CMS Weekend Results from Europe

Paul and Kelly continue racing well in Europe preparing for the World Trophy.  Results below from the Challenge Stellina (mountain race).

Men's results:
        1       1       NM      1972    WIATT Johnathan NUOVA ZELANDA   1:14:37
        2       2       NM      1970    GAIARDO Marco   ITALIA  1:17:26
        3       3       NM      1967    MOLINARI Antonio        ITALIA  1:19:42
        4       13      NM      BROWN John      GRAN BRETAGNA   1:20:10
        5       75      MI      1977    MANZI Emanuele  Forestale       1:21:08
        6       4       NM      PORRO Roberto   ITALIA  1:21:36
        7       14      NM      DAVIES Tim      GRAN BRETAGNA   1:22:07
        8       5       NM      LOW Paul        U.S.A.  1:22:31         CMS
        9       107     NM      KROLL Marcus    AUSTRIA 1:22:51
        10      96      SM      1978    LANFRANCHI Mauro        La Recastello   1:23:08

Women's results:
     1  16      NF      ZATORSKA Isabela        POLONIA 0:48:08
        2       1       NF      CONFORTOLA Antonella    ITALIA  0:48:30
        3       2       NF      RAVIZZA Matilde ITALIA  0:48:59
        4       12      NF      1971    CRUMPTON Shireen        NUOVA ZELANDA   0:49:25
        5       4       NF      1980    BURT Moana      NUOVA ZELANDA   0:50:26
        6       3       NF      1978    VERNA Barbara   ITALIA  0:52:25
        7       7       NF      WILSON Lynn     GRAN BRETAGNA   0:52:32
        8       28      NF      LUSK Kelly      U.S.A.  0:53:49         CMS
        9       10      NF      1958    BAILLON Chantal FRANCIA 0:54:13
        10      9       NF      1977    FANGET Béatrice FRANCIA 0:54:56


Team Results:
 1      ITALIA  2:37:08
        2       GAIARDO Marco   Challenge       1:17:26
        3       MOLINARI Antonio        Challenge       1:19:42
2       GRAN BRETAGNA   2:42:17
        13      BROWN John      Challenge       1:20:10
        14      DAVIES Tim      Challenge       1:22:07
 3       U.S.A.  2:47:15
        5       LOW Paul        Challenge       1:22:31
        6       GUTIERREZ Simon Challenge       1:24:44
4       AUSTRIA 2:48:09
        107     KROLL Marcus    Challenge       1:22:51
        21      REITBERGER Rudolf       Challenge       1:25:18
   5       FRANCIA 2:53:28
        7       BYZET Ivan      Challenge       1:24:55
        8       GILLET Alain    Challenge       1:28:33

Mt. Washington Training Run

--from Dave Dunham

Injury forced me to miss my second Mt Washington road race in the last 7 years (I have run it from 15 times from 1988 to present, missing 1997 and 2004) and immediately following the race I said "I'm going to run up some time this year".  I said it to no one in particular, but as my mileage increased and the days began slipping by, I sent  out an invitation to the CMS-boy's to see if anyone would like to run up with me.  Rich Bolt and Kevin Tilton both responded with resounding "yes" emails.  Kevin lives in Conway and has run the course a few times in training.  Rich and I would be doing our first training run on the mountain.  I was a bit nervous as it would be a long day (15.2m roundtrip) and my longest run thus far was a 10m on the trails the previous weekend.  We pick this weekend as the bike race is going on so there will be a lot less traffic on the road.

Here are the notes on our day:

3:15 AM crawled out of bed.  Thunder and Lightning outside, pouring rain.  Drove to Rich's house in Manchester.
4:00 AM Rich took over as driver from his house to Mt Washington so I could stretch out my hamstring.  Pouring rain and brilliant lightning in the first few miles of driving.  Rich cracks open a couple of Red Bull's and we both start waking up.
5:00 AM we stop in Lincoln NH at the 24 hour Dunkin' Donuts.  I get an "old fashioned donut" and a Large Coffee.  Rich gets a coffee and a donut as well.

During the next 30 minutes we maneuver the Kancamaugus pass and Bear Notch road without seeing another car.  Rich has very few chances for rally car moves, but I have to do a lot of juggling with the coffee cups to make sure we don't spill in any of the turns.

6:00 AM we arrive at the Pinkham notch visitors center to meet Kevin.  He shows up a few minutes later and we decide to not carpool and drive both cars to the base.  We get caught in the race day traffic.

