime Pace  Name                   Ag S Race# Hometown                Age %       
    1   1/3    MOPEN   17:49   17:48  5:44 Sean McCauley          26 M    58 Canterbury NH             72.94% 
    2   2/3    MOPEN   18:02   18:00  5:48 Samuel Berube          17 M    33 Bow NH                    72.70% 
    3   3/3    MOPEN   18:12   18:11  5:51 Timothy Lindberg       24 M   192 Ashland NH                71.40% 
    4   1/20   M5059   18:13   18:12  5:52 Dave Dunham            54 M    17 Bradford MA               83.60% 
    5   1/13   M4049   18:20   18:19  5:54 Mark Laprade           45 M    67 Bedford NH                77.59% 
    6   1/11   M2029   18:40   18:40  6:01 Brendan McCauley       26 M   249 Belmont NH                69.55% 
    7   2/20   M5059   19:12   19:11  6:11 Glenn Miller           56 M   176 Campton NH                80.58% 
    8   1/11   M6069   19:29   19:27  6:16 Greg Peters            60 M   178 Laconia NH                82.10% 
    9   2/11   M6069   19:29   19:27  6:16 Mike Barry             61 M    98 Northwood NH              82.78% 
   10   3/20   M5059   19:28   19:27  6:16 Darin Brown            51 M    48 Madison NH                76.43% 
                 

Next up was my 28th time racing up the Mt Washington Auto Road.                                     
At 9am we were off.  It was in the 70s down at the base and 40s with a 20-40mph wind up top.  I did a quick count as we reached the start of the climb and there were 28 guys and 2 women ahead of me...so I was just outside of the top 30.  I settled in and started passing guys as reality set in.  The mile was the only time I looked at my watch.  I was in race mode and just focused on guys up ahead.  I caught some more guys up through the halfway mark (3510) but even before the treeline the wind was whipping. 
Todd Callaghan and I switched off a lot, maybe every 100 meters blocking the wind. I ended up taking 11th place. The field was fairly weak, but the 50+ age group was as strong as ever!  

1 Cesare Maestri      M2024 1:00:53  8:01   1/22   1:00:53 4     24 M Borgo Lares     IT ITALIA  
2 Eric Blake          M3539 1:01:53  8:09   1/88   1:01:53 2     39 M West Hartford   CT WOODBRDGE RC  
3 Sage Canaday        M3034 1:03:11  8:19   1/55   1:03:11 1     32 M Boulder         CO COLO                      
4 Andy Wacker         M2529 1:04:28  8:29   1/39   1:04:28 3     29 M Boulder         CO COLO                      
5 Lee Berube          M2529 1:07:20  8:52   2/39   1:07:20 426   27 M Syracuse        NY                           
6 Simon Gutierrez     M5054 1:11:34  9:25   1/95   1:11:34 8     52 M Alamosa         CO COLO                      
7 Kim Dobson          F3034 1:11:42  9:26   1/62   1:11:42 W3    34 F Eagle           CO COLO                      
8 Matt Lipsey         M2529 1:11:43  9:27   3/39   1:11:43 9     28 M Harrisburg      PA RUN SCRANTON              
9 Patrick Rich        M4044 1:12:29  9:33   1/76   1:12:30 228   41 M South Hamilton  MA CMS                       
10 Luke O'Connor      M2024 1:13:41  9:42   2/22   1:13:44 130   23 M Cambridge       MA GRUMPY BOYS               
11 Dave Dunham        M5054 1:14:24  9:48   2/95   1:14:25 28    54 M Ward Hill       MA CMS                       
12 Todd Callaghan     M4549 1:14:30  9:49   1/85   1:14:30 12    48 M Beverly         MA CMS                       
18 Erik Vandendries   M5054 1:15:20  9:55   3/95   1:15:20 17    53 M Chestnut Hill   MA CMS                       
95 in the 50-54   MALE AGE GROUP:  50 to 54
    1     6 Simon Gutierrez           8     52 Alamosa CO            1:11:34 
    2    11 Dave Dunham               28    54 Ward Hill MA          1:14:25 CMS
    3    18 Erik Vandendries          17    53 Chestnut Hill MA      1:15:20 CMS
    4    29 Jim Boule                 51    51 Campton NH            1:18:04 
    5    32 Francis Burdett           25    53 Worcester MA          1:18:29 CMS
    6    39 Christopher Smith         297   52 Woburn MA             1:20:17 
    7    53 David Lapierre            229   54 Chelmsford MA         1:23:10 CMS                                                                                  
   10    87 Ed Sheldon                21    53 Hooksett NH           1:29:41 CMS




