Ohio has several big marathons, but Flying Pig was the first I had heard of and the most well known of the three (Glass City, Columbus). It features one of the hilliest routes for a big marathon and looks like a really cool event in Cincinnati.
When I expect to do it: Probably late 2020s/early 2030s when I have a dozen marathons under my belt and confident I could be good at hills. With a typical winning time in the high 2:20s, I'd want to be competitive at this one.
One of the largest, most competitive marathons in the world as well as offering a fantastic course through the iconic parts of the city, this race looks like a blast and it'd be great to race on the streets of Paris.
Bar Harbor and Acadia national park is a beautiful and unique place where the mountains meet the ocean. There aren't many races there, but this marathon starts in Bar Harbor and winds around the island with ocean scenery and 2,000' of gain before finishing in southwest harbor. Interesting opportunity to compete on scenic and very hilly park roads.
While a world major and likely the fastest marathon of all time (many world records set here), I just don't feel Berlin matches the prestige and excitement factor of some of the other ones. Would still be a fantastic atmosphere to compete in and likely the fastest winning time of any marathon you'll do.
When I Expect to Do It: Late 2020s/Early 2030s. Will certainly do all 6 marathon majors, but this falls behind the American ones and London on the priority list.
This is a great point to point marathon course going from Minneapolis to St Paul and featuring a lot of lake scenery. Also one of the more competitive road races in the United States with both the marathon and the 10 miler featured as U.S. championships in the past. Both really seem really nice, so I imagine this race would be a fun opportunity.
When I Expect to Do It: Potentially the 10 Mile in the next 3-5 years. Marathon probably a bit later.
Serving as the U.S. trail half marathon championship in the past, this is a more beginner-friendly trail scene with more XC style trail racing rather than steep and difficult trails. I've enjoyed these kind of events in the past at Pinelands, Black Fly and Catamount so it'd be fun to experience what seems to be one of the best double track trail events in the country. It's also well known for being a XC ski center and hosting major championships in that sport.
All iconic American cities seem to have their feature road race, and New Orleans has the Crescent City classic. A point to point 10K featuring French Quarter and finishing in City Park. It's been really competitive in the past but the 2023 results were strangely much slower. Regardless, it'd be fun to check out a classic road race and explore the culture of New Orleans.
When I Expect to Do It: I'd like to do this one in the next year or two (or three), but it's the same day as several other bucket list races. So hopefully by 2028?
While I've raced over a handful of big bridges in road races, I don't believe I've ever done a bridge race where most of the race is on the bridge. Perhaps the most well known and competitive one is the Cooper River Bridge Run, starting in Mount Pleasant and ending downtown Charleston, a city definitely on my list to visit. Competition is usually quite good with winning times in the 28s and this would be a unique and scenic race to experience.
Miami is a city I like very much and this is a great race that explore more of it. The course is really cool, first running a loop over to Miami Beach on a scenic causeway then back on another bridge. No cone turnarounds in this one and quite flat overall. The heat is a bit of concern however so I may opt for the half overall the full as the second half course is not as good as the first anyway.
When I Expect to Do It: 2025. Planned for 2024 but will likely opt for another big road race in the upcoming late Winter.
This trail marathon and half features the stunning orange rock and canyon formation the area is well known for and racing through that sounds like an absolute blast. It's also a very competitive trail race, often hosting one of the distances as a USATF championship.
Yesterday I got up to 31 NH 4000 footers with Waumbek. Close to 2/3s done as there's 48 total. I'm a little disappointed though as that's only 4 this year and likely no more. 17 to go is still a bit and I can't just finish them quickly. Here's what I've done, and what I've had left. Also rating each mountain given summit, trail options and views.
2018: Made great progress for my first year. Only 1 hike but presidential traverse knocks out 7 of them and some great peaks.
