Dwyer Puts the Hammer Down in Melrose

Craig Fram wishes Dave Dunham good luck on the starting line. photo Don Allison

Melrose, MA - As tracks go, the one at the Melrose Middle School is not much to rave about. A combination of ground-up cinder, rutted out from years of use and lack of maintenance, it is not exactly an Olympic-caliber oval. But on Sunday, it proved a to be a fitting setting for the conclusion of the Law Enforcement Half Marathon, the 1999 USATF New England Championship race.

On the access road next to the track, a sizeable crowd of spectators was treated to a rare sight near the end of a long race: four athletes running step for step, none with any discernable lead. That group included the 10-mile USATF Champion from just two weeks ago, Jesse Darley, Boston Running Club's Pete Hammer, and a pair of Central Mass Striders, Jack Dwyer and Rusty Snow.

The lead pack rolls along at five-minute pace. photo Don Allison

That Dwyer and Snow were even in the field was something of surprise, as both are more inclined to compete at much shorter distance track events. The CMS men's open team was decimated by injury and illness according to team coordinator Don Drewniak, thus the two speedsters volunteered, along with several other members of Coach Bob Sevene's CMS track team, to move up to the half-marathon distance.

Having handled the 13 miles with obvious alacrity, the point-one remaining on the track was seemingly made to order for Dwyer and Snow. For one, Hammer was not too optimistic about his chances. "I know both of those guys from track races and knew they had more speed than I do," he said. "I knew Jesse and I were in trouble." As the quartet sprinted down the paved embankment onto the track, Dwyer made a surge and only Hammer responded to cover the move." I was hanging on for all I was worth," said Hammer, with a wry smile that belied the pain of effort he had endured just moments earlier.

Winner Jack Dwyer, with Pete Hammer right on his shoulder, with 200 yards to go. photo Don Allison

While Darley faded, Snow was not out of the picture. Drewniak thought he would catch the pair ahead of him. "I really thought Rusty would get them (Dwyer and Hammer), but with about 100 yards to go he just seemed to go completely dead." That left just Dwyer, with Hammer doggedly in pursuit. "I thought I'd give it one more try," he said. A final surge and a lunge in the last yards left him just an agonizingly few feet short at the finish, as Dwyer held on for the victory. Close finish? Both were timed in 1:07:21. They don't get any closer than that!

Hammer was pleased with his effort, despite just missing the win. He is looking towards next month's Boston Marathon and a sub-2:22 Olympic Trials qualifying time. "I think I'm ready to do it," said Hammer. Last fall produced a 2:23 in Chicago, so he seems poised to make the time. A 1:07:21 on this tough course, one that just about anyone would call hilly, bodes well for Hammer.

Lynn Denino enjoys an easy women's victory. photo Don Allison

Behind that lead quartet, CMSr Dave Dunham bolstered his team's winning effort in fifth place, while Craig Fram recorded an outstanding time of 1:07:47 to take eighth overall and first masters by a wide margin. Well behind Fram, Jim Miller, Jim Garcia, and John Barbour waged their own masters mini-battle on the track, finishing in that order for second, third, and fourth, the exact same order they finished in Amherst two weeks ago.

The women's race at Melrose was about as opposite as the men's race as one could be. Lynn Denino took the lead right from the gun, and cruised comfortably ahead the entire way, finishing in 1:19:30, well ahead of Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier Jill Gaitenby, who was second in 1:20:48. Patty Pederson claimed third in 1:23:48. The ageless Rebecca Stockdale-Woolley produced a fine women's masters winning time of 1:24:51, good for sixth woman overall.

In just a few short years, this event has grown by leaps and bounds, cresting the 2,000-runner mark, including the throng in the 5-km race. Race organizers from the Runner's Edge got a break, as a seasonably calm March day, in between two snowstorms, offered near-ideal running conditions - for roadies and trackies alike.