The next day I headed out a bit early to the USATF NE 5 mile championships (Ribfest – Merrimack NH).  I lined up about 10 rows back and spotted many familiar faces. 
The start was a bit tight but by the top of the 30' hill there was plenty of room to move.  I was hoping to run in the low 30's as I had last year.  I caught up to teammate Jim Pawlicki by the mile and we worked together through the first half of the race.  I had a decent run but a disappointing 9th place in the 50-54, and 11th in the 50-59.  
The team did really well taking first in the senior age group...three of the scoring members (Erik Vandendries, David Lapierre, and I) had all raced at Mt Washington!

USATF Age Group: Men 50-54
Place Bib   Name               Usatf NE Club   Age S Nettime   Pace     
===== ===== ================== ===========
    1   330 Andy Gardiner      Boston Athletic  52 M   27:01.5  5:25 
    2   294 Kent Lemme        Greater Springf  51 M   27:06.3  5:26 
    3   359 Mark Hixon          Greater Springf  53 M   27:41.9  5:33 
    4   158 Joe Shairs            Central Mass St  50 M   28:26.9  5:42 
    5   156 David Principe      Central Mass St  51 M   28:42.6  5:45 
    6   297 Jason Cakouros    HFC Striders     53 M   28:45.1  5:45 
    7   183 Erik Vandendries   Central Mass St  53 M   29:25.3  5:54 
    8   257 Scott Anderson      Whirlaway Racin  53 M   29:56.9  6:00 
    9   161 Dave Dunham       Central Mass St  54 M   30:01.6  6:01 
   10    32 Christopher Smith  Somerville Road  52 M   30:28.3  6:06 
                        USATF Age Group: Men 55-59
Place Bib   Name               Usatf NE Club   Age S Nettime   Pace     
===== ===== ================== =========== 
    1   295 Nat Larson         Greater Springf  56 M   26:30.4  5:19          
    2    40 John Sullivan      HFC Striders     57 M   29:14.1  5:51 
    3    96 E J Hrynowski      Greater Lowell   55 M   30:41.7  6:09 
    9   162 Philip Savoy          Central Mass St  55 M   32:59.6  6:36 


Next up I headed back to Concord for the Capital City 10k.  Based on my 5 mile last weekend my goal was to run 5:55 pace since I wouldn't have a Mt Washington race the day before to get me tired. I was surprised to see so many teams present and a lot of quick runners.  Then I remembered it was a NH grand prix race.  I bumped into Brian Ruhm from GCS who would be tough in the 50+ age group.  It was 62 degrees and cloudy with no wind, a great day to race.  I kept out of trouble at the start and tried to stay off of any lane markers as they were a bit slick. By the mile I wasn't in the top 20.  I reached 3 miles in a group and we passed 5k in about 18:24...pretty much on the pace I'd hoped for.
Right at the 6 mile mark I heard footsteps and ZOOM on one side Mark Laprade went by and on the other Erin Lane.  I was please to take the 50+ age group and hit my goal pace of 5:55's.  
 
    1    36:46   5:55 Dave Dunham                54 M     Bradford MA             
    2    38:19   6:10 Brian Ruhm                    53 M     Hollis NH               
    3    39:16   6:19 Rich Disalvo                    53 M     Derry NH                
    4    40:17   6:29 Peter Madden                 54 M     Manchester NH           
    5    40:31   6:31 Paul Donovan                 52 M     Hollis NH               
    6    40:45   6:34 Darin Brown                   51 M     Madison NH              