6:50 AM we make our final preparations, decide what to wear and what food/drink to bring up.  It is 60 degrees and cloudy at the base and 50 degrees with rain, fog, and 100 foot visibility at the summit.  I go with a long sleeve and carry water and 4 gels.  Rich and Kevin both go short-sleeved and carry a bit more substantial pack (in which we stuff some warm/dry clothes for the run down).

7:00 AM we are off!  The bike race is scheduled to go off at 7:30 but will probably start a bit late.  Mark Pitts gives a hello yell as he finishes his final tune-up on his bike.  He is one of the few who run and bike the mountain.

We run pretty easily and chat, I'm working a bit harder than Rich and Kevin, but they are both only looking for an "easy" run.  We pass very few hikers on the road and after 1/2 hour we aren't passed by any cars.  Conditions are quite good below the tree-line and sometimes we even get a decent view.   I'm struggling with a donut that just doesn't want to settle down.  I guess it is better than an empty stomach.   Looking up all we see are clouds.  The wind doesn't really seem to pick up until we hit 5m and even then it isn't too bad.  We hit a lot of fog and rain at around 5.5 and it stays like that right to the top.  We pass a few bike fans in the last few miles.  Thinking they are original one says "the running race was months ago".  Not very original...we heard that a few times on the way up.  It gets very wet and windy in the last mile and we can hear above us in the fog the announcer calling the bike race.  We cross the line in 1:29:26 and head for the summit.  After a couple of pictures we hit the summit building basement to warm up and change clothes.  I take my second gel of the run (the first at 1/2 way) and we head out for the run down.  Just before we start down we catch the first 2 riders coming in.  They hit the finish in under 59 minutes and only a few seconds between them.  Off we go!  The bikers are grinding it out and we descend trying to stay out of the way.  The bikers tend to take the turns wide so there are a couple of times when we almost collide.  None of the bikers seem to be having fun.  It looks like way too much work.  We discuss entering next year.  I claim that I'm going to enter and push a bike the entire distance without every actually getting on it.  There is some spirited discussion about that being "illegal".  We'll see....

We get below 5m and the weather is back to being decent.  The bikers are still clumped together, but more and more seem to be pushing the bike rather than riding.  The bikers also leave a lot of trash behind.  There are numbers everywhere and empty gel packs litter the course.  We pass the last biker right around the 3 mile mark.  He has a long day ahead of him.  There are colorful rain jackets all over the side of the road.  We pass a pick-up truck that is cleaning up a lot of the trash off of the road.  The last couple of miles are steep and the downhill pounding is taking a toll.  We hit the bottom in 1:05:51.  I for one was pretty tired afterwards.

10:00 AM we hit the road.  Rich takes a short cut on Dolly Copp (SP?) road.  A narrow winding dirt road that cuts off some of the travel home.   I get to see Rich do some rally driving as he drives at an ungodly speed on the straights.  I mention something about cars coming in the other direction and Rich scoffs at the idea.  We (fortunately) don't see another car on the road.

By 1PM I'm home and start to feel really sore from the down hill run, but happy to have got my Mt Washington run in.

Thanks Rich and Kevin!

Splits:
Up = 1006 (.9), 1134, 1142, 1145, 1212, 1207, 1212, 748 (.7) (total 1:29:26)
down = 1531 (1.6), 843, 852, 843, 853, 844, 623 (total 1:05:56)

Tandem Results: 12th annual Mt. Washington bicycle hillclimb

Racing against the grain

From Boston Herald, Running against the Grain: Trail provide racers with challenging 'track'.

"Steve Peterson [of CMS] of Chelmsford ran high school track and then graduated to marathons, including the Boston Marathon. ``But I hated running on the roads and I loved being in the woods, so I trained as much as I could in the woods,'' said Peterson, a 38-year-old software engineer." Entire Boston Herald article HERE with trail exploits from Steve Peterson and Dave Dunham.

Honeymoon in Europe

CMS runners in Europe

Paul Low and Kelli Lusk are over in Europe mountain racing in preparation for the World Mountain trophy in September.

The Thyon-Dixence race is a difficult rocky single track 10 mile trail from Thyon to Dixence in Switzerland. The start is at 7600' and the finish is at over 10,000' with many ups/downs along the way. I'm not sure if race winner Austin Vigil is any relation to Pablo Vigil (USA Mountain team 1987 - 9th overall).

