Back 10 Years More - Wilton, NH 15k 9/25/1988

Since I was going back ten years to a New England Runner cover i was on, i decided to go ten years further. I just happened to be scanning some pictures into the computer and came across a few shots from the Wilton 15k NEAC Championship from New Hampshire. It wasn't what i would call a great race for me that day. The race went out fast with a pack consisting among others, Jimmy Fallon, Andy Ronan, Dave Dunham, Jim Zimmerly and myself. After a couple miles you go up a long rise going to some school and right about then, i get a side stitch that brings me to a full stop near the top of this hill. At this time i figure the race is over so i wait for my friend, Kevin Maguire to come by and jump in with him to finish the race. Here comes Kevin, running pretty well, but i still had to wait over a minute and a half for him to get there. So i jump in with him for a mile or so and then realized that he was running to slow or maybe i just had recovered from my cramp, so i say "see ya later" and blast down the road. I can't tell you how many runners i went by on the way to the finish, but there were quite a few and they weren't slackers, i was just on fire and maybe a little pissed off about stopping. I managed to get to 6th place in a time of 47.54, not bad considering i took a break in the middle of the race. I never recorded my mile splits from that race, so it makes me wonder just what my last 10k would have been, sub 30? Maybe, but there was some downhill in the last half of the race. Up in front of me was race winner Jimmy Fallon in 45.54 who i had some nice duels with over the years, followed by Andy Ronan(46.02) and Dave Dunham (46.53). Speaking of Fallon and Ronan, I travel up to NH to get away from these guys and they show up too. Racing in Rhode Island, you never know which Providence College runner would show at a race, would it be John Treacy, John Doherty,Brendan Quinn Mick O'shea, Charlie Breagy or Fallon and Ronan. It sure kept you on your toes. I lived right on one of John Treacy's running routes, so on any given day, he could be coming by with any number of world class runners with him. It wasn't uncommon for me to come around the corner and be confronted by Treacy, Doherty, and Gregorek . Below left is Jimmy Fallon, on the right is Double D Mountainman. Nice shirt, Dave. Gotta love the Violent Femmes!