2011 CRANMORE HILL CLIMB

This past weekend was race number four in the NE Mt. Circuit. It was also the USATF National Mt. Running Championship. Serving as the selection race for the National team meant there would be lots of talent showing up at little 'ol Cranmore Mt. in North Conway, NH.

Joining me on the four hour trip from "Armrest" to the White Mts. would be my daughter Mary. She was going to be working one of the water stops and in the process getting to see some great racing.

Mary, Lee, and Nick

We arrived at the mountain where I was suppose to join in a course preview run. Tim, Abby, Pete , and Nora where there and waiting but my legs were way too stiff to get out of the truck and run uphill. I needed a bit of time to loosen up. Mary and I followed in a while to do one lap and see what Paul Kirsch had set up for this year. His excellent map comparing 2010 to this year was valuable but there's nothing like checking it out on foot. My GPS had the loop at about 2.3 miles.

After getting back to the parking lot I ran into TiVO, fellow WMM Rich Miller, and Scott Mason. I ended up joining Tim for a second lap before calling it a day and relaxing ahead of the race.

On Sunday 165 men and 54 women would be at the start line. The men would be doing three laps of the course and the women, who would start 5 minutes later, would be doing two.

As the go command was given by Dave Dunham, I found myself working to keep the adrenalin in check because I knew the third lap would be a killer. Although the course didn't summit the mountain it did mean that the laps would be run faster regardless of where you were in the pack.

I looked to see who the men's 50+ competition would be and sure enough Rich Fargo and Bob Sharkey were there. I hadn't seen Rich in any race results to this point in the year so I wasn't quite sure what that meant. I had run against Bob at Wachesett and Greylock so I had a good idea what kind of shape he was in.
On the first lap, after a short uphill in the first 1/4 mile I found myself out in front of both of them. On a very slight downhill slope that followed Bob went pounding by. OK so this is how it's going to be I thought to myself. I also thought that these guys would be holding back until the last lap.
Now I could have let them dictate my race and stick with them but that didn't seem like a good idea. I led the first lap crossing in 18:44. Probably not the best idea but I felt good and decided to just run with what the legs had. As we passed through the upper water stop on lap 2 Rich went by. OK so that was predictable. I kept him in sight and stayed close as we descended. Just before the final straight at the very bottom of that lap Bob went by as well. I was watching the finish line clock as we went by and it ticked off about 10 seconds between the three of us and showed 38:54 as I passed.
Now came the third lap. I was feeling it on the very first uphill turn but it appeared they were as well because the gap wasn't really changing. On the first ski slope traverse I was the last one out of the woods and saw both guys walking but Rich had opened up a gap. I slowed to a crawl but kept Bob in sight. On the stretch before the left turn onto the steepest section of climbing I was caught by Chris Dunn. Chris's prodding was just the motivation I needed to try and close the gap to Bob. He got in front a bit in that section and pulled me through. After we got through it I found a bit more and tried to get to Bob before the water stop and the final downhill run. It wasn't to be as I saw Bob make the right turn at the stop as I was only 1/3 of the way up that final climb.
I crested the high point, the water stop, and set my sights on the finish line about 2k away. At this point my legs didn't seem to be responding to the commands from my brain as I urged them faster down the hill. As I was reaching the bottom I heard Rich's time called out and waited to hear Bob's. As it turns out Bob had caught and passed him which still left me 3rd if they were scoring 10 yr groups.

The final push was not without excitement though as I caught and passed 34 yr old Jeff Dengate on the last of the gravel curves. We dropped down to the grass almost shoulder to shoulder and then had a legit sprint across the grass to the finish. He took it by 2 seconds but it still made for a fun ending to a good race.
I crossed in 60:19 leaving nothing out there.



Top 5 10 yr group M50-59 (USATF and non-USATF)

44 0:59:17 Bob Sharkey 59

45 0:59:29 Rich Fargo 52

50 1:00:19 Paul Bazanchuk WMM 56

54 1:01:17 Michel Lemieux Le Coureur 54

58 1:01:58 Len Hall GCS 58


Top 5 USATF M55-59 (copied from posted results)

M5559	1	50	1:00:19	Paul	Bazanchuk	WMM	56	Amherst	MA
M5559	2	58	1:01:58	Len	Hall	GCS	58	Enfield	NH
M5559	3	70	1:04:43	John	Martin	CCAC	59
M5559	4	74	1:05:55	Don	Slovenkai	NMC	55	New Ipswich	NH
M5559	5	84	1:09:22	Rick	Scott	SMAC	57

Full Results

Joe Vigor Photo's

Dave McDermott Water Stop Photo's

Scott Mason Photo's


Embarrassing Post Race Moment

After the race I switched out my soggy WMM singlet for my Team Inov 8 shirt. As a member of what I call the "B" Team (Pro Deal Team sponsorship), I figure it's OK for an old guy to promote a company that makes a great shoe. I ran this race in the x-talon 190.
Standing and chatting with Mary and Lee, I was approached by Inov8 marketing director for the US, Gina Lucrezzi, to be in a Team photo. In a bit of an embarrassing moment I reminded her that I was on the "B" Team but she said so what get in the picture anyway. The more folks with team shirts and medals the better I guess.
So there I was with my with my age division medal with the rest of a group that finished in the top 10 overall men and women.
It would be funny to be around when they go to post the picture and try to figure out who the hell the short old fossil in the back row is.