Thyon-Dixence 08-07-04
Femmes
1. Rodriguez Maria -- 1:29.35
2. Notz-Umberg Vera -- 1:33.55
3. Leservoisier Michelle -- 1:38.48
4. Lusk Kelli -- 1:40.06,9 581 CMS
5. Lennartz Birgit -- 1:45.43

Homme
1. Vigil Austin 81 -- 1:11.40
2. Tolossa Chengre -- 1:11.48
3. Gex-Fabry Alexis -- 1:12.46
4. Dejene Lidetu -- :13.16
5. Burns Billy -- 1:13.30
26. Low Paul 73 USA-Amherst, MA 01002 1:30.51 CMS

The Sierre- Zinal has been run for many years and is hugely popular in Switzerland (thousands run the "citizens race"). It runs up the valley from Sierre to Zinal over 19.25 miles. The course is very narrow single track with mostly good footing, it has a lot of up/down including a wild last kilometer that speeds through a tunnel and spills onto the streets of Zinal (which are packed with cheering fans).

Sierre-Zinal 08-14-04
1. MEJIA RICARDO 63 MEX-EDO MEXICO 2:34.35
2. SCHIESSL HELMUT 72 D-BUCHENBERG 2:36.06
3. BURNS BILLY 69 GB-LANCASHIRE PR5 SA 2:39.03
4. ANCAY TARCIS 70 AYER 2:39.05
5. EPINEY SEBASTIEN 67 HAUTE-NENDAZ 2:40.07
6. LOW PAUL 73 USA-M A 01002 2:40.55 CMS.
7. REY JEAN-YVES 70 CRANS-MONTANA 2:41.39
8. BROWN JOHN 69 GB 2:42.42
9. SHORT TIM 81 GB-KENT TN13 2PS 2:43.37
10. PADUA SAUL 67 COL-CUNDINAMARCA 2:45.29

1. JOLY ANGÉLINE 74 TRAVERS 3:09.22,8
2. RODRIGUEZ MARIA 71 COL-COLOMBIE 3:10.53
3. GUILLOT ISABELLE 61 F 3:12.18
4. ETZENSPERGER NATHALIE 68 GAMSEN 3:14.28
5. RIEM CLAUDIA 71 LUGANO 3:14.55
7. LUSK KELLI 72 USA-CO 3:30.43

--Dave Dunham

Wildman Biathlon

A runner competing in a biathlon is like a little kid sticking a penny in a light socket: You do it once to see what it is like, then you learn not to do it again.

My experience with the Wildman Biathlon in Shelburne and Gorham, NH is one I won’t forget. The race started at 8 AM in Shelburne. The first part is a 10k run on a rolling hilly course. Leg 2 is a 22.3-mile bike ride up to the top of Pinkham Notch to the Wildcat Ski Area. Leg 3 is a 3-mile hill climb up the Polecat trail on Wildcat.

Warm-Up

My warm-up consisted of a 2-mile bike ride solo and 3 miles of running with Paul Kirsch and Mike Laracy. We were cracking jokes about not knocking all of the bikes over in the transition and not crashing at the railroad crossings. I placed my bike on the rack in its position and headed for the start. I felt a little out of place in my running singlet and hairy legs.

Leg 1: “Think you can run with me?”

I had one strategy and one strategy only at the start: go out hard and see if anyone goes with me. Surveying the start I didn’t see anyone that looked like they could stay with me on the run except for the 3 time defending champion of the race, Sean Ion from Pennsylvania. The gun went off and I was out in the lead immediately. Sean raced up to catch me only a couple of hundred meters into the race. He asked me if I was on a relay or running individual and all I said was “I’m going solo.” I threw in a little surge. I was a little surprised by his friendliness when he asked me the question, but I dropped the hammer anyways. We came through the mile mark in 5:04. He said, “That’s a little quick, and I think this mile is marked long.” I felt good. I dropped the hammer again. At about 1.5 miles we hit a little hill and I was able to drop him. I strung it out at this point dropping a 5:15 second mile. I came through “5k” in 16:30. All of the bikers claim they’ve measured the course to be 6.4 miles and not 6.2. Either way I knew I had to go. I was able to see Sean after I got around the turn around. He congratulated me and I gave a quick wave. All I could wonder is how can someone be so competitive and friendly at the same time. As I approached the transition I was feeling pretty good and cruised over to my bike. I finished the “10k” in 33:47. I got quite a few cheers from the locals who knew who I was and still couldn’t believe that I was hopping on a bike. I still couldn’t believe it either. I made it through the transition without too many troubles.

