King of the Mountain - Again

June 21

Without a doubt, New England's premier mountain race is the "Race to the Clouds" - the 7.6-mile climb to the summit of Mount Washington. The combination of its 37-year history and the fact that Mt. Washington is New England's highest mountain make it the one mountain race in the region that dwarfs all others in appeal. Because of logistical limitations, the race is limited to 1,000 entrants, most of whom gain entrance to the race through a lottery system. Those who fail to "win" the lottery, and they annually number in the hundreds, are left to climb lesser peaks. Not only does Mount Washington present the individual challenge of a 7.6-mile climb, it has also long featured team competition.

CMS, under the urging of a then new club member, Dave Dunham (Bradford), made its first team effort in 1992 when it ran away with the men's open team title. However, the aggregate time of the five man CMS team was well short of the team record - a record set a decade earlier by the Boston Athletic Association and a record said by many to be unbreakable.

CMS returned in 1993 not so much concerned with winning the team title for a second consecutive year, but rather fixated on breaking the "unbreakable" record. That record, which over the years according to race director Bob Teschek had been questioned by teams as being "suspect" because it seemed too fast, was broken by nearly a minute by CMS.

Once again, in 1994, CMS returned in search of breaking the record - this time its own record. However, hot and humid conditions made both PR's and team records an impossibility. CMS did, however, win the men's open team title for a third consecutive year.

While temperatures for the 1995 run were warm, they were not prohibitively so. With five runners in the top twelve, CMS broke its existing course record by over four minutes.

Last year, 1996, CMS placed five runners in the top eight and once again established a new course record, breaking the 1995 mark by nearly three minutes. For the first time since CMS began its team assault on Mount Washington in 1992, the team was without Dave Dunham this year. While present at the race, Dave was relegated to the role of a spectator due to an injury. The absence of Dave plus adverse weather conditions made any thought of once again breaking the team record, and collecting another $500 team bonus award, an impossibility. Winning the team title from the moment the gun was fired was never in doubt. Eric Morse (Montpelier, VT) broke into the early lead followed closely by another half dozen CMS teammates. At about the four-mile mark, Eric was overtaken by Craig Fram (Plaistow, NH). Eric and Craig went on to finish 1-2. The team scoring was rounded out by Dan Verrington (Bradford), 4th, Steve Peterson (Chelmsford), 7th, and Mike Casner (Keene, NH), 8th. Five CMS members, therefore, placed in the top eight. Richard Bolt (Lunenburg) finished 10th overall and was unable to score. CMS topped 23 teams in the men's open competition and finished over 30 minutes ahead of the second-place Gate City Striders. Bob Hodge (Clinton) placed 20th and was the third master, while Jackie Shakar (Worcester) finished 10th among the 181 female finishers. If your name is missing from the following results, it is in all probability because you failed to denote CMS as the club of affiliation on the entry form. The results made available to the CMS newsletter staff were for those who indicated that they belonged to CMS.

1. Craig Fram 1:04:48

2. Eric Morse 1:05:38

3. Thomas Borschel (GCS) 1:07:09

4. Dan Verrington 1:08:31

5. Tom Murdock (IATC) 1:09:26

6. Joel St-Louis (Canada) 1:09:37

7. Steve Peterson 1:09:52

8. Mike Casner 1:10:03

9. Craig Widness (Colorado) 1:10:24

10. Richard Bolt 1:10:34

20. Bob Hodge -3m- 1:14:08

165. Rick Conroy 1:33:19

249. Roger Myers 1:39:33

498. John Bakstran 1:54:49

Women

1. Cathy O'Brien (NBTC) 1:12:24

2. Joan Benoit- Samuelson (NIKE) -1fm- 1:16:03

10. Jackie Shakar 1:30:18

(929f - 848 = men, 181 women; results courtesy of Granite State Racing Services of New Hampshire)

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Page revd August 4, 1997, barry