1. Madison- 10/10
2. Adams- 10/10
3. Jefferson- 10/10
4. Washington- 9/10
5. Monroe- 8/10
6. Eisenhower- 8/10
7. Pierce- 6/10
2019: Decided to officially start going for the 48. Moosilauke was a bucket list peak. Planned on a pemi loop but settled for a short Franconia ridge loop with 4 great summits.
8. Moosilauke- 8/10 (might be higher but no views that day)
9. Flume- 9/10
10. Liberty- 9/10
11. Lincoln- 9/10
12. Lafayette- 10/10
2020: This was a great year in the whites for me. With a new interest in trail running, being located in NH for the fall (having an apartment) at UNH and no races with COVID, I got up to the whites a lot. Also did a franconia notch loop and presidential traverse which isn't reflected in the list below. 9 total + extra summits of presidential and franconia ridge.
13. Jackson- 6/10 (no views that day)
14. Willey- 5/10
15. Field- 5/10
16. Tom- 3/10
17. Cannon- 6/10
18. Garfield- 7/10
19. South Twin- 8/10
20. Bond- 9/10
21. Bondcliff- 10/10
2021: Mediocre pair, this was the shortest drive from my apartment at the time in Dover NH so went for that. Disappointed for sure but it didn't work out with summer racing and then refocusing on XC.
22. Whiteface- 6/10
23. Passaconaway- 4/10
2022: Similar comment as last year. No time due to a busy race schedule and then ankle sprains in late summer. Was at least able to get these 4, but a mediocre bunch.
24/25. S Hancock/Hancock: 5/10
26/27. N/M Tripyramid: 4/10
2023: Happy to at least do the mad river loop (Tecumseh + Osceolas) which was much better than the 2021/2022 peaks and a great weather day. Planned for a big day with 5 new peaks the day after Loon but didn't work out due to bad weather and wanting proper recovery. So only 4 if I don't get anymore unfortunately. Once again racing took priority.
28. Tecumseh- 7/10
29. Osceola- 8/10
30. E. Osceola- 5/10
31. Waumbek- 3/10
So 17 more, will list those in plans for future. Goal is to finish in 2025, may have a summer conflict next year so #32 could be in June 2025. But 17 isn't that many, the only issue my plans for these mountains are pretty long/hard routes and there's a decent amount that are difficult to group with others.
Next bunch:
Not a particular set/order but more/less how I want to do them. Could definitely shift around based on tolerance for longer/hard routes or weather (rather do scenic routes on a clear day)
(32): Galehead (with second summit of Garfield)- 14 miles, 4,400'
cool but mostly woodsy route. Originally was going to include Galehead in another route but that includes an OAB on the brutal twinway section (1,100' in 0.71 miles) on an already really tough and long route. This gives me a chance to check out some new to me trails of gale river and garfield trail, both of which seem pretty runnable/not too steep by whites standard. Also a water refill opportunity at the galehead hut, both before and after the summit as its an OAB.
(33-36): N. Twin, W. Bond, Zealand, Hale- 19 miles, 6,400'
Originally I had Galehead in this route and planned to do it the day after Loon but cancelled due to the weather and getting proper recovery. Moving Galehead to the other route does mean getting one less on this day, but makes the route a lot more manageable taking 3 miles and 1600' off. 8,000' is a huge day, 6,400' is a lot but more manageable. That being said taking Galehead off removes a hut access point.
Anyway, this route should be challenging and epic. Having done the section from North twin to bond before, I'd get to repeat most of it and there's beautiful open ridgeline running which I haven't experienced in my recent peaks which are mostly wooded, even most summits. Don't know much about Zealand or Hale though. Also includes the Zealand Falls hut as a refueling point (very short OAB).
(37): Cabot loop: 10 miles, 3,300'
Only peak but makes a nice loop out it and getting the non-4000 footer of the Horn. Get to explore the north edge of the white mountains and the kilkenny ridge trail. Should be one of the easiest options left.
