SURVIVOR MONADNOCK

Let me start by saying that I have never done a trail race anything like the Monadnock 12k. It was advertised as the most difficult trail race in New England, which is quite the claim given races such as the 7 Sisters and the Pisgah 50k. After running the Monadnock race, it may not be most difficult, but I am absolutely positive it is the most dangerous.

On race morning, I was excited to be driving to new race that was east of 91. The description of an up to the summit and back down 12k race on hiking trails definitely got my interest. The 2000ft of vertical on the ascent was sure to make it tough race, and the rain that started on Friday night before the race wasn't going to make it any easier. I got to the start with plenty of time to check out the course. I needed to figure out which of my four Inov-8 shoes I wanted to run in. I started to run up the mountain in my Flyrocs, and at first look, the trail seemed very runable. That lasted for about a kilometer, then the race turned right and the footing got much rougher, with thick roots, sharp rocks, and some mud. I ended up going about 1.5 miles up the course, and tested out some surprisingly technical sections higher up on the mountain. I was comfortable with the Flyrocs, and headed back down to the start.

Prior to the start, I asked Elijah Barret about the upper sections of course. He is from the area, and is pretty familiar with the Monadnock trails. He also won the race last year. Elijah mentioned that the organizers were debating turning the runners around before the top, as it was snowing and pretty windy up there. The decision was made to run the whole course and we off up the mountain.

I took the lead from the start, and Elijah and Greg Hammett followed close behind. At times a would get a bit of lead, but it was never more than a few seconds. I soon realized that the footing was so consistently technical that you couldn't run all out. You were constantly picking out your foot placements, and sections of some ground were few and far between. There was a considerable amount of hand-over-foot climbing, and it was obvious the descent would involve considerable danger if you were trying to run fast.

While the race was in the trees, the trail was easy to follow. As the trees thinned, it was hard to see the yellow dots on the rocks or the small cairns. At one point, I headed off trail, and Elijah and Greg passed me as they called me back on course. Elijah started to push the pace, and Greg let me by so I could chase him. Greg stuck with me as we caught back up with Elijah, but it was obvious that he knew the trails very well. Soon after this, my wedding band flew off my finger as I swung from a tree. Greg was quick to spot it and handed it back to me. We lost contact with Elijah as a result of this. As we reached the exposed summit section, it became increasingly difficult to spot the trail and even though Elijah wasn't that far ahead, the terrain was very uneven, and visibility was getting bad. It had been snowing since we reached the upper sections of the mountain, and the wind was getting stronger with every vertical foot.

Unlike other New England mountains, Monadnock has an expansive exposed section due to a forest fire. Unlike a typical mountain, where you go steadily uphill to the summit, the Monadnock ridge has several small ascents and descents on the way to the top. We were above the tree line for about 10 minutes. I couldn't believe how bad the weather was on March 7th at only 3000ft above sea level. It was weather I would expect on Mt. Washington, which was 2 hours north and 3000ft higher. It was snowing quite hard, and the wind was a steady 40-50 mph. Greg and I helped each other find the cairns and stay on trail, which was becoming increasingly difficult. We had to yell to hear each other above the wind.

I then spotted Elijah on his down, so I knew we were close to the summit. We reached a high point, but there were other similar elevations in the distance, so we were unsure if we had reached the top. We asked a hiker if this was the top, but he couldn't hear us. At this point, the wind must have been about 60mph, and a gust knocked me right over. I could have started down after Elijah, but I wasn't too confident I would be able to find the trail by myself, so I waited for Greg to put a jacket on. At that point the race was over for me, and I just wanted Greg and I to get back down in one piece. I instantly came to the realization that if someone got lost or hurt in these conditions, they would be in grave danger in a matter of minutes. My hands went numb in the minute it took Greg to get his jacket on. I have never been so concerned for my own survival during a trail race, nothing comes even close.

We quickly headed down in the direction we thought the trail went, but soon were off trail, we spotted our hiker friend, who did a great job of keeping us on the course as the wind blew us around. The wind was so strong, by eyelids turned inside out a couple of times, and my left eye was stinging badly from the wind-driven snow. About 400 meters from the summit, we ran into the fourth place runner, and advised him to go down. He decided to go anyway, and I was a bit shocked. I later found out that he was familiar with the trails, but it still seemed a little crazy to me. There was no one left on summit, and if had gotten injured, it would have been bad.

When we finally made it to a more protected side of the mountain, Greg and I ran into Ed Alibozek, who told us that they had turned around the rest of the runners early, but must had missed the first four racers. The rest of the way down was relatively uneventful, but even running conservatively, the trail was still dangerous. Elijah had no idea we had backed off, and flew down the mountain thinking we were right behind. Due to his familiarity with the trails, he was really never concerned about his safety, in stark contrast to many others in the race.

I still can't believe how crazy it was at the summit. The 2005 Monadnock 12k is likely to be remembered by all who dared to run it for a very, very, long time. Next year, if it is raining on race day, I may think twice about getting in the car to head to the race. One epic Monadnock experience is enough for me.

Still defrosting,

Ben