Leg 2: “You Idiot.”

The bike started out with a 7-mile loop through the town of Shelburne on US Route 2 and some rolling back roads. I hopped on the bike that I borrowed from Don Fries and felt pretty good as I cruised down the open road. I tried to keep hydrated as I rode knowing that I had a long race ahead of me. Sean caught me at about 5 miles and reassured me it was due to an equipment advantage. I’m sure that was part of it, but the fact that I rode a bike twice all summer wasn’t helping either. Either way I felt comfortable and was sticking to my game plan of damage control on the bike. I was convinced that if his lead was only 3 minutes after the bike that I would have a chance at the win.

Coming into Gorham I was still feeling pretty good and was in 3rd place as I rounded the corner onto Rt. 16. It was fun leaning the bike into all of the sharp corners and bombing down some hills at 30-40 MPH. The fun stopped when we started climbing for the last 10 miles. Route 16 up to Wildcat is mostly uphill, with the last pitch near the ski area being really nasty. Running uphill is something I am good at. Riding a bike uphill is something I am not good at. I tried to just keep a consistent effort as I climbed up through the notch. Steve Piotrow went by me near Dolly Copp and offered some encouragement. I was working hard and just trying to stay in contact with people. The last climb up to Wildcat was nasty. I had to get out of the saddle for the whole thing, which my ass appreciated. I was glad to see the gravel parking lot at Wildcat. I locked up my brakes as I entered the transition area in 10th place, about 11 minutes behind Sean in 1:19:09, 35th fastest bike time. I knew any chances I had at winning were gone but I still had a chance at a respectable finish, especially for a runner.

Leg 3: “I reiterate, you idiot.”

Hopping off the bike onto solid ground was quite the experience. I almost felt seasick. I took down 2 cups of water and headed out for the hill climb. Hal Goolman from Lancaster stormed out in front of me onto the trail. I didn’t know if he was running solo or as part of a team, but I wanted to stick with him. I would have followed him if I hadn’t gotten lost. Apparently quite a few people got lost at the gondola at the bottom. We were supposed to bear right up the ski hill, but a large concrete barrier with “WILDMAN” and an arrow on it pointed us into a parking lot. I figured I was off course when the road started to go downhill. At this point I was getting a little delirious and decided to wait for the next runner to come through. No one showed up for about 5 minutes. I asked him if he knew the way and he said it was his first time on the course. Great. We continued down the road looking for the trail until we ended up near Rt. 16. At this point I quit. I literally quit. I took off my singlet and walked to the gondola. I threw in the towel.

As I approached the gondola I realized my Dad was waiting at the top. I decided to keep going, that little nagging voice in the back of my head told me to get to the top. I started to run up the ski trail and felt ok, but most of my energy was gone after the 10-15 minutes I spent lost and walking. I really wasn’t trying to gain any spots or be competitive; I just wanted to get to the top of the mountain. I took 2 cups of water at each of the 3 water stops. Many of the locals passed me, and many people who recognized me as “the guy who was leading after the 10k.” I had to suck up my pride and keep going. As I came around the next to last corner I saw the familiar face of Paul Kirsch, running down the trail with a Gatorade bottle in hand. 2 volunteers were following him on ATV’s who looked like they were ready to carry someone off on a stretcher. I was sorry to disappoint them. I walked the majority of the climb, all the way to the finish line. I Finished the climb in 1:09:00 for a total time of 3:01:55 for 51st place out of 123 individuals and teams. I rode down on the gondola with my dad, sucking down Gatorade and inhaling a PB & J. When I got home my parents had to childproof the electrical outlets, hide the pennies, and lock my bike up until I have the ability to play with them correctly.

Kevin Tilton

CIGNA 5K-names withheld to protect the innocent

Ever been to a running race and had to "run for your life"? After the race [names withheld to protect the innocent] and I set off on a leisurely warm-down in downtown Manchester, NH. ____ and I had run the race and ____ was joining us after watching runners finish. As it was a wicked humid and soupy evening, we all set off for the warm-down in our running shorts and no shirts - ______ looked the best in his purple super-short shorts.

Not even 200 yards into the warm-down we stopped at a crosswalk and waited for the cars to pass. A car-load of young hoodlum's drove by in a semi-pimped out Honda Civic when the driver yelled at us to "put some f**** clothes on"! Unfortunately for this young smart-mouth the traffic light ahead of him turned red and he had to come to a stop about 60 feet from where we stood smarting from his clever verbal assault.

