By Mike LaPlume
On a beautiful January afternoon, the first day of 2022, the 22nd Annual Millennium Mile went off without a hitch! Due to an early November back injury, that I am still recovering from, I was a spectator this year. As always it was a fun race to watch! I mean what could be a better way to ring in the New Year, than a blistering fast downhill one mile race?! Pure genius in my opinion. I must admit, I was a little jealous standing at the finish line watching everyone else have all the fun. Including my son Benjamin who ran a 5:10.9, beating my best time 5:11.2 at this race by .3 seconds! Oh well, there’s always next year. Right Mike Smith?
This year, it included an impressive field of NH high school athletes who have obviously been braving the New England winter conditions to keep themselves in shape. They gave the field of elite, some of them world class athletes, all they could handle. With four ladies finishing in the top ten, and four fellas finishing in the top 25. They represented their respective high schools, as well as NH Cross Country and Track & Field quite well.
Here is the list!
Sherry Smith, Concord, 5:26, 6th female overall
Dantia Braccio, Nashua North, 5:27, 8th female overall
Fiona Lee, Bedford, 5:28, 9th female overall
Katie Palmateer, Bishop Brady, 5:31, 10th female overall
Emily Smith, Londonderry, 6:47, 48th female overall
Tyler Sheedy, Dover, 4:15, 3rd male overall
Nicholas Marcotte, Alvirne, 4:38, 15th male overall
Will Plante, Londonderry, 4:48, 24th male overall
Connor Downes, Newfound, 4:49, 25th male overall
Nick Lacroix, Bedford, 5:00, 30th male overall
Ryder Downes, Newfound, 5:02, 32nd male overall
Cody Cahill, Alvirne, 5:07, 37th male overall
Wesley Thompson, Concord, 5:09, 39th male overall
Logan Cote, Goffstown, 5:10, 43rd male overall
Benjamin Laplume, Newfound, 5:10, 45th male overall
Gunner Currier, Mascoma Valley, 5:26, 62nd male overall
With help from Connor Downes (the biggest stathead I know) this is the most comprehensive list we could come up with. If there are athletes who participated and are not on this list, please reach out to me, or have your coach/parent contact me at mlaplume@sau4.org, and I’ll update the list.
Next on the list is the Bedford Snowflake Shuffle 3 miler, on January 16th. My back is feeling much better everyday, so I think I’ll be off the DL by then. I’m excited to get back in the game and rejoin the coaches race. I hope to see you all out there on the roads and trails soon. Be well!
2 Responses
Love it. However seeing as I was called out (or would we call that a shout out?!) I feel (want) to state my millennium mile PR is 5:08.3… from a WHILE back. Fastest mile I ever recorded. Was throwing up a lung for about 3 hours after that.
Sorry Mike, I’m just seeing this comment now. I would say absolutely a “shout out” not a “call out” 5:08 is pretty fast for old guys like us. I think if I tried to run that pace now one of my legs would literally fly off of my body. I hope to see you this Sunday at the Bedford Snowflake Shuffle. Maybe we can scare some youngsters into running faster for fear of loosing to a couple of old veterans.