In this issue: Results from NY and MA. Upcoming races in NY, NH,
MA & AK.
May 8, 2004 - Lake George, NY
This past weekend brought with it cool temps and the first uphill road mountain running
race of the season. With a record 252 finishers, the 15th running of the Prospect Mountain Road Race (5.67 miles - 1600' up) saw
CMS/Polar team member Eric Morse (Berlin, VT) break the course record. Eric's time of 34:52
bested the 35:05 set by Jamie Rodriguez in 2002. Second and third places were Richard Bolt (Manchester, NH) from
CMS/Polar and Chris Dean (Alexandria, VA) with times of 35:16 and 37:40 respectively. CMS/Polar team member and longtime elite mountain runner
Dave Dunham (Bradford, MA) finished 4th overall in 38:03 and was the top male master runner. Missing from this years race
was 2003 winner, course record holder (42:13) and fellow CMS/Polar member Nikki Kimball (E-Town, NY). Female winner Heidi
Underwood (Kattskill Bay, NY - 47:11) was 5 minutes behind Nikki's record. Nancy Taormina (Albany, NY) was the top female master in a time of 50:23.
Results at:
Cool race stats at:
Pace chart and course map at:
The above pace chart is pretty cool, but I think a bit generous for the faster
runners. Eric and I are nowhere near 30 min 10k shape as the chart would suggest!
Prospect Mountain as seen by Dave Dunham:
I took a ½ day on Friday to get out to Lake George a bit early as the race start of
9 AM would mean a very long very early ride if I waited until Saturday. The Dropkick Murphy's cranked on the CD player and a 24 oz Diet Pepsi made the
drive Sharon VT go by very quickly. I set a PR with 116m in 1:34, then went out on the main road for a 3m uphill and 3m back down run. It was funny
when this "major" highway turned to dirt 1m out of town. I met Eric at the Park and Ride for the 2:00 drive to Lake George. We had fun going over race
results and me calling out what was coming up as I followed our route on the map. We got into Lake George and headed out for a nice run on the bike path
down to the lake and then an out/back on the course to the mile mark. We crashed at the Super 8; which was about 100m from the start line, making it
very convenient. Race morning was 50 degrees and breezy. Not bad for a run up to 2000' with some nice
views of Lake George. It was the biggest field Prospect has ever had, with 252 finishers. Eric and Rich took it out hard with Christopher Dean (VA)
mixing it up over the first mile. I went out a bit conservatively favoring my Achilles a bit and hit the mile 30 seconds behind the leaders and in 8th
place. The course really starts to become a mountain race in the 2nd mile and I moved into 4th very soon after the one mile mark.
Eric broke away from Rich around 1.5 miles and was 15 seconds up after 2m. I could see Rich alone in 2nd most of the race on the long
straights, but lost site of Eric early on. I tried to concentrate on 3rd place who made most of the lead on me in the 1st and 2nd
mile.
The third mile offers some relief with a lot less climb and a fair amount of drop. I didn't dare look back to see
what was going on behind me. Eric continued to pull away and Rich continued to track him. I kept about the same distance behind 3rd place.
I also realized at 3 that I might have a shot at running close to the same time as last year. This encouraged me as I had figured that anything within 2
minutes of last year would be okay. I also realized that Eric and Rich were going to run some very fast times.
In the last 2m I closed to within 18 seconds of 3rd, but he ended up pulling away in the last .67m. The
top of the mountain has multiple parking lots and it seems like you are almost done for most of the last 3 minutes of running. Eric smashed the CR by
13 seconds with a 24 second victory over Rich. Rich ran the fastest losing time with the third fastest time ever. Rich also broke Matt Cull's single
age (33) record by 25 seconds. Eric set a new single age record breaking my record of 37:44 from last year by almost 2 minutes! I broke the single age
(40) record by 2:59, but figure it will only last for a year! My time was the 2nd fastest ever for a 40+ behind only Barry Brown's 36:40. Eric and
Rich's times are the top 2 times in the 30-39 age group (Eric also has the 3rd fastest, Rich also has the 5th fastest and my time from last year is the
7th fastest). Eric becomes only the third repeat winner, behind Cull's 4 wins and Joseph Powers 2 wins.
We had a slow run down the mountain. The weather was pretty cool on the run back down the mountain, which we did with
5th place finisher and the last mile with "Rocketboy". It took us 54 minutes to come down the mountain! I finished out the weekend by driving to Sharon
with Eric then home in a new PR of 119m in 1:32.
May 2, 2004 - Amherst, MA
7 Sisters Trail Race - Yeah, it's a "mountain" race too. On rough trails this
12 mile race climbs and descends 3700'. According to Ben Nephew:
I wasn't as excited for 7 Sisters this year as I have been in the past, mostly
because of Paul Low. I finally managed to win the race in 2001, and then came Paul. I had visions of approaching the course record of 1:46, and then
Paul brought it down to 1:43 with his first race of the course in 2002. It's hard to get excited to run a strong second place, but if I'm going to get
beat, I'd rather have it be Paul. Don't get me wrong, I'll fight to the end, but the probability of me beating Mr. Low on what is now his home course
is, well.........Low. Some people are good on the uphills, some are good technical runners, some are good on the downhills. Paul is jack of all trades,
and master of many. His hill running talents approach the Dunham level, and his downhill talents are far beyond what Dave could hope for. This year, I
decided to be humble and practical and ask him if he wanted to run together for the first half of the 7 Sisters. He said we would see what happens.
