I wasn’t sure if it was a wise plan to try and race three times in six days (especially with the final race being Mt Washington) but there was a good reason for racing and it seemed safe to give it a go. I had a feeling it’d be a long day on the Mountain when I felt heavy-legged and tired during the 3 mile warm-up. Conditions were very good on race morning with cool temperatures (60 at the base and upper 30’s on top) and a refreshing wind on top J
I wrote out splits on my arm with the aim being a 1:09:30. I’ve been pretty good about running close to the split projections and knew if I was off (one way or the other) I’d probably run that far off for each mile. 23 times up the Mountain have helped hone that. I lined up in the third row next to Craig Fram (top 50+ runner) and right in front of Keith Woodward (Hall-of-Fame member and top 60+ runner). With the “Only one hill” shout we were off. It seemed relaxed for the first 2 minutes to the base of the mountain. As we started to climb I counted 30 guys in front of me and thought “aim for top 25”. With that the climb began and I immediately felt lousy. It felt like a tough effort right away. Craig was a couple of steps ahead as I hit the mile in 6:59. I was 10 seconds behind what I’d hoped. Projected over the entire race that’d bring me in at 1:10:46. Ugh, this was going to be a long day.
I hung close to Craig and we picked off some quick starters and the second mile slowly passed. I hoped I’d get rolling but instead I just felt flat. The 2nd mile was also 10 seconds too slow and I just focused on catching anyone who faltered. Somewhere around three miles I caught teammate Francis Burdett and soon after I caught Dan Princic who offered me a cheer of “go after the old man”, which made me smile or grimace I’m not sure which. I was feeling very old at that point in the race. By half-way Craig was still not that far ahead (15 seconds) but he really moved during the second half. One guy went flying by me at 4 miles, he’d be the only person to pass me all day.
As we moved above the tree-line the wind increased but for the most part it seemed to be a cross or tail-wind. It was cool which felt good but I was in no-man’s land after 4 miles. I kept my head up looking for anyone to falter. Every once in a while I’d hear someone close on me but whoever it was (I didn’t look) faded back. By 6 miles it looked like I might have a shot at the two guys who weren’t that far ahead. With a mile to go I checked behind me on the hairpin turn and was surprised to see Francis who waived hello. Dang, he is fast and I did not want to have it come down to a kick with him. The wind was pretty strong in the cow pasture but I was closing on the guy in front of me. I dug in and very nearly caught him on the ‘wall’.
