August 2018 (5 years ago): I started this one by NOT racing. I flew out to Washington on August 5th for a run around Mount Rainier. The 90+ mile loop on the Wonderland trail would take four days. Doug D and two of his nephews (Tyler and Luka) were the only others in the group of 10 that I knew.
The first day was
35 miles and 12,000’ of climb and it was a record hot day. I leapfrogged Tyler
and Luka throughout the day as I climbed a bit faster and they descended
faster. We reached Mowich Lake in a little over 9 hours. This was
our longest day so it was nice to get through it, but the next day at 25 miles
had me pretty nervous.
Day 2 kicked off at
7am. We took the Spray Park trail which is the original version of the
Wonderland. It was nice and once again I ran the first couple of hours
with the DeAngelis boys. Some of the group started out earlier and I
started catching people. I briefly stopped at the top of Skyscraper pass to
chat with 3 rangers who were enjoying lunch in the very scenic location. After
that it was mostly downhill! Ugh, I hate downhill. I got into White
River camp in a little over 7 hours for the 25 miles with 7,800’ of climb.
The third day had
us doing 18 miles with 4,800’ of climb. With staggered starts we’d all
meet up along the trail. Tyler and I were the last to go, and after the
high river crossing (1/2 mile into the run) I was on my own as Tyler was moving
well. A bunch of us reached the top at the same time which was fun.
I reached the end of the days run in a little over 4.5 hours and was happy to
see the van and some ice cold beverages.
The final day would
also be our shortest. I started out slowly, as I had on most
mornings. As the climb started (2,200’ over the next 4 miles) I caught
the group and went by. I reached the sign (which we had started at on
Tuesday) in 2:17 for the final 13 miles with 2,600’. My total time for
the 92 miles was 23:20:41 (that includes all stops during each run, I only
stopped my watch at the end of each day). By comparison the Fastest Known
Time for the trail is 18:54!
I got my first race
of the month in at the Londonderry Old Home day race. I hadn't run the
Londonderry race since 1991 (when I set the still standing course
record). The first mile heads down the Millennium Mile course so you can
count on a quick start. Unfortunately, you come back up it at the
end! About 150 runners headed off down the road and after about 100
meters 5 of the Londonderry XC kids went flying by. Right before the
mile, 3 of them just stopped! Maybe they were doing a workout?
Anyway, that moved me up to 3rd place. I struggled on the climb to the finish
but stayed in third.
Pl
Name
Age City,
St
Time
1 Eric Nowakc
M17
Londonderry, NH
17:38.9
2
Matthew Griffin
M15 Londonderry, NH
17:50.1
3
Dave Dunham
M54 Bradford,
MA
18:23.5
4
Matt Carbonet
M35 Melrose,
MA
19:15.3
5
Noah Schrank
M20 Londonderry,
NH
20:12.5
Next up was the
Lynn Woods relay. Back in 1991 I set the still standing CR of 12:05 while
running for the Sullivan Farms Ice Cream racing team. We set the open
record that also still stands. Fifteen years ago I teamed up with Joe
Shairs (13:18), Dave Quintal (14:04) and Dan Verrington (13:47) and we set the
still standing 40+ team record (I ran 14:03 that night). This year the same
four of us joined forces again with the goal of breaking the 50+ team record
(63:47 from the previous year - Martin Tighe-16:23, Chris Smith-16:09, Paul
Young-16:31, and me 14:44).
Ninety teams lined
up and with a “on your marks” and the ringing of the cow bell we were off. I
was happy to be running the first leg instead of the anchor, which meant I
would have guys to race head-to-head against. I was not in the top 10
over the first mile but moved into 8th place at the start of the Goat Path
(single-track tough uphill section). I caught one more guy with about 50
meters to go but he was able to out-lean me at the line. I can’t say I
was happy with the time (15:10) as I’d run 14:44 last year. I guess it
was a decent time given the night since it was the 15th fastest leg time and
2nd fastest for a 50+. Our squad had a good night taking 5th place
overall and topped the 50+ category but came up short of the CR.