Brutal route with a lot of steep ups and downs, but nice traverse over Cannon, the cannon balls and kinsmans. A lot of terrain I've wanted to get over for a while, but it's a tough one and then I'd have to figure a way to shuttle back (likely drop a bike).
(40): Owl's Head: 21 miles, 3,700'
Long route likely without many viewpoints as it's mostly flat/gradual and runnable with a short OAB to owl's head summit just over 4,000'. Might be interesting to explore the middle of the pemi loop/wilderness.
Brutal traverse and requires a bike back, but gets a lot of peaks. Not particularly excited for this, but not dreading it either. Unsure if I'd do N-S or S-N. S-N has less elevation gain and gets a lot of the hard terrain done with early, but the bike back would be brutal all uphill with 1,000' gain. The opposite means really tough terrain to finish and more elevation gain total but the bike back would be super easy all downhill. Pick your poison I guess.
(47)- Carrigain lollipop- 13 miles, 3,800'
Saving carrigain and isolation for last as the summits are supposed to be stunning. Carrigain is more wooded but has a fire tower. Much rather do the lollipop than OAB. Seems mostly manageable other than a very steep pitch up to the summit.
(48) Isolation davis-dry river loop- 25 miles, 7,400'
big run but seems appropriate to finish out and skip the OAB option many take. A lot of above treeline for this one, should be a really cool route 100% on trails I haven't been on. Could also opt to finish with the second half of the presidential traverse as that's fantastic open ridge running.
So that should take me to 2025 or 2026, but hopefully I can make good progress in the next summer I have available. There's a lot of non-4000 foot peaks in the white mountains I'd like to do and of course, eventually the maine and vermont 4000 footers. There's a lot of cool trails/loops/traverses that'd be fun to put together or summits I'd like to do a second time and do a different route.
Here's some other peaks/landmarks I'd like to do also:
Just going to run through some of the events of the USATF championships and document some of my thoughts. Overall, some very surprising and unpredictable results in there. Was able to catch most of it on video which was great as many times I'll miss it with a conflict (I had loon this year but stayed up late some nights and watched some stuff on my phone).
Womens 10K:
Surprising that Elise Cranny won. Clearly had the potential based off past results but was really poor so far this year especially compared to Monson who broke the American record. At the end of the day, it's the kick that matters in a slow race.
Mens 10K:
Bummer of a race as I was rooting for Grant and it looked like he had when he got a gap going for it with 1200m to go. But he uncharacteristically totally fell apart in the last 200m and couldn't even run sub 30. Woody gets the win with a big kick and great year for him in 2023. Klecker another team and looks great easily in second. It's tough when one guy does the work and the ones who sit and kick win. Tough year for Grant following his incredible 2022 campaign, then lackluster results until now and with his stratch from the 5K with injury, he's left off the worlds team completely. Hopefully he gets back to full strength in the 2024 olympic year as he's clearly the top long distance American when it comes to being competitive on the world stage. Big surprise was Sean McGorty outkicking Fisher for 3rd, pretty surprising given the very fast last 1200m and Sean being injured earlier in the year so this was his race. Really a phenomenal performance and breakthrough for him. Overall a huge step up for USA runners following a mediocre 2022 10K.
Mens 100:
Definitely a shock win for Tracksmith's Cravont Charleston who I hadn't heard of until this meet. Coleman and Lyles fine but really not great performances and a weak US final. Surprising that 2021 olympic finalist Ronnie Baker, and 2023 silver and bronze medalists Bracy and Bromell not even close to making the teams. USA is an absolute powerhouse in the 100m but as much this year. Terrance Laird was having a good meet and bit of a comeback but surprisingly dead last in the final then scratches the 200m.
Womens 100m:
Not a fan of Richardson at all but have to admit she ran pretty well, both 100m and 200m and will contend for medal in Budapest.
