Sleepy Hollow Mountain Race

This was race # 1 within the USATF New England Mountain Series. This was the 5^th year of the race in Huntington, VT, home of Kasie Enman. Her house and property host the race via Sleepy Hollow Inn and XC Ski resort. This was my first time there and was excited about car pooling with Matt Veiga and William Jackson. Matt made the 3 hour trip each way look easy. After arriving super early and warming up on the last mile of the course with Chris Smith (SRR and training partner this past Tuesday for 5 X 1K) and some CMS guys, the race took off up the hill.

The temps were in the low 50’s and a few light drops of rain dropped upon but overall, dry aside from mud here and there. The course, as I saw the profile was three up and down efforts through a 6.3 mile course on wide xc ski trails and single track. I went out conservative, based on my placing after 400m, but the breathing was heavy (welcome back to racing).

There were spots of slick mud that were easy to navigate on the flats and climbs with my ol’ New Balance 100’s. However, it was dicey on the steep drops after the mile. I lost a lot of time on the first stretch going down, getting gapped by Chris Smith and Dave Dunham. I mean from next to them and then out of sight after 3 minutes. I gingerly moved my way down the hills preferring to stay on my feet. From the bottom of that hill (1.75 miles?), I took a more aggressive approach and reeled in runners one by one. Up, down, flat, did not matter. I felt strong and carried momentum where I could but respecting the miles ahead. I was not familiar with the runners in the race other than teammates so it was cool to have them as a beacon after not seeing them and then I would see a CMS singlet coming back into my target.

Much respect from competitors on some single track which was really appreciated when they stepped aside once I was on the heels for 30 seconds. Dave Dunham, was my last beacon to catch with 800m to go on a downhill stretch, giving him a love tap on the ass as I went by.  It was easy to cruise down the hill but had to deal with a 100 yard up hill to the finish in a field. I just held Dave off at the end. My time was 49:51. Overall, I was as happy as I have been in the last seven months with my racing effort. 22^nd overall,  6^th guy in his 40’s. The post race after a 1.5 mile cool down was capped with a Burrito bar. It was a good appetizer before Matt, William, and I stopped in Richmond, for some sandwiches at Hatchet. 

Loon Mountain Race - New England Mountain Running Championship

Krissy and I headed up to the Loon Mountain Race (6.6 miles). The ride to 60 Mountain Road in Lincoln, NH was about 2 hours. After getting my number and talking to Scott Mason about his GTI, I went out for warm up just shy of a mile. I changed into my racing gear and CMS singlet. Krissy headed to the top of Loon Mountain with Scott to work their craft behind the lenses. I got on the starting line with several team mates who have been crushing it within not only the USATF New England Mountain Series but the All Terrain Running Series. I have hit all of the ATR races so far but nothing to speak of in terms of an outdoor track 5,000m. Thus, I need to get to the remaining races which should not be a problem as long as I stay healthy.

There was a new start this year at LMR which was behind the lodge instead of down at the river. As a result, they extended the finish line back to the top of the gondola or about three minutes beyond the top of Upper Walking Boss. My expectations for the race were really simple, give my best effort and don't give in to walking until UWB as it is just inevitable. I started out huffing and puffing right away and I really thought I was taking it easy. There were some ups and downs and we hit the nordic trails which I really like. Dave Dunham and I traded spots in there. It was wet and muddy in several areas. Any standing water was ankle deep. I put on a little hustle to pass Dave and get after Kasie Enman and Kim Nedeau. I clocked my fastest mile of the day in 7 flat.

Heading down to Upper Walking Boss
Photo by KrissyK

I never did catch Kasie but got as close as a few seconds. I appreciated any shade on the course. I was slow on all climbing but resisted walking among those that had to. I was just waiting for Upper Walking Boss which is a devil including some 40%. I was running with Alex Hall from Whirlaway. While we were walking up, I tried to crack some jokes - making it up on the fly to cope with the misery. Some worked, some didn't. I kept it light. Had to. Running or hiking up this is insane. Kim Nedeau was the only runner to go past us on UWB. We seemed to get to the top sooner than in the past. Why? We did not have the switch backs up. Why? They did not mow it. I am OK with that.

Alex and I got into a trot before we got to the top and we hauled ass to the finish which took another three minutes of a steep down hill and a little steep hill up into the finish where Krissy was. I finished 25th overall with a time of 1:06:28. That is 10:05 average mile pace if you are keeping score at home. Josh Ferenc crushed it running 8:37's!

Head down and up into the finish
Photo by KrissyK

CMS did pretty well getting 6 guys in the top 17. Todd Callaghan (7th), Scott Leslie (11th), Chris Mahoney (12th), Dave Dunham (13th), Erik Vandendries (16th), & Matt Veiga (17th). I got some water and chatted it up with some of the guys I battled with. Then I headed over and hung out with Krissy and cheered on the next 45 minutes worth of runners into the finish. We headed down in the gondola and took a quick soak in the Pemigewasset River before hitting the road to beat some of the traffic.

Loon Mountain Race New England Mountain Running Championship 2015 results