After Steph and I spent the night at Paul and Kelli's apartment in Amherst, we had a leisurely breakfast and made it to the course about a half
hour prior to the start. I had eaten my breakfast quite late, and was worried how my stomach would be up the first 400ft climb. Paul told me he wanted
to drop the field, and then see how our pace was. No one has illusions at 7 Sisters, and as the race started, Paul and I were the only ones that were
actually up at the head of the field. I felt comfortable as I tucked behind Paul, and tried to settle into a good rhythm. I heard someone with squeaky
shoes behind us, but didn't dare to take my eyes off the trail. Mr. squeaky only last about 2-3 minutes. I was going pretty good, but Paul can run even
the steepest inclines where I hike a bit, and he had 3-4 seconds by the top of the first climb. I was able to keep contact on the downhill and flat
sections, and even catch up, but he would put time on me on most of the climbs. Although we were moving right along, I could tell that Paul was holding
back, and I worked hard on the uphills so he wouldn't have to back off too much. It was surprisingly warm and humid for the early morning, and there
wasn't much of a breeze in the first half of the race. This made the hills seem a little steeper.
We didn't talk much during the race, but it was nice just to have someone to run with. I do much of my training by myself, and 7 Sisters is
long race to run alone. Paul stopped to shed some excess fluid just prior to the road crossing at 35 minutes into the race, and I went ahead and rolled
down the hill to the road. I thought about pushing it a little harder up the next long climb to the summit house, but their was no point. Paul used my
small lead to challenge himself, and blasted back up to me with shocking ease. I yelled, "You suck!" over my shoulder as he ran me down. He was huffing
and puffing pretty hard, which made me feel a bit better. I was surprised at how easy we took it on the last downhill to the turnaround, and was glad
that I was still in contact after 50 minutes. All during race, I had been thinking that he had a big package in his pants. He did, it was a Gu he
pulled just prior to the halfway point. At the turnaround at 52:30, Paul took a quick drink and took off, and I stayed a bit longer to get some gatorade.
He already had about 20 seconds by the time I left, and that was the last I saw off him.
I had been feeling pretty good on the gradual and moderate grades during the race, but the steeper sections had been killing me. I just did
not have the leg strength that was necessary to power up slopes where you could lean over a bit and touch the ground. Paul ran almost everything. On
the other hand, my legs were holding up very well on the downhills. Usually, by the last third or quarter of 7 Sisters, your quads are so dead you have
to slow down on the downhills to stay in control. While I struggled up the hills, I was able to run the downhills as fast as I dared all the way to the
end. Paul put three minutes on me in the first 20 minutes after the turnaround, and ended up about 7:40 ahead of me by the finish, which I think is the
closest I have been to him. As I came down the steep trail to the finish, I vaulted off a rock in the center of the trail. I didn't realize how high I
would get, and my feet must have been 7-8 off the ground at one point. I landed pretty hard staggered into the finish in 1:52:20. I ran about 40
seconds faster than last year, when we ran the Merrimack 10m the day before 7 Sisters, but the conditions were worse this year. It was muddy in spots
this year, but the humidity was more of a challenge. I think all three of Paul's runs have been at least 2 minutes under the old course record.
Although my legs felt better during the race, I had serious problems walking down stairs today, which is the usual after 7 Sisters. Maybe next year I
can Paul some company for a little longer.
7 Sisters Results at:
UPCOMING RACES!!!
May 12 (Wednesday) - Call Platte Clove Trail Run (not a race) - Rhinebeck, NY - 4 miles
May 16 (Sunday) - MONADNOCK MOUNTAIN CHALLENGE (TRAIL) - Ringe, NH - 10k & 5k - 2000' of up/down
Monadnock State Park - Gilson Pond entrance off Dublin Road
Contact: Donna Dauphinais, d.dauphinais@juno.com, 603-899-2751
NEW RACE!!!
May 23 (Sunday) - Wachusett Mountain Road Race - Princeton, MA - 4.3 miles - 1095' of climb
Info -
http://www.usatfne.org/trail/
Part of the USATF-NE MOUNTAIN RUNNING SERIES
May 29 (Saturday) - Mount Kearsarge Road Race - Warner, NH - 8.5 miles - 2445' of climb
Info -
http://www.usatfne.org/trail/
Part of the USATF-NE MOUNTAIN RUNNING SERIES
July 17 (Saturday) - Crow Pass Crossing - Girdwood, AK - 24 miles - 5959' of up/down
Part of the Alaska Mountain Running Grand Prix
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