Mt Washington road race

Mt Washington road race:  This was the 29^th time I’ve raced up the auto road to the summit of the highest point in New England.  I’ve been struggling with back issues and ongoing ankle woes but didn’t think either would factor into the race (since it is up only and on a mostly paved road).  I’ve been racing about 10 seconds per mile slower than last year at pretty much every race.  With that in mind I hoped to run between 1:14 (my time last year) and 1:17 (the course record for 55+ is 1:16:58).

I headed up on Friday and got in a nice run on the Mountain Division bike path as I’d done last year.  Teammates Kevin Tilton and Leslie O’Dell joined in the fun.  Conditions were just fantastic with sun & clouds, reasonable temps, and enough wind to keep the black flies from being bothersome.  After the run I took a plunge in a nearby pond then met up with teammates Francis Burdett and Ed Sheldon for dinner at the Shed (the most rude treatment I’ve ever had in a restaurant, nearly walked out).  After dinner it was nearly time to crash as FB and I checked in at the Holiday Inn.

We were up early as I got caffeinated and Francis primped.  At 6:30am we headed for the race, as in recent years there was a lot of traffic near the auto road even that early in the morn.  We were still safely early which is the way I prefer to do things, one less thing to worry about on race day.  A good sized group of CMS guys gathered a little after 8am and we went out for an easy couple of miles on the trails.  I added another .8 then changed into race gear.  The weather was low 60’s at the start and 40’s on top with 40mph winds.  For some reason they were really hyping up how bad the weather was (probably to avoid real problems with under-dressed runners).  I decided to carry 3 gloves, one for each hand and one for protection below the Mendoza-line.  Other than that it looked like jackets and long-sleeve and such would be overkill.  I was already warm and knew I’d be generating plenty of heat.

I got in the second row at the start (I finished 11^th last year and although I was slower this year the field looked weaker) and had no trouble as we headed into the first 2 minutes of flat running before the climb started.  I counted about 30 people in front of me, which is typical.  I did not feel comfortable, which is also typical but got into a groove.  I tried to focus on teammates Erik Vandendries and Steve Brightman who are both in the 50+ age group and Todd Callaghan (age 49) who I ran with for most of the race last year.  Erik slowly pulled away at the mile and on the longer straights I could see him picking off people as the race progressed.  He had a terrific run, winning the 50+ and taking 2^nd in the age-graded scoring.  I got locked into catching then losing ground on Steve.  He would walk as it got steeper then run really fast as the grade decreased.  Sometimes he’d be 10 seconds ahead then back with me.  We ran sort of together from 2 miles until about 1 mile to go.  At that point he took off and buried me.  The only other guy I ran with was Sean Livingston who has always run well at the mountain.  He hadn’t done the race in a few years but was back at age 50 and looking strong.  We ran together from 3 to 4 then he powered on his way.

I hit the half-way in 35:47 which was 35 seconds slower than last year (or about 10 seconds a mile!) so I was on pace for a 1:15-high.  I never lost focus and even had the top women in my sights for the 2^nd half of the race.  I got as close as 15 seconds or so before I ran out of steam.  I felt like I was at the end of a marathon with nothing left in the tank.  At 7 miles I swore “if I finish I will never do this again” and charged on.  Mostly it was damage control at that point.  I was slowing for sure and with maybe ¼ mile to go the 2^nd place woman went storming by.  She ended up catching the leader and they crossed the line together! I didn’t see the finish but could here it being called.  I was sure it was going to be close for me to come in under 1:17.  I made that final turn and saw the clock and was able to sneak in under the age group record with a 1:16:46 for 26^th overall and first in the 50+.

I ended up scoring for all three of the CMS winning teams (open, masters, seniors).  The club had a good day!  Todd won the 45-49 and Erik took the 50-54.  I may have set a record (certainly a personal best) for the least amount of time before running down.  I finished in just under 1:17, got myself to the summit (thank you Paul Grant for giving me a fleece blanket at the finish!), and crossed over the line heading down and the clock was still in the 1:24’s.

