This was my second go at the Mt Washington Road Race. My first being last year for the US Mountain Running Championships. Last year was pretty much a disaster (results). I ran slow and felt like crap the whole way. I was hoping that this year would be different.Heading into this race I figured that healthy I could run somewhere around 1:10 to 1:12. But I have also been fighting with some hamstring issues. So I was thinking that anything faster than last years 1:17:08 would be a success. Of course I was still going to try to run around 1:11.
The race went off under overcast skies and the threat of rain showers. I settled right into a solid pace that I figured would put me on about 1:11 pace. Trying to stay relaxed and comfortable for the first few miles. I went through the first "mile" (actually 0.9 miles and has a short flat section at the beginning) around 7:06 which put me on pace for about 1:11. That was the good news.....the bad news was that my left hip and left calve were already tightening up. I figured that I would push on and they would loosen up as the race went on. By the 2 mile mark I was a mess. The hip, while not getting any worse, was still tight and my left calve felt like it was trying to contract into a ball as it cramped up real good. Shortly after the 2 mile mark I stopped to walk in the hopes it would loosen up. It would not. At this point I almost turned around to walk down.....but I could not stand the thought of quiting. So I just walked up the road trying to stretch out my legs, even tried walking backwards up the hill. After a few minutes of walking and my foot and lower calve started to fall asleep.......this worked out alright because I could not feel anything. So the running resumed....awkwardly. This was OK for a while till about the halfway point. By the time I got there my left leg had fallen asleep all the way up to my knee. This was a very strange sensation that I have never had before....so I walked it off. After a bit of walking I
started alternating running and walking and I started to get feeling back in the leg. After about 4 miles I was moving pretty good and was actually passing people while now running through the clouds. Which made it hard to see more than about 20 meters in front of me. Feeling better and better as I went. The last 2.5 miles or so were the best feeling and fastest of my race. At mile 7 or so I busted out of the clouds into the sunshine. From here I could see the top and knew the race was just about over. I made a nice push up the head wall and to the line with a strong finish. I ended up 56th overall in 1:20:44. The picture to the left is of overall winner Ricky Gates who made a mad sprint to the finish to break the 1 hour mark and pick up an extra $500 for doing so.
It was nice to be done. The weather up top was fantastic and I got to spend some time with my parents and teammates while the rest of the runners finished. Seeing my parents and how happy they were for me made me forget how miserable I felt about my performance....which was down right embarrassing. I am beginning to think that this mountain running thing is not for me. Two Mt Washington's and two disasters.....maybe the third times the charm? We will see. Next year is the 50th anniversary of the race and I am sure I will have plenty of friends and teammates in the race. So I may just have to give it one more go!Full Race Results
Union Leader Write Up
Hey man, I've said this to a bunch of people already, but it was slow going out there for almost everyone...Very few people ran faster than they did last year... Just for you to have finished after all you were going through on the way up is insane. I can't imagine running up that with one leg asleep...let alone anything hurting me or cramping up... hope your legs and hip feel better soon man.
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