Mens 400m:
super boring this year
Womens 1500m:
wild finish. not surprised Mu got 2nd
Mens 1500m:
Really exciting race. Nuguse delivers, not surprising but a little surprised for him to get passed. Shows he has a lot skillsets rather than just being a time trialer/kicking off a fast pace. Phenomenal race by Waskom for 2nd, looked fantastic. Hocker was fine but at least made the team. Good races by Prakel, Wynne and Hunter. Teare not making the final was a shock. Looked like he didn't realize he wasn't going to make it and slowed down through the line. Centro barely made the final and got 10th, has a ton of work to do for 2024 to be back to the top.
Womens 800m:
Really surprising for Ajee Wilson to completely bomb and get last, clearly some issue going on.
Mens 800m:
Weird race. Goes out kind of slow then Hoppel cuts Murphy before Harris cuts Murphy off. Murphy barely manages to kick for 3rd but still makes the team. Lot of shoving and wonder if the result would be different without all the contact. Overall team is about what was expected though. Should be much stronger year for USA at worlds for 800m than last.
Mens 400mH:
Rai Benjamin is an absolute beast. Who wins such a short event by 1.5 seconds?
Mens 5K:
Crazy race. Nur wins, clearly he had the potential but with all the guys in this field would not have picked him. Chelimo delivers after a slightly disappointing 10K but didn't position himself to win the race. Sean McGorty the shock of the meet getting another 3rd and beating some really great athletes. Klecker 4th but off the team and surprisingly Woody Kincaid is way back in 9th place. Solid race by Teare for 5th but won't be going to worlds and needed more. Crazy the big trio of Fisher, Kincaid, Klecker aren't the ones to pull off the double teams of 10K/5K and it's instead McGorty who's made 1 team in the past and hadn't raced this year prior to USA. Really an absolutely phenomenal weekend for McGorty. Really interesting race, can watch highlights here.
Mens 200:
Top 2 in Knighton-Bednarek goes to form but Kerley getting left off is really surprising. I don't like how he talks a huge game/is really cocky and then can't even get top 3 in the US.
Predictions for US team at worlds:
Mens 100m:
Kerley (had the bye): repeat win/gold medal
Coleman: 3rd
Lyles: 7th
Charlston: out in semis
Mens 200m:
Lyles (had the bye)- repeat gold/win
Bednarek- 2nd
Knighton- 3rd
Lindsey- out in semies
Mens 400m:
who cares?
Mens 800m:
Murphy- 3rd
Hoppel- 5th
Harris- 8th
Mens 1500:
Nuguse- 4th
Waskom- 10th
Hocker- out in semis
Mens steeple:
who cares?
Mens 5K:
Nur- 8th
chelimo- 5th
mcgorty- doesnt make final
Mens 10K:
kincaid- 10th
klecker- 6th
mcgorty- 11th
I didn't proofread this so sorry if there's mistakes
First mountain race of the year with Gunstock Mountain, and last trail tune up before QMT. Mid week trip to Washington, D.C. to visit some potential graduate schools.
Monday: 4 Miles- Westerly, RI
Champlin trails but this time stayed on the blue trail instead of continuing onto green like always. Cut across to orange, felt nice.
Tuesday: 12 Miles
AM 9 Miles- Westerly, RI
Ran out to Watch Hill and even the lighthouse OAB (although the gate was locked), very pleasant morning at 56 degrees and felt good. Normally don't go past 8 for the morning fuel-less runs but this was all fine.
PM 3 Miles- Preston, CT
Haven't done the post-work double in a while (and won't for a bit tapering/recovering from QMT) but had no reason not to. Place was nearly empty which was nice as the last few times I ran there in April it was packed.
Wednesday: 10 Miles- Washington, D.C.
Comfortable amtrak ride from Westerly to Washington, D.C. Got to learn from the two businessmen across the aisle having loud work conservations most of the train ride.
Walked around George Washington- about 2 miles in intermittent light rain. Some nice buildings but didn't like the urban campus style, wrote that one off pretty quickly. Nice metro ride over to there- so much cleaner than Boston, NYC, etc. That being said I didn't like the pay by distance system rather than Boston/NYC's single fare, much more confusing. Also not extensive as either system (zero stops within a mile of Georgetown).
Subway rankings (taking comfort/cleanliness into account):
1. Washington, D.C. (great)
2. Boston (good)
3. Chicago (okay)
4. New York City (poor)
5. Philadelphia (awful)
Dad and I dropped our bags off at a bounce location- a third party service where businesses can opt to take bags behind their counters for temporary storage and make some extra money. This was much better than the other time I opted for this in NYC- no wait, didn't have to take a photo of bag: just handed a ticket and that was it.
Monuments/sightseeing tour. Crowded and lots of cement on a sidewalk mile then past lincoln and jefferson memorials. Legs felt like crap post-long train ride and walk. East potomac park was really cool having pretty much zero traffic on a two lane road. Ran through national mall after, really cool scenery, but had to stop a lot. Dirt paths in the middle which was great for the legs. Overall not my favorite route with all the cement and busy crossings, but very cool sightseeing. Downpour in the national mall.
Thursday: 13 Miles- College Park, MD
My second and easily my longest run in Maryland (other was 2 miles with an injury). Dad mapped out a fun route connecting some really nice bike paths, parks and trails. All good other than a few busy crossings and sidewalks. Early road sections were nice and drivers were much more courteous than NE drivers- most gave a lot of room. Legs got tired towards the end but nice run.
Uber over to Georgetown University- driver was not very good. No hello/goodbye, blasting loud spanish music, honking at drivers for reason and putting in eyedrops while driving. Nice campus tour although felt a bit out of place as it was meant for undergraduates. Really nice campus, but said no to this one to the really high cost and not wanting to live in such a busy metro.
Cool main hall of Georgetown
nice view of arlington, VA
Some more train rides and visited Drexel in Philadelphia on the way back. City campus like GW but actually a pretty nice area. Still a no given cost and not wanting to live in Philadelphia.
Drexel dragon
NYC skyline from train
Friday: 6 Miles- Charlestown, RI
Ninigret pre race with Dad.
Saturday: 11 Miles- Gilford, NH
Gunstock mountain 10K. Pretty terrible weather with 70 degrees and 87% humidity, got to question why the start is at 10am. I heard of this race in 2021 with a stacked field but mount washington was the same weekend. Signed up for 2022 and sprained my ankle horribly a week out and had to withdraw. Good winner but field a lot less deep. Deferred to 2023 (thanks organizers for having a defer policy!) and here I was. Plenty of hilly trail races behind me, but this would be the first mountain race. My goal was to run in the 53 to 54 minute range based on what people I knew had done and maybe shoot for top 3 depending on competition.
Did a 3 mile warm-up, sweaty but feeling pretty good. Got in some hill strides which felt good. The goal with those to get used to hammering up steep grades so my legs don't lock up when I start a climb in the race.
Eased off the line in 3rd. 2nd by the start of the hill. Realized the first guy's pace was not going to cut it, so I moved into first. Easily built up a lead quickly. This climb was struggle- 747 feet over .86 miles, 16% grade. Not too steep that I hiked, but steep enough that it was a grind. The last third of this was really uncomfortable but I looked back at saw 2nd-4th hiking together. This was a race and surely me running would be faster. I pressed on got to the summit. My time/effort here was okay- doesn't hold up well to some 21' and 22' climbers but I did get a big lead.
The second mile was faster on a moderately technical trail with a short descent then ascent but all pretty runnable and not steep. The rocks were pretty wet and slick and I didn't really take any risks. I felt super slow and uncomfortable here and had some stomach discomfort from the effort on the first climb. But it was enough to maintain the lead. Mile 3 was a 520 feet climb up to the top of Gunstock at 10% grade. Not as steep but on singletrack rather than a service roads. Felt just as slow and as much of a grind as the first one, but somehow did much better on the segments here. Hit the top of the mountain, grabbed a cup of water then flipped around. Pleasantly surprised to see no one coming the other way for the 100m turnaround point- felt good to hold onto the win assuming I didn't bomb the downhill.
First 3 splits: 11:03, 8:33, 12:31
Downhill time. First third of mile was pretty runnable on pine needles and not too technical but some tight turns killed the momentum. Then a 1.5 mile singletrack descent at -10% grade. Was hoping to crush this but it was surprisingly really technical and consistently rocky. Wet and slippery in a lot of spots. I didn't take any risks, played it relatively safe and ultimately don't feel I did very well on the descent. Great view of Winnipesaukee halfway down.
Came out of the trail at mile 5- 1 to go on really runnable XC ski trails. Tried to pick it up but an enormous cloud of deerflies (maybe 50 or so) came out and I allowed myself to swat the deerflies rather than concern myself with the pace. Eventually they left and I was able to push the last quarter to cross the line for the win, but a disappointing 56:41. Results. Certainly more in the tank.
8:56, 8:19, 6:31 downhill splits. (5:26 pace last .2 miles)
Mixed feelings on this run- time was disappointing and would only be 7th all time (race has a 3 year history). Slowest winning time too. A minute slower than fellow Rhode Islander Adrian Massie from 2021. But I wasn't expecting to win here so it was certainly nice to pick that up.
I'm not particularly happy with any of the splits- especially the technical downhill. Just really slow comparatively to others. I was actually slower on the downhill than several runners in this race alone despite winning by 3 minutes- most of the time was from the uphill. Comparatively my mile 3 uphill was my strongest part.
Here are some split comparisons based on strava segments:
Did very well on the gunstock climb and pretty bad on the overlook descent. Worth noting most of my splits were not far off Brandon Newbould's, who is a great trail runner. Maybe just the products of racing alone in non-ideal weather. Perhaps I would have done a lot better in the stacked 2021 version.
Overall, a fun race. Think I could have done much better being pushed. Cool to race up high on pine needle singletrack. Well organized and marked.
Only managed a 2 mile cooldown because I was exhausted. Stuck to the road to avoid deerflies. Post race lake winnipesaukee dip.
Sunday: 7 Miles- Exeter, RI
Arcadia dirt road loop. Was thinking 8 to 10 but opted for 7 feeling a little tired and 1 week out from QMT. Nice run, some stiffness but overall felt good. No deerflies on the dirt roads yet, which was nice. This loop is great any time of the year. 77 degrees.
Weekly Total: 64 Miles
Weekly Highlight: Getting the win at Gunstock. Not my best race, but first time I've won a mountain race.
Weekly Lowlight: Deerfly swarm mid-race. Never had to deal with that before.
Movies Watched: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade*, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull*
No race this week, tried to get in a quality training run at Bear Mountain State Park, New York.
Monday: 3 Miles- Westerly, RI
Intended on shuffling the 2.5 Newbury road loop, but felt better than I expected and did some OABs to hit 3. 7:22- feels like ideal recovery pace.
Tuesday: 10 Miles- Charlestown, RI
Burlingame trail + vin gormley 10 mile loop with Dad. Felt warm out there and was really tired by the end.
Wednesday: 13 Miles
AM 5 Miles- Stonington, CT
Didn't want to get out there, but did the Barn Island fire roads loop. Actually quite enjoyable and some nice scenic spots. Perfect time of the year where you can enjoy the lush green forest before the deerflies come out and it gets unbearably hot.
PM 8 Miles- Westerly, RI
Fun run with 3 miles warm up and 2 cool down. After having Andrew and Jonny last week and several guys the first week, I was a little disappointed Jonny let me go immediately and it was a solo run out there. Shirtless run in the rain. Kept it controlled 5:28 then fell off a bit with 5:38 feeling a little heavy. Made sure to get things back on track in Mile 3 and ran a 5:10 feeling more comfortable than the 5:02 close two weeks ago. Just slipped under 17 for 16:58. Felt strong on this.
