USA Mountain running champs - Loon Mountain

The National Mountain running championships at Loon Mountain has been my goal race for 2016 since it was announced 6 months ago.  My training may not have been what I hoped for but I did feel I was rounding into shape in the weeks leading up to the race.  If nothing else I was mentally prepared for this.  I knew (or at least thought I knew) who the competition would be in the 50+ age group and I also had a handle on the strengths and weaknesses of them and of ME.

I showed up at Loon with USATF liaison Richard Bolt in tow and we met up with CMS teammates Scott Leslie & Tim Van Orden, along with top female series runner Jamie Woolsey.  We did a leisurely run of the first 3 miles of the race course which is relatively flat and features a slightly muddy 2 mile Cross-Country section.  It was good to get loosened up and also check out the fast first miles of the course. 

On race morning I headed out for a 3 mile warm-up.  I went on my own as I headed out a little earlier than most and was probably going a bit slower than the guys would want to run.  After my warm-up I switched into race gear (USA Unitard) and Inov-8 racing flats.  The Inov-8’s would come in handy not only on the muddy sections but the tough dirt road climb which is always loose and sandy.  I did another mile to stay relaxed and headed to the start.

The course was slightly different from last year with a ¼ mile of extra running at the start (maybe to avoid an early 90 degree turn?).  With 400 guys heading out at full speed that was probably a very good idea.  I got out well and was somewhere around 100^th place as we started climbing in the first ½ mile.  There was plenty of room to pass and no reason to panic in a race that’d take an hour or so.  I was looking for my 50+ teammates, Erik Vandendries, Jeff Hunt, and Ed Sheldon who were all fast starters and all capable of winning our age division.  Last year I gave up a lot of time to Jeff and Erik (30+ seconds in the first mile) and hoped to keep them closer this year.  I could see them up ahead and checked the split as we exited the cat-track and started the XC section.  I was 10 seconds back. 

Jeff pulled away on the XC part (he is fast and strong) and Erik would yo-yo.  I’d close on him on the downhill and he’d pull away on the up.  I never quite caught up to him.  There wasn’t much passing on the 2 miles of XC which was a good sign for me.  Last year I lost at least 5 spots on this section.  I slowly caught up to CMS teammate Eric Narcisi and got around him at the very end of the loop.  We were 3 miles into the race but far from half-way done based on time.  All of the tough running lay ahead.

Jeff was now 30 seconds ahead and Erik was about 15 seconds ahead.  I was surprised to see another 50+ runner between me and Erik.  Stu Thurston (GMAA) is a very fast road runner but I wasn’t sure about his ability on the climbs.  I slowly reeled in Stu as I also closed the gap on Erik.  I got Stu on the road climb and got even closer to Erik on the next short downhill.  At 3.8 miles we hit the first real test of the day the really tough grass climb of ½ mile.  A lot of guys were walking this and I passed many on this section.  Erik caught up to Jeff and I closed to within 11 seconds of both of them.  The short downhill to the 180 degree turn seemed to be over before it started and we were on the longest toughest climb of the day.

We had just under a mile to the gondola with over 700’ of climb.  This section is always mentally difficult along with the physical aspect of the long grind in loose dirt and rock.  I settled into a pace and kept my head up looking toward Erik and Jeff.  About ¾ of the way up I passed Jeff who offered some encouragement.  Erik was running the same pace as me and I was not closing the gap.  We reached the gondola with 10 seconds between us.  I went as hard as I could on the steep downhill (400’ in ½ mile), passing Erik in the first 100 meters.  I knew I’d need some time in hand to hold him off on the Upper Walking Boss.

