Chris Spinney and Paul Hammond

Known for:
Hammond and Spinney, both 46, led Methuen-based Whirlaway Racing Team to the Masters Division team victory in 2005, placing 5th and 6th, respectively, in 2:33:19 and 2:36:13. The 2005 win was Whirlaway’s third consecutive victory, and Hammond and Spinney hope to put together a fourth in 2006.

Both are familiar faces to area runners. Hammond, a Maine native and a Division III All-American for Bates College, ran his first marathon in 1983 and ran a 2:24 in Boston in the ’80s. Spinney ran his first Boston came in 1991, and since then he has run “maybe ten” B.A.A. Boston Marathons, including a 2:30 in 2002. Spinney was the third overall master at the 2005 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.

What we didn’t know:
Spinney started running cross-country at Cardinal Spellman H.S. in Brockton. “I sat down with the soccer team at first, but I looked around and decided I wasn’t going to get much playing time.” However, Spinney didn’t compete for the University of Massachusetts-Amherst while he was there. “I was too busy with school and work to train competitively,” he says.

Contrary to the accepted wisdom, both Hammond and Spinney believe in “front loading” the Boston course. Hammond argues, “As I get older, my legs get tighter in the closing miles; they’re going to get tight no matter how fast I go in the first half, so I might as well get some time in the bank.” Spinney concurs, but admits that he’s been “overdrawn” at that particular bank before.

In 2005, Hammond was in his first year at a new job, and his employer threw a party near the 19-mile mark. “I told [Spinney], ‘I’ve gotta be in front of you at 19 miles,’” recounts Hammond, “but he put a minute on me at Wellesley, and it took me two miles to make it up. Sure enough, he led past all my co-workers. I finally caught him at the top of Heartbreak Hill. There’s a side street there called Hammond Street—that’s where I caught him.”

Both Hammond and Spinney have lost track of exactly how many marathons—and even how many B.A.A. Boston Marathons—they’ve run. Spinney places his number at about 25, and Hammond guesses about 30.

“I’ve never been much faster than I am right now,” says Spinney. Since joining the Masters division, though, he says, “I don’t let bad races get to me. I still have great expectations, but if I don’t meet them, it doesn’t bother me.” How great are his expectations? Since his 2:30 Boston in 2002, “every marathon has been an attempt to go under 2:30.”

Both Hammond and Spinney see the B.A.A. Boston Marathon, and running for their team in particular, as the highlight of their racing year. Hammond sees the Greater Lowell Road Runners as the primary challengers for the team title, but 4th place Master Louis-Philippe Garnier of Montreal, Quebec told Hammond he might bring a team for 2006.

What they’ve been up to:
Spinney ran the Freescale Austin Marathon in February, finishing second in the 45-49 age group with a 2:37:14 finishing time.

The same month, Hammond placed third overall and won the Masters division at the Martha’s Vineyard 20-Miler in 2:03:08.