As runners, we're all familiar with these types of comments from assorted vehicle-borne fat-asses, and retards so you can imagine our surprise when we realized that we had a unique opportunity to exact REVENGE! It was ____ who spoke first suggesting, "let's get them", and started moving towards our young assailant. Having been let off my leash by ______ remark I followed him, approaching the car from the left-rear, in the driver's blind-spot. _____, being the oldest and wisest of us, had the good sense to continue thru the cross-walk in the direction of our original warm-down route and leave us young-uns to the ensuing foolishness.

Still hopped-up on testosterone from the race, I passed _____ and made straight for the driver's side door, accelerating but keeping quite as to not raise the alarm of our intended mark. Upon reaching the car I gave the driver's door a good WHACK with a closed fist which I hoped would startle the driver who still had the window down and his arm hanging out. As my assault on the car was sure to cause some kind of reaction, _____ never did get to implement his own plan for revenge, which as it turns out, was probably a good thing. I sped around the front of the car, _____ passed behind the car, and we both took off thinking "we'd shown him that it does not pay to mess with skinny, pale and lanky runners".

Not 20 feet past the car I hear someone yelling behind us, "I'm gunna f*** you up, blah, blah, huff, huff, blah, blah.....". Oh crap! Sure enough, smart-mouth had some brawn to back-up his bluster and was running full-speed towards us in a whirl of flailing, over-sized hip-hop clothes. As soon as I'd smacked his car he jammed the car in park, threw open his door and started after us faster than his pea-sized brain realized that he'd abandoned his car-load of buddies - driverless, door open, engine running - in the middle of a busy downtown street. Fortunately, his friends were not so hot-headed, limiting our pursuers to an army of one.

Had Mr. Hip-Hop kept his big mouth shut, he'd surely caught one of us and pummeling would have ensued. As luck would have it, his quick tongue was like a shot of nitrous for ____ and I and we picked up speed accordingly. Looking over my shoulder I could see him within arms reach of ____ as they cut right towards the Verizon Arena. I continued at high speed towards the Valley Cemetery. As I approached the next intersection a driver pulled up and said, "that was awesome man"! I think it was a complement but he might just have been entertained by the whole episode. Looking back I could see ____ had escaped and our elder companion, head down as usual, was following a short ways behind. We all continued into the Valley Cemetery where we regrouped and continued our run while keeping a sharp eye out for a primer-colored Honda Civic full of pissed off urban twenty-something's.

It turns out that _____ plan was to jump on the hood of the car and perhaps moon the occupants - a plan more bold than mine but full of additional hazards. He might have actually damaged more than the driver's pride. The driver could have moved the car while _____ was on the hood, bare butt swinging in the breeze. Then there's the nudity factor which in light of the dozens of innocent bystanders might have cause the police to be called. As it turned out, the police were all busy controlling traffic and corralling 6000 runners to worry about "Craphead versus Runners" (opens this weekend in theaters - "CVR" just when you thought it was safe to run the streets).

So that's how things ended at the Cigna Corporate 5k race. It's also worth noting that we made off with food swag from the race. I got 5 or 6 cokes, 3 ice cream sandwiches, 2 Powerades and 2 bananas. ______ had more than I and ____ seemingly made off with cases of stuff - not bad for a guy who "watched" the race.

What about the race itself? Who cares....look it up yourself.

Thunder Chicken by Lightning Bolt

Yo!

What in heck is a Thunder Chicken? I can explain the chicken part but the "thunder" is still a mystery to me. Like many road races, the Thunder Chicken 5k is really a fundraising event for a bunch of local do-gooders. Part of the draw is the huge chicken BBQ which racers can have the pleasure of attending for an additional $10. There is also an overweight person of unknown gender dressed up in a chicken suit wandering around the start and finish areas. So that explains the chicken, but what about "Thunder" Chicken? Maybe it's a name borrowed from a rock band - like the Screaming Trees, Meat Puppets or Smashing Pumpkins.

About the race - where did all the old guys go? Normally when you go to a local road race the field is full of dudes in their 30's and 40's. The 2004 Thunder Chicken was a kids race with teens and twenty-something's ruling the roost (pun intended). There were only 12 runners over 30 among the top 50 finishers. The winner was a 19 year old High School kid from Concord. Results at:

Full results

Next stop on the August 5k Tour - Cigna 5k in Manchester, NH next Thursday. Be there or be square.

Richard Bolt