Overall Teams
1 . FILTHY
JAMES
59:31
2 . CORONAS ON
US
59:36
3 . WICKED MENS
OPEN 59:50
4 . CMS
40+
1:01:41
PATRICK
RICH
13:57
13:57
JIM
PAWLICKI
29:54 15:57
NAKRI
DAO
46:01 16:07
NICK
TAORMINA
1:01:41 15:40
5 . CMS
50+
1:06:05
DAVE
DUNHAM
15:10 15:10
DAN
VERRINGTON
31:25 16:10
DAVID
QUINTAL
50:13 18:48
JOE
SHAIRS
1:06:05 15:52
8 . WCRC
50+
1:07:24
CHRIS
KEALEY
14:57 14:57
RICH
WALSH
33:07 18:10
MIKE
LEONARD
50:22 17:15
JOE
GURCZAR
1:07:24 17:02
Top 30 times (360
finishers)
Rank
Time
Name
Team
1
13:14 JOE
JOURDAIN
CORONAS ON US
2
13:15 JOHN
PRIZZI
FILTHY JAMES
3
13:54 JACOB
JOHNS
CIRLE GETS THE SQUARE
4
13:57 PATRICK
RICH
CENTRAL MASS STRIDERS 40+
5
13:57 JOHN
CORONA
CORONAS ON US
6
14:26 DAN
CHRUNIAK
WICKED MENS OPEN 1
7
14:37 JASON GUARANTE CORONAS ON US
8
14:41 ZACH
CHABET
FILTHY JAMES
9
14:47 JOE
SHAW
GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS
10
14:57 JAMES ANDERSON FILTHY JAMES
11
14:57 CHRIS
KEALEY
WCRC BORROWED TIME 50+
12
14:59 MIKE
PAULIN
WICKED MENS OPEN 1
13
14:59 JONAH
HULBERT
WICKED MENS OPEN 1
14
15:10 CORMAC MACPHAIL TEAM WINTHROP MASCAC
15
15:10 DAVE
DUNHAM
CMS 50+
16
15:18 NATHANIEL OLSON MYSTIC POODLES
17
15:22 CHRIS
BUSTARD
MYSTIC POODLES
18
15:26 ERICH
O'NEIL
WICKED MENS OPEN 1
19
15:26 MIKE
WARREN
JABWOW
20
15:31 LIMILSON TAVARES CHELSESA HIGH SCHOOL CROSS
COUN
21
15:40 NICK
TAORMINA
CENTRAL MASS STRIDERS 40+
22
15:49 JASON
BARNES
WICKED MENS SENIORS #1
23
15:52 JOE
SHAIRS
CMS 50+
24
15:57 JIM
PAWLICKI
CENTRAL MASS STRIDERS 40+
25
16:01 REGINA RANDAZZA WE FOUND DONNA Top
Woman
26
16:02 DENNIS DONAHUE BLOOD SWEAT AND BEERS
27
16:07 NAKRI
DAO
CENTRAL MASS STRIDERS 40+
28
16:07 ROBERT
HAIG
SHAM/WOW
29
16:10 DAN VERRINGTON CMS 50+
30
16:10 CAROLINE WEEKS WEEKSIE
TEAM 2nd Woman
My other race this
month was the USATF NE 10 mile (Auburn NH). The course would be shaded so it
looked like a decent day for fast times. I focused on staying relaxed,
that was my mantra for the first 5 miles - Stay relaxed. I hit the
5 mile mark (30:38). The final kick-in-the-nuts uphill was tough and I
kept thinking Charlie Bemis would go flying by (like he did 2 years ago).
That last mile seemed to take forever. I couldn't quite bring it in under
1:01 but did get a chip time of 1:01:01. I could not have been more pleased
with the time and taking 3rd in the 50-54. My CMS 50+ teammates also had
a great day as we put 5 in the top 11!
50+ PL Chip
time
Name
Age Team
1
56:58.5
Nat Larson M56 BAA
2
57:20.1
Andy Gardiner M53 BAA
3
1:00:14.7 Tim Van
Orden
M50 CMS
4
1:01:01.6 Dave Dunham
M54 CMS
5
1:01:16.8 David Principe
M51 CMS
6
1:01:31.4 Charlie Bemis
M55 WRT
7
1:02:42.7 John Sullivan
M58 HFC
8
1:03:07.6 Jim
Miller M59
GMAA
9
1:03:13.8 Joe
Shairs M50
CMS
10
1:03:42.8 Paul
Davies M51 BAA
11
1:04:25.6 David Lapierre M54
CMS
USATF Division: Men
50+ - 7 Teams
1. 5:10:12.5
Central Mass
Striders
(1:02:02.5)
====================================
1
1:00:14.7 1350 Tim Van Orden M 50
2
1:01:01.6 37 Dave Dunham
M 54
3
1:01:16.8 280 David Principe M 51
4
1:03:13.8 1341 Joe
Shairs M 50
5
1:04:25.6 6 David
Lapierre M 54
2. 5:31:27.1
Greater Springfield Harriers (1:06:17.5)
3. 5:39:18.0
Greater Lowell Road Runners (1:07:51.6)
The final race of
the month was the Millen Mile. This is a really cool event put on by Bernie
Livingston with the race held during the half-time of the home opener Football
game in North Conway. The only drawback would be the long drive in Friday
afternoon LONG WEEKEND traffic. I was hoping to run 80's and maybe pick
it up and sneak in under 5:20. It was a bit weird running on the track at
night under the lights but also cool getting the crowd support on the
home-stretch. I ran most of the race alone in 6th with one high school runner
up ahead. With a kick of 78.9 I managed a 5:21.9. That was good
enough for 6th place in the field of 11 finishers.
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