Capital City Classic 10K -  June 23, 2018 (USATF Certified #NH16020BK) Concord, NH
Place Div/Tot  Div   Guntime  Nettime Pace  Name                   Ag S Race# Hometown                     
    1   1/3    MOPEN   32:50    32:50  5:17 Neal Darmody           28 M   344 Bow NH                    
    2   2/3    MOPEN   34:28    34:28  5:33 Warren Bartlett        20 M   338 Loudon NH                 
    3   3/3    MOPEN   34:31    34:31  5:34 Colin Smith            24 M   341 Bethesda MD              
    4   1/33   M3039   34:42    34:42  5:35 Brandyn Naro           31 M   223 Manchester NH            
    5   2/33   M3039   34:58    34:57  5:38 Mark Furler            35 M   246 Hollis NH               
    6   1/57   M4049   35:14*   35:14  5:41 Rich Smith             48 M   565 Enfield NH             
    7   1/25   M2029   35:18    35:18  5:41 Christopher Dunn       23 M   474 Kennebunk ME              
    8   2/25   M2029   35:23    35:23  5:42 Jacob Wormald          23 M   363 Pelham NH                
    9   3/33   M3039   35:49    35:48  5:46 Jotham Burnett         38 M   471 Canaan NH                  
   10   2/57   M4049   36:21    36:20  5:51 Casey Carroll          46 M   572 Dover NH                  
   11   1/16   M1319   36:28    36:26  5:52 Kirpal Demian          17 M   117 Bow NH                     
   12   2/16   M1319   36:35    36:33  5:53 Luke Brennan           14 M   449 Derry NH               
   13   3/25   M2029   36:39    36:37  5:54 Timothy Lindberg       24 M   260 Ashland NH                
   14   3/57   M4049   36:41    36:40  5:55 Mark Laprade           45 M    67 Bedford NH                
   15   1/3    FOPEN   36:45    36:45  5:55 Erin Lane              37 F   484 Contoocook NH          
   16   1/40   M5059   36:46    36:46  5:55 Dave Dunham            54 M    17 Bradford MA               
   17   4/33   M3039   36:58    36:56  5:57 Adam Goldstein         35 M   519 Hudson NH                 
   18   4/57   M4049   37:03    37:01  5:58 Matthew Lane           40 M   485 Contoocook NH             
   19   4/25   M2029   37:05    37:02  5:58 Thomas Cantara         27 M   371 Nashua NH                 
   20   2/3    FOPEN   37:11    37:09  5:59 Corey Dowe             25 F   462 Barrington NH      
       
The final week of the month had me heading up to Vermont for some peak bagging so I decided to head to Lynn for the Lynn Woods XC series.  I went right from work to Lynn since traffic can be hinky.  I watched the long race start then had 5 minutes for some last chance water, glance at the course map, and line up. The kids race starts with the short race so there were a lot of little kids on the line.  One other guy took it out pretty hard and I tried to lock onto him.  6:35 at the mile felt a heck of a lot harder than the time.  I snuck a peek as the trail circled around the Steel Tower.  My guess was about a 20 seconds lead and my hope was that I was a better downhill runner.  I just made sure to not get hurt then kicked for the line.  My hope was to run around 6 minute pace so I was close to my goal and I’ll certainly take a win.

Lynn Woods Cross Country                        6/27/2018                      6:35 PM 
Reverse Steel Tower via Middle road = 2.3 miles                                
Pl          Name    Sex       Age       City       St         Time     Pace
1          DAVE DUNHAM    M          54         HAVERHILL         MA        13:52     6:02
2          TIANA FOGLIETTA           F          21         LYNN     MA        14:42     6:24
3          MICHAEL MANSFIELD       M          22         SAUGUS MA        15:25     6:43
4          DAVE SINGER      M          52         READING            MA        16:16     7:05
5          KYLE MCCARTHY M          16         LYNN     MA        16:22     7:07
6          DILLON DUVAL    M          13         SAUGUS MA        16:24     7:08
7          EMMA GANNON   F          15         SALEM   MA        16:46     7:18
8          ANDREA SACCARDO         F          26         PEABODY           MA        16:55     7:21
9          PAUL ROBERTSON           M          54         LYNN     MA        17:06     7:26
10         SEAN NYHAN      M          50         CHARLESTOWN   MA        17:16     7:31
            129 finishers (61f/68m) – 12 in the 50+                                                                   




No comments: