Mount Washington Road Race (U.S. National Mountain Running Championships)

Mount Washington Road Race Facts:

* The 50th anniversary year.
* The finish 6288 ft.
* The start 1565 ft.
* Elevation gain 4727 ft.
* Length 7.6 miles
* Grade Avg. 12%, extended 18%, final 100 yards 22%
* Road Surface 65% paved, 35% packed gravel

On June 19th, I competed in my second Mount Washington Road Race. I wasn't really sure what to expect. I didn't feel as prepared as I did last year. Last year I was living in Colorado up at 9,000 feet in a yurt, running 70 mile weeks and running up lots of mountains/hills. This year I have been only running about 45 miles a week for the past month, living and training at sea level, and I haven't done any hill workouts at all. The only thing I had going for me was that I felt like I was more aerobically fit due to cycling and swimming.

Last year I ran a 1:06:19 and was 9th overall. This year the field was much deeper, as the Mount Washington race was also the 2010 U.S. National Mountain Running Championships. The top 6 men in this race are the USA Team for Mountain Running World Championships which is in Kamnik, Slovenia on September 5th, 2010. I figured if I ran a 1:06 something I would be happy because of the odds against me in my training this year vs. last year.

The night before I got to Kevin Tilton's house pretty late around 11ish. It took me a little while to unwind and finally fell asleep around 1 in the morning. The morning came quick as i downed a few plain bagels and a coffee. After I drove to the race site and had a nice 3 mile warm up. I saw many familiar faces from Colorado on the starting line. The cannon went off to start us. I stayed relaxed and had the leaders in sight during the first mile. I settled in and pushed a steady pace. I was in about 15th place as I passed the halfway mark and my watch read 31:35. Below is a picture of me close to the half way mark.
















Once I got half way, I started feeling a little better as I was gaining on the people in front of me. Slowly I was able to pass one person at a time. Before I know it someone said that I was in the top 10 with about 2 miles left. I kept gaining on the people in from of me and I felt strong. With less then a half mile to go I saw one more person in front of me a ways away. I pushed hard and was able to catch him right at the end. I finished hard and ended up finishing 7th overall in a time of 1:04:21 (Just about two minutes faster then last year)

I was very thrilled with how the race went. If I was 6th place I could have made the USA World Mountain Team and would have a trip to Slovenia. If I was 6th place, I wouldn't have been able to go because Duathlon World Championships is the same day and its in Scotland. Right after my race my friend Pete and I ended up running down the mountain to make the race into a long run. Once we were at the bottom of the mountain my friend Jim joined us as we all soaked our legs in the stream.

I was happy that I was able to contribute and run as a Central Massachusetts Strider. The team ran well as we won the USA National Mountain Running Team Title.


About 400 meters to go!