I was pretty disappointed with my time (1:10:44) which is nearly my worst time ever. After a brief stop on the summit I had a coke, switched shoes and headed on down the Mountain. It isn’t much easier running down! The views were just incredible and the miles rolled by quickly. I was back on the bottom 63 minutes later and glad to be done. It was great to see my club do so well, we took the win in both the men’s open and men’s masters.
Results:
PL
|
Name
|
Time
|
Age
|
City
|
St
|
Team
| |
1
|
Eric
|
Blake
|
0:59:57
|
34
|
New Britain
|
CT
|
La Sportiva
|
2
|
Joseph
|
Gray
|
1:02:46
|
29
|
Renton
|
WA
|
Club NW
|
3
|
Sage
|
Canaday
|
1:03:39
|
27
|
Boulder
|
CO
|
Scott Sports
|
4
|
Simon
|
Gutierrez
|
1:04:44
|
47
|
Colorado Spring
|
CO
|
Team CO
|
5
|
Matthew
|
Byrne
|
1:04:45
|
38
|
Scranton
|
PA
|
La Sportiva
|
6
|
Josh
|
Ferenc
|
1:05:36
|
31
|
Saxtons River
|
VT
|
BAA
|
7
|
Gabriel
|
Rodriguez
|
1:06:37
|
35
|
Baltimore
|
MD
|
Under Armour
|
8
|
Justin
|
Freeman
|
1:06:52
|
36
|
New Hampton
|
NH
|
RUN
|
9
|
Peter
|
Maksimow
|
1:07:26
|
34
|
Manitou Springs
|
CO
|
Team CO
|
10
|
Eric
|
MacKnight
|
1:07:37
|
24
|
Clifton Park
|
NY
|
WRT
|
11
|
Patrick
|
Rich
|
1:07:41
|
36
|
S Hamilton
|
MA
|
CMS
|
12
|
Kris
|
Freeman
|
1:08:19
|
32
|
Thornton
|
NH
|
MWSC
|
13
|
Scott
|
Traer
|
1:08:32
|
32
|
Woburn
|
MA
| |
14
|
Kevin
|
Tilton
|
1:08:52
|
31
|
North Conway
|
NH
|
CMS
|
15
|
Jacob
|
Edwards
|
1:08:56
|
26
|
Scotch Plains
|
NJ
| |
16
|
Jason
|
Rengo
|
1:09:06
|
28
|
Essex Junction
|
VT
| |
17
|
Brandon
|
Newbould
|
1:09:08
|
31
|
Nottingham
|
NH
|
WRT
|
18
|
Dan
|
Gorman
|
1:09:34
|
26
|
Boulder
|
CO
| |
19
|
Craig
|
Fram
|
1:09:52
|
54
|
Derry
|
NH
|
WRT
|
20
|
Sean
|
Duncan
|
1:09:59
|
23
|
Gardner
|
MA
|
WMDP
|
21
|
Jacob
|
Loverich
|
1:10:37
|
36
|
State College
|
PA
| |
22
|
Dave
|
Dunham
|
1:10:44
|
49
|
Ward Hill
|
MA
|
CMS
|
23
|
Jim
|
Johnson
|
1:10:55
|
36
|
Madison
|
NH
|
BAA
|
24
|
Francis
|
Burdett
|
1:11:01
|
48
|
Worcester
|
MA
|
CMS
|
25
|
Nick
|
Best
|
1:11:20
|
24
|
Ottawa
|
ON
|
PIH
|
Top 50 in the 40+
40+ Pl
|
O'all Pl
|
Name
|
Time
|
Age
|
City
|
St
|
Team
| |
1
|
4
|
Simon
|
Gutierrez
|
1:04:44
|
47
|
Colorado Spring
|
CO
|
Team CO
|
2
|
19
|
Craig
|
Fram
|
1:09:52
|
54
|
Derry
|
NH
|
WRT
|
3
|
22
|
Dave
|
Dunham
|
1:10:44
|
49
|
Ward Hill
|
MA
|
CMS
|
4
|
24
|
Francis
|
Burdett
|
1:11:01
|
48
|
Worcester
|
MA
|
CMS
|
5
|
30
|
Todd
|
Callaghan
|
1:13:46
|
43
|
Beverly Ma
|
MA
|
GCS
|
6
|
33
|
Fergus
|
Cullen
|
1:14:28
|
41
|
Dover
|
NH
| |
7
|
36
|
Sean
|
Livingston
|
1:15:44
|
44
|
Barrington
|
RI
| |
8
|
41
|
Scott
|
Clark
|
1:16:26
|
47
|
Gilmanton
|
NH
|
CMS
|
9
|
53
|
Robert
|
Cipriano
|
1:18:27
|
53
|
Belmont
|
MA
|
SRR
|
10
|
55
|
Paul
|
Doe
|
1:19:15
|
54
|
Derry
|
NH
|
WRT
|
11
|
59
|
Andy
|
Mason
|
1:20:07
|
41
|
Hagerstown
|
MD
| |
12
|
60
|
Donald
|
Pacher
|
1:20:15
|
41
|
Easthampton
|
MA
| |
13
|
62
|
Rocco
|
Della Serra
|
1:20:29
|
52
|
Cranford
|
NJ
|
Sneaker Factory
|
14
|
64
|
John
|
Hogan
|
1:20:46
|
47
|
W Town
|
NJ
|
Sneaker Factory
|
15
|
65
|
Reno
|
Stirrat
|
1:21:23
|
59
|
Quincy
|
MA
|
WRT
|
16
|
69
|
Matthew
|
Curran
|
1:21:49
|
56
|
Gloucester
|
MA
|
TG
|
17
|
70
|
Paul
|
Hammond
|
1:21:54
|
53
|
Lexington
|
MA
|
WRT
|
18
|
71
|
Jeff
|
Gould
|
1:21:57
|
48
|
Gardner
|
MA
|
NMC
|
19
|
72
|
Ernest
|
Brake
|
1:22:09
|
51
|
North Sutton
|
NH
|
CMS
|
20
|
74
|
Keith
|
Woodward
|
1:22:12
|
62
|
Stowe
|
VT
|
GMAA
|
21
|
77
|
Thomas
|
Miller
|
1:22:30
|
43
|
Marshfield Hill
|
MA
|
MRR
|
22
|
78
|
John
|
Sabatino
|
1:22:53
|
46
|
Morris Plains
|
NJ
|
Sneaker Factory
|
23
|
79
|
Doug
|
Martyn
|
1:22:59
|
53
|
North Andover
|
MA
|
WRT
|
24
|
85
|
John
|
Knepper
|
1:23:51
|
46
|
Midland Park
|
NJ
|
Sneaker Factory
|
25
|
92
|
John
|
Barbour
|
1:24:55
|
59
|
Gloucester
|
MA
|
TG
|
26
|
97
|
Edward
|
Jeffries
|
1:25:36
|
49
|
Essex
|
MA
|
TG
|
27
|
99
|
John
|
Trunik
|
1:25:55
|
45
|
West Hartford
|
CT
|
NMC
|
28
|
100
|
Joel
|
St-Louis
|
1:26:01
|
51
|
Orford
|
QC
| |
29
|
101
|
Bob
|
Evers
|
1:26:15
|
62
|
Park City
|
UT
| |
30
|
102
|
Jim
|
Rollins
|
1:26:25
|
45
|
Moultonborough
|
NH
|
WMM
|
31
|
103
|
John
|
Pajer
|
1:26:28
|
50
|
Leicester
|
MA
|
CMS
|
32
|
111
|
Scott
|
Hornney
|
1:27:09
|
47
|
Yarmouth
|
ME
|
MeTC
|
33
|
116
|
Clint
|
Dowd
|
1:27:41
|
49
|
Goffstown
|
NH
|
AA
|
34
|
117
|
Andrew
|
Battista
|
1:27:49
|
42
|
Atlanta
|
GA
| |
35
|
118
|
David
|
Loutzenheiser
|
1:27:49
|
46
|
Cambridge
|
MA
|
CRC
|
36
|
119
|
Robert
|
Gillis
|
1:27:54
|
58
|
Gloucester
|
MA
|
TG
|
37
|
121
|
Bruce
|
Wilkins
|
1:28:08
|
60
|
Fairport
|
NY
|
GVH
|
38
|
122
|
Gary
|
Guion
|
1:28:08
|
51
|
Monroe
|
NH
| |
39
|
123
|
Giuseppe
|
Le Pera
|
1:28:17
|
47
|
Bedford
|
NH
| |
40
|
125
|
Keith
|
O'Brien
|
1:28:25
|
49
|
Chelmsford
|
MA
|
GLRR
|
41
|
129
|
Barry
|
Lass
|
1:28:50
|
49
|
Morristown
|
NJ
|
Sneaker Factory
|
42
|
137
|
Stephen
|
Peterson
|
1:29:41
|
47
|
Chelmsford
|
MA
|
CMS
|
43
|
139
|
Len
|
Hall
|
1:29:56
|
59
|
Enfield
|
NH
|
GCS
|
44
|
140
|
Kevin
|
Littman
|
1:29:59
|
41
|
Gloucester
|
MA
|
TG
|
45
|
141
|
Alfred
|
Coyle
|
1:30:37
|
50
|
Scituate
|
MA
|
CRR
|
46
|
143
|
Edward
|
Manion
|
1:30:46
|
41
|
Belmont
|
MA
| |
47
|
145
|
Michael
|
Townsley
|
1:30:53
|
44
|
Bernardston
|
MA
|
SMAC
|
48
|
146
|
Todd
|
Brown
|
1:30:58
|
49
|
Rocky Hill
|
CT
|
NMC
|
49
|
147
|
Norbey
|
Gonzalez
|
1:31:03
|
40
|
Dover
|
NJ
|
Sneaker Factory
|
50
|
149
|
Bob
|
Mulvaney
|
1:31:13
|
60
|
Auburn
|
NH
|
GCS
|
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