I put 30+ seconds on Erik (although I didn’t know it at the time) and hit the final 1 kilometer of tough climb in the lead of the 50+ age group.  I caught a few guys on the climb and they also offered encouragement.  I must have pushed too hard as I had to take about 10 steps with hands on knees power-walking (I’ve rarely walked on the UWB).  I was hurting!  The “500 meters to go” sign helped although I knew that 500 meters meant another 5 minutes of running.  I took a peek at 250 to go and could see Erik but was pretty sure I could hold him off.  I ran as hard as I could crossing the line in 1:00:13 and collapsing to the ground after.  I didn’t leave anything on the course.  Erik came in a few seconds later and Jeff rounded out the top three in the 50+.  CMS sweep of the medals!!! 

I did an easy jog down the Mountain, stopping to take some pictures of the women’s race (they started an hour after us) and then basically collapsed again.  Long day!

	Top 15 50-54
1	1:00:13	Dave	Dunham	MA	CMS
2	1:00:37	Erik	Vandendries	MA	CMS
3	1:01:03	Jeff	Hunt	MA	CMS
4	1:02:57	Jeff	Walker	ME	Dirigo
5	1:04:15	Tom	Thurston	VT	GMAA
6	1:04:48	Dan	Verrington	MA	CMS
7	1:05:15	Christopher	Smith	MA	SRR
8	1:05:32	Ed	Sheldon	NH	CMS
9	1:05:42	Brian	Ruhm	NH	GCS
10	1:07:26	Rich	Chalmers	ME	Dirigo
11	1:08:54	EJ	Hrynowski	MA	GLRR
12	1:10:52	Scott	Thomas	FL
13	1:10:56	Peter	Keeney	ME	aR
14	1:11:12	Jeff	Walker	RI
15	1:14:09	David	Lapierre	MA	CMS
		Overall
1	0:49:11	Joseph	Gray	CO	Club NW
2	0:50:17	Brett	Hales	UT
3	0:50:36	Matt	Daniels	CO	Hudson
4	0:50:49	Hayden	Hawks	UT
5	0:51:06	David	Fuentes	TX	Skeechers
6	0:51:13	Andy	Wacker	CO	adidas
7	0:51:28	Eric	Blake	CT		Top USATF NE
24	0:57:07	Todd	Callaghan	MA	CMS	1st M45-49
25	0:57:39	Matthew	Veiga	MA	CMS
29	0:58:21	Kevin	Tilton	NH	CMS
31	0:58:48	Tim	Van Orden	VT	CMS	2nd M45-49
33	0:59:03	Scott	Leslie	MA	CMS
38	1:00:13	Dave	Dunham	MA	CMS	1st M50-54
41	1:00:37	Erik	Vandendries	MA	CMS	2nd M50-54
43	1:01:03	Jeff	Hunt	MA	CMS	3rd M50-54
66	1:03:43	Eric	Narcisi	MA	CMS
71	1:04:48	Dan	Verrington	MA	CMS	6th M50-54
78	1:05:08	James	Pawlicki	MA	CMS	4th M40-44
81	1:05:32	Ed	Sheldon	NH	CMS	8th M50-54
116	1:10:45	Nick	Taormin	MA	CMS	12th M40-44
138	1:14:09	David	Lapierre	MA	CMS	15th M50-54
246	1:26:05	Robert	Thomas	MA	CMS	9th M55-59
349	1:46:27	Walter	Kuklinski	MA	CMS	12th M65-69
	Teams
	Open (6 teams, 5 score)
1	CMS	4:51:03
2	Acidotic	5:10:50
3	Rosemont	5:11:10
	40+ (8 teams, 3 score)
1	CMS	2:56:10
2	Acidotic	3:14:12
3	Dirigo	3:18:08
	50+ (7 teams, 3 score)
1	CMS	3:01:55
2	Acidotic	3:41:01
3	GCS	3:56:36
	Women (8 teams, 3 score)
1	CMS	3:25:32
2	Rosemont (PA)	3:28:50
3	Acidotic	3:58:36
	40+ (8 teams, 3 score)
1	Rosemont	3:40:21
2	CMS	3:58:21
3	CSU	3:59:23