Part II of a multi-part year end review by Jim Dandeneau

JUNE

June saw the 53rd Mt. Washington Road Race dominated by 45 year old Laura Haefeli of Colorado. Laura won by an astounding 5:43. Connecticut’s Eric Blake, 34, won his 3rd title finally dipping under the magical 60:00 barrier (by 3 seconds). Craig Fram, 54 (and the 50-54 record holder), dominated the division yet again with a superlative 1:09:52 even though he was still well off his amazing division record 1:06:58. Jacqueline Gareau, 60, the 1980 Boston Marathon winner, destroyed the 60-64 course record by almost 8 minutes running 1:33:24.

On the track, Henry Wynne dipped under 1:50 at the New England high school championship and won the New Balance Outdoor national championship. New Canaan’s James Randon finished second in the 2 mile (8:52:56) and 4th in the mile. Westport ,CT star Hannah DiBalsi (only a freshman), finished 3rd in the 2 mile.

At the NCAA Div I Track and Field Championship in Eugene, OR Riley Masters, a Maine native running for Oklahoma and one of the favorites for the 1500 meter national title, got caught up with 120 meters to go, falling to the track finishing 11th. Abbey D’Agostino pulled away to win the women’s 5K with Emily Sisson of Providence College finishing 6th and teammate Laura Nagel 12th.

At the USATF national championship Molly Huddle finished 2nd in the 5K qualifying her for the IAAF World Track and Field championship in August. Ben True, after a pedestrian first 2 miles, took the pace and ran 3:55 for his last 4 circuits however was only able to finish a heartbreaking 4th in the men’s 5K. 2012 Olympian Donn Cabral finished 6th in the men’s 3000 meter steeplechase.

Kenya’s Stephen Sambu (28:08) and Ethiopia’s Mamitu Daska (31:45) won the BAA 10K road race. Brighton’s Mark Reeder, 53, an age group sensation, ran a fantastic 34:48 in hot conditions.

Tim Ritchie (13:47) led 4 under the magical 14 minute barrier at the USATFNE 5K in Hollis, NH while Erica Jessman (15:30) reversed places with Olympian Steph Reilly (15:46) at the 3rd stop of the road race grand prix. Maria Servin, 50, a former Olympian from Mexico ran 17:31. Richard Larsen, 61, ran 17:07.

JULY

July saw Eric Blake win the insanely tough Loon Mountain race by 2 1/2 minutes with Hopkinton’s Christin Doneski, 42, dominating the female race winning by almost 4 minutes.

At the USA National Mountain Running Championship later that month in North Conway, Morgan Arritola, of Ketchum, ID, finished clear of Stevie Kremer, Crested Butte, CO and world class marathoner Magdalena Boulet, Oakland, CA, to claim the title. Doneski finished 12th with Kasie Enman, the 2011 world mountain running champion, right behind in 15th. On the men’s side, Joseph Gray, Renton, Wa, pulled away from Zack Ornelas and Max King to solidify his place among the nation’s best. Locally, Eric MacKnight finished a solid 11th.

Sam Alexander, Waterford, CT won the Blessing of the Fleet 10 mile road race by 7 seconds over collegian Brian Doyle while Irish Olympian, and former Providence College star Marie Davenport, 38, making a comeback, won the women’s race.

In Little Compton, RI, Amos Sang and Glarius Rop formerly of AIC took a shot at Dylan Wykes course record (22:38) coming up just short, running 22:47 and 22:49, 4:45 pace for the 4.8 mile race. Jessica Barton won the women’s division.

At the hot/humid Carver 5 mile USATF road race Tim Ritchie held off a very game Ruben Sança winning by 4 seconds in 23:59. Steph Reilly won the women’s race to increase her lead in the series while Sean Duncan (5th 24:30) started to take command in the men’s grand prix standings.

At the Yankee Homecoming 10 mile race, NINE men broke 51:00, something rarely seen these days in New England with Brian Harvey (50:17) finishing 5th being the top NE result. Heidi Westover (58:41) won the female division. Robert Cipriano, 53, ran 58:13. Pat Fullerton tuned up for his sub 4 road mile a week later winning the 5K in 15:21.

If you missed Part I, check it out here. As you can see, we were quite busy in 2013, and the clips thrown in here only represent a fraction of what we did. To see the rest, check out our YouTube channel. More to come on 2013.