Cranmore Hill Climb Recap

The most recent race I’ve run as part of the USATF Mountain series was the Cranmore Hill Climb.  This race was my first introduction to mountain racing last year and though it destroyed me, I also fell in love with the challenge of these races the second I crossed the line in 2011.  Aside from the awesome all around atmosphere that comes with this race the course changes a little every year to keep it interesting.  In 2011 it was a 3 loop course covering the same loop 3 times.  This year’s race was two completely separate loops the first was one of the 2011 loops while the second was a brutal ascent up to the top of the mountain.  As said the organizers of this race know how to put on an awesome race.  Registration is quick and easy.  Everyone is super friendly and the atmosphere is amazing.  This year the race featured Italian runner Marco De Gasperi the 6 time world mountain running champion who was the clear race favorite on this day. 

The gun went off sending us on our way and as expected Gasperi and Kevin Tilton an extremely fast local runner took off.  I went out a little quick coming through the first lap in 6^th place but was being closely followed by Dave Dunham.  Dunham and I have gone back and forth with him getting me at Sleepy Hollow and myself beating him at Wachusett.  Today I knew he had the edge since he can climb like nobodies business.  I held him of for about a quarter of the second major climb until he came roaring by.  It took everything I had to try and keep him in my sites on this long climb but he managed to slowly pull away.  The final big climb up to the top really killed me which allowed Dunham to get out of reach on the downhill but with a decent lead on the runner behind me I knew as long as I held my place to the top I could hold my place on the downhill.  A quick loop around a barrel at the top and a quick look at the view while doing so brought a little life back into me.  So down I went. All I had to do was just lay on the gas down while being careful not to take any huge falls that would take me out of it and all would be well.  Shortly later I was crossing the finish line.  The second loops climbing absolutely destroyed me in this race.  It was super steep to the top and one of the photographers who directed me half way up at a fork when I almost went the wrong direction said it best “Either way sucks!”  He was right in a super fun kind of way.

The race was a blast there was an awesome gathering as usual after the race for the awards.  As expected Marco De Gasperi took the win with the top New England guys close behind.  To top off a good day I managed to take first for my age group.  To celebrate it was off to Moat mountain brewery for burgers and suds before the ride home.  This is a race I love because one it absolutely kicks my a#@ and two because it was my introduction to this new obsession of mine to run up big hills.  Next up is the Loon mountain race which I am very nervous for because it is 5 miles all up hill, hopefully a recent 10 mile loop up and over Mt. Chocorua will help me out to not suffer to bad.  All you New England trail runners if your looking for some fun there are two races left in the series with Loon and Ascutney mountain challenge which I will unfortunately not be able to attend.

www.whitemountainmilers.com/cranmore

www.whitemountainmilers.com

www.usatfne.org/trail

Sleepy Hollow Race Report

On mothers day I had the pleasure of running the first annual sleepy hollow mountain race which was held in Huntington Vermont.  The race was being put on by Kasie Enman who is the 2011 World Mountain Running champion so going in it was obvious the course was going to be challenging. The race acted as the first race of the USATF New England Mountain Running Series.

I arrived at Sleepy Hollow Inn the night before the race and set up my tent in the field right by the start.  After setting up camp I took a quick run out to the course.  The course definitely didn’t disappoint in the toughness department.  In addition to the unrelenting climbs over the 3 loops totaling six mile, there was shoe eating mud for the entire first two loops making for some hard yet fun running.  On the steep down it was more like water skiing than running because of the mud and on the ups it was like one step forward two steps back.  None the less is was an awesome course laid out on cross country ski trails. Most of the running was on wide grassy and muddy trails with some awesome sections of single track tossed in to mix it up.  In the first 1/3^rd of the race we topped out to the high point of the course and hit some brutal climbs in doing so.  This was especially true in the second huge climb of the race which felt like I was going up for a good 15 minutes. 

The hills in this race definitely killed me as I way underestimated what I needed to be doing in training to be ready for them.  Not being able to climb the way I was hoping the game plan quickly changed to just get up the hills and hall ass on the downs to make up ground.  This definitely worked to keep me somewhat in the race but I paid the price in the last couple miles of the race as my legs where completely shot.  Trying to sprint in at the finish was an absolute no go.  All in all, the race kicked my but, I had a blast the whole way though.  I didn’t run nearly as well as I had hoped for, but can definitely say a huge overlook in what it would take to be prepared for the hills and some very sloppy conditions caused the not so spectacular performance.  I also can’t complain too much coming in 12^th place in a time of 43:36 in my second ever mountain race.

The race was awesome either way. Did I say that already?  It was great being able to camp in the field at the start, and it was very well organized with some great food at the end. I especially liked the fact that maple syrup was given out as awards, that was cool seeing as we where in Vermont.  Everything was efficient and you can definitely tell some very hard work was done on the course to get it ready.  I actually ran into Kasie on the course the day before working on it with a group. Sorry this isn’t a long or overly detailed report, I didn’t want to bore people.  On a side note outside of the race the Ben and Jerry’s factory is only 20 minutes from the race.  You better believe I made a stop there for a tour and some ice cream on the ride home.  There is no food I love more than Ben and Jerry’s.

http://sleepyhollowmtnrace.wordpress.com