| Hey, Web Guy:
High atop the Granite State lies the
panoramic Coos County as well as the 25th Annual Dixville Notch
Races( Sat 9-29).... a 4x3m relay, 2x6m relay and a half
marathon that goes from the ritzy golf course at The Balsams in
Dixville Notch to quaint little Colebrook. It drops in elevation
several hundred feet.
This used to be a marathon, which started in Errol, on the Maine border. They discontued that in '86. That last year I had a huge lead of several minutes before heading up The Notch. It was in August and mid-day. I crashed, dehydrated, and refused to DNF. From 17 miles on I went off the main road occasionally, foraged for blue berries( sorry, no zucchini)- since they were in season- and as a result stumbled to the finish, about 4th to the last in 4:14 or worse. Len Hall, Rob Hurlburt and other North Country aces have won this in the past. It's a PR course. This year 61 started, 55 finished- and this was a good year. Silver Anniversary and all. Perfect day. A ten. Foliage near peak. We shot off at 11 am( Sat). From the outset it was some 52 year old from Maine, rugged Bill Mara (hey. his last name is the first 4 letters of marathon. Uh-oh. A bad omen already.), and the Zucchini King himself. Great duel. The Maine guy kept raising his hands to the sky..... as if.......as if....... as if praying to the gods. Very annoying and showy to Bill and me... this premature, immature celebration. Spastic. Good runner, though, as he gently nudged ahead. Bill and I hit 5m in 28:41. At 8m Bill crept away. Final..... Eric whomever won in 1:18:29, Mara next in 1:19:24 and Zuke man 3rd in 1:20 :49. Fifty- four finished. Nice little gem of a race. Worth the trip. Hot Dogs , fries, but no zucchini burgers, though. Next day I did a 5k in Brattleboro( 9-30) Only 8 runners. I was 2nd.(About 20 years ago I won a 10k , and there were only 3 competitors). Vermont Bread. Hot Dogs. Ben & Jerry's. I did Leg # 3 for one club and anchored Leg# 8 for another at the Winni Relays the previous Sat. Ouch. And the next day was 4th (32F) at a cross- country 5 k in Brownsville VT (Ascutney).. 3rd master. Len Hall won and I would have if I didn't do 2 legs at Winnii the previous day. But what the hay. Len's a good egg and as tough as they come on hill and dale. My fault. Ten races in Sept. An addiction is a tough thing to break , you know. I'm a former etoh/ drug counselor. So I know. Ok, this should bring you up to date, Mr. barry. These were lil races that didn't appear on the radar screen of Cool Running but capture the essence of l-d running. Rat kinda races. You do excellent work on the web page, web guy! - Best Wishes. You're gettin' a raise, man.---- Dave Birse , Zuke - Meister Emeritus |
 Run with the Big One, aka "Zucchini Festival" "Truly inspired words from
this year's winner of the Zucchini 5" "Could be the next Kevin
Beck" "Presidential material"
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