Pl	Time	First	Last	Age	Gen	City	St	Club
1	1:02:52	Eric	Blake	40	M	West Hartford	CT
2	1:03:51	Francis	Kamiri	32	M	Birmingham	AL
3	1:05:44	Lee	Berube	28	M	Syracuse	NY
4	1:06:30	Nadir	Cavagna	24	M	San Pellegrino	ITA
5	1:09:41	Nick	Aguila	29	M	Manchester	NH	MILL
6	1:09:53	Brandon	Newbould	37	M	Nottingham	NH	WRT
7	1:10:17	Turner	Zamore	35	M	South Hero	VT
8	1:10:22	Scott	Mindel	32	M	Burlington	MA	CMS
9	1:11:57	Eric	Lipuma	26	M	Stowe	VT	Scranton RC
10	1:12:23	Samuel	Fazioli	27	M	Salem	NH	Tracksmith
11	1:12:30	Matt	Lipsey	29	M	Harrisburg	PA	Scranton RC
12	1:13:35	Jon	Krell	27	M	Green Island	NY	Manchester RC
13	1:13:40	Jeffrey	Allen	18	M	Litchfield	NH
14	1:14:12	Erik	Vandendries	54	M	Chestnut Hill	MA	CMS
15	1:14:38	Daniel	Princic	39	M	Reading	MA	WRT
16	1:14:56	Joseph	Reynolds	34	M	Westbrook	ME
17	1:15:21	Matthew	Byrne	44	M	Scranton	PA	Scranton RC
18	1:15:26	Adam	Gootnick	33	M	Unionville	CT	Manchester RC
19	1:15:27	Sean	Livingston	50	M	Barrington	RI	WMM
20	1:15:30	Nicholas	Rindenello	33	M	Harvard	MA
21	1:15:56	Steve	Brightman	50	M	Providence	RI	CMS
22	1:16:17	Heidi	Caldwell	27	F	Craftsbury Comm	VT	Craftsbury RC
22	1:16:17	Brittni	Hutton	29	F	Lubbock	TX
24	1:16:34	Todd	Callaghan	49	M	Beverly	MA	CMS
25	1:16:36	Jason	Lantz	38	M	Bethlehem	NH
26	1:16:47	Dave	Dunham	55	M	Ward Hill	MA	CMS
27	1:16:49	Kim	Nedeau	39	F	Leverett	MA	WMDP
28	1:16:55	Liam	Cregan	26	M	Amherst	MA
29	1:17:01	Immanuel	Wineman	41	M	Northampton	MA
30	1:17:22	Francis	Burdett	54	M	Worcester	MA	CMS
		CMS
36	1:18:17	Patrick	Rich	42	M	South Hamilton	MA	CMS
49	1:21:48	Matthew	Veiga	32	M	Lynn	MA	CMS
55	1:23:22	Ernest	Brake	57	M	North Sutton	NH	CMS
66	1:24:54	David	Lapierre	55	M	Chelmsford	MA	CMS
68	1:25:16	Ed	Sheldon	54	M	Hooksett	NH	CMS
117	1:32:13	Leslie	O'Dell	43	F	Albany	NH	CMS
143	1:34:06	Kevin	Tilton	37	M	Conway	NH	CMS
252	1:44:42	Stephen	Peterson	53	M	Chelmsford	MA	CMS
292	1:48:06	Alissa	Zbikowski	45	F	Gardner	MA	CMS
298	1:48:25	Nicole	Chauncey	25	F	Leominster	MA	CMS
321	1:50:49	John	Martin	67	M	Hyannis	MA	CMS
360	1:53:01	Barbara	McManus	51	F	Rutland	MA	CMS
425	1:57:26	Kathleen	Murphy	61	F	Worcester	MA	CMS
454	1:59:14	Stephen	Laska	57	M	Holden	MA	CMS
613	2:11:11	Kim	Gordon	37	F	Rutland	MA	CMS
692	2:15:09	Jennifer	Graves	48	F	Worcester	MA	CMS
793	2:23:31	Rachel	Flaksman	42	F	Warwick	RI	CMS
		M50+
14	1:14:12	Erik	Vandendries	54	M	Chestnut Hill	MA	CMS
19	1:15:27	Sean	Livingston	50	M	Barrington	RI	WMM
21	1:15:56	Steve	Brightman	50	M	Providence	RI	CMS
26	1:16:47	Dave	Dunham	55	M	Ward Hill	MA	CMS
30	1:17:22	Francis	Burdett	54	M	Worcester	MA	CMS
44	1:20:52	Jim	Boule	52	M	Campton	NH	aR
45	1:21:10	Hakan	Eriksson	57	M	Malung	ITA
55	1:23:22	Ernest	Brake	57	M	North Sutton	NH	CMS
66	1:24:54	David	Lapierre	55	M	Chelmsford	MA	CMS
68	1:25:16	Ed	Sheldon	54	M	Hooksett	NH	CMS