Team Member Bio: Eric Morse

Eric Morse


Primary sport(s):  
Road, mountain, XC

HS/College: 
Harwood HS / Vermont Technical College

CMS Masters Team member since:  
Open team - 1989, Masters - 2005

City/state of residence:   
Berlin, VT

Occupation:  
Designs headstones

Goals for 2010:  
Get healthy and race.  Get another 40+ title at Mt Washington.

Notable achievements/memories/PR’s in your sport:

• 11 time USATF NE Champion, and Vermont runner of the year 9 times.
• Represented the United States in the World Mountain running championships 5 times. 47th (1996) 3rd U.S., 37th (1997) 2nd U.S., 37th (2000) 3rd U.S., 74th (2002) 3rd U.S., and 60th (2003) 3rd U.S.
• Six-time USATF NE Mountain circuit champion: 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003. 
• USATF NE Road Race Grand Prix Individual Champion: 1999
• Still holds the open course records at Wachusett, Pack, and Ascutney.

Open PRs:

Mile: 3:59
5k: 14:17
10k: 29:20
20k: 1:00:48
Half Marathon: 1:03:50

Masters PRs:
5k: 15:09
10K: 31:59

List one thing others may not know about you:  
Has more finishes in the top 5, without a win, than anyone in the history of the Mt Washington road race.  Or to put it another way "The biggest loser at Mt Washington"

Your favorite workout:  
Hill workouts


Your favorite race(s) and why?
New Haven 20km, because I have a faster PR than dd

Website/Blog Address:   
On Facebook

Mount Washington Road Race Performance History:

Year	Age	Place	Time	Pace
1993	28	4	1:03:50	8:24
1994	29	6	1:07:12	8:51
1995	30	4	1:03:37	8:22
1996	31	3	1:03:46	8:24
1997	32	2	1:05:38	8:39
1998	33	2	1:02:31	8:14
1999	34	4	1:01:09	8:03
2000	35	4	1:04:54	8:33
2001	36	4	1:05:00	8:34
2002*	37	2	28:12	7:26
2004	39	8	1:06:46	8:47
2005	40	6	1:05:26	8:36
2006	41	5	1:04:38	8:31
2007	42	8	1:08:56	9:05
2008*	43	20	1:06:56	8:49
2009	44	15	1:08:34	9:02

*2008 was the U.S. Mountain Running Championships.

*2002 was a shortened race due to weather conditions on the summit.

PR's and aging

Chart above shows the slowing down of world records at various ages

Personal Records – PR’s
As you probably already know, I’m into stats and as a (rapidly) aging athlete I’m interested in age groups. I’m just about to enter a new age category and this will be the first time I’ve ever been interested in 5 year-age-groups. I’ll turn 45 in March of 2009, so I’m already more than half-way through the “masters” age group. Wow, the years seem to accelerate by as my times seem to decelerate.

Obviously there are many factors in how an athlete ages and how PR’s reflect that. For the most part distance runner’s peak in their 30’s then steadily decline. Some interesting reading is available on this link: http://www.howardgrubb.co.uk/athletics/agegroups.html and there is a cool calculator that shows your percentages at any distance and age. http://www.howardgrubb.co.uk/athletics/runcalc.html


Looking over my past performances my best result is a 20 km race (60:53) at the age of 28 = 92%. I had some decent performances into my mid-30s and even some fast times after 35, but they became few and far between. After injury and illness I before turning 40 it took a few years just to get some decent performances. Most of my best times in the 40-44 have taken place over the last year to 18 months. If I can stay healthy (and that is always a big if) I may top some of my 40-44 times when I enter the new 5-year age group.


Pr’s over 5-year age group
Age………00-18….19-24….25-29….30-34….35-39…..40-44
1 Mile……..4:18… ..4:10…..4:14……..4:12…….-……….….4:45
2 Mile……..8:55…...8:52…..8:56…….9:12…….9:20……10:06
5 K………..14:27….14:08...14:17……14:34…..15:02……16:27
8 K…………..-……..23:46….23:59….24:07…..24:43…….27:50
5 Mile…...24:08….23:27….23:33….23:58…..24:39…….27:52
10 K……...32:04…29:17….29:26…..30:01…..30:31……35:04
10 Mile……-……...50:03….49:36.....50:23…..51:34…...59:29
13.1 m……..-….….69:11…..65:02…..66:48…..69:58……78:22
26.2m……..-……….. -…….2:19:28…2:19:50…2:21:55…2:49:25