Thursday: 11 Miles- Exeter, RI
Mixed Arcadia loop with Dad + Brady. Some dirt roads, some trails. Felt pretty tired on this one.
Friday: 7 Miles- Charlestown, RI
Easy Ninigret, first 5 with Dad + Brady. Felt pretty good although definitely warm out there.
Saturday: 18 Miles- Stony Point, NY
Technically not really in Stony Point but this is the closest town. Bear Mountain State Park in the Hudson Highlands of New York- my third time. It's a pretty large trail system, especially so when combined with adjacent Harriman state park which is simply massive. Bear Mountain SP is 5,000 acres and Harriman is 44,000 acres. For comparison, Burlingame SP is 3,000 acres.
2019 was my first visit- a 4 mile hike on Memorial day, disappointed with the crowds and views were not as good as Breakneck ridge. Last year returned for a 14-15 mile loop but sprained my ankle terribly just a mile in and had to bail. So I wanted redemption as last year's loop was pretty cool and I didn't get to check out any new terrain. Made up a similar loop but added some trails in Harriman to make a long run- 22 miles and just over 6,000' of gain- would be my best attempt to get close to QMT 52K's 32 miles and 7000' gain.
Alternated hike-run on a moderately steep ascent up the mountain on a manicured section of the AT. Got up okay although breathing was off and I couldn't stop thinking about how many miles I had left. Got through 3ish moving well on more runnable trail and then things went bad. Just felt really low energy and drive on the next climb, slight sore throat/mucus so possibly a little sick.
The rest of the day sucked. It's perfectly normally for me to have a rough patch, but I almost always come back and feel good. I never did on this day. Just low energy, sluggish and not into it at all. For some reason, despite feeling bad at just 5 miles I made the decision to continue to Harriman State Park which would guarantee a 16+ mile day. While the trail around the actual Bear Mountain peak were fairly crowded, everything else was less so. The trails in Harriman especially so, even had a 2 mile section all to myself. Some weird and sketchy road crossings sprinting across a highway to switch state parks.
The Harriman part was just as miserable feeling awful but at least it was a little more runnable. Was taking frequent, long breaks as I had nothing in the tank and caught up on race results for Mt. Wash and Grandmas marathon. Back in Bear Mountain SP, I forced myself up West Mountain and the Timp. I fully gave up on the latter (I was planning on giving up earlier, but had no service to create an alternate route- great service on the peaks) and made a new route while soaking in the great view (although fairly hazy). 4 miles back but 90% downhill and a lot on a dirt road, parts of which were really washed out and terrible.
Washed out dirt road, quite terrible
Finished up and the parking lot was packed (only a few cars when I pulled in) and it was about 80 degrees. Definitely needed more water, which was a serious issues with only one stream on the route that hadn't dried up completely. This is a great park but not the time to attempt a long route- significant amount of overgrowth as well including parts where I just stopped to walk because it was so bad. Very rugged terrain, definitely underestimated that. Ended up with 18 miles and 4,500' of gain, so still on par with my longer efforts and got most of it done. That was not a fun one though. Not anymore fun sitting in I-95 CT traffic either.
Note I did take some video, but barely any as I felt terrible. Maybe I'll post this eventually but no plans right now.
So with Gunstock 10K in a week, here's the long run prep I've done for QMT. It's definitely not ideal, but I think I'm more prepared from an elevation gain/technicality standpoint than distance.
1. May 17- Blue Hills, MA: 16.5 miles, 3,400'
2. May 21- Holyoke Range, MA: 13.8 miles, 3,600'
3. May 29- Mount Greylock, MA: 17.1 miles, 4,300'
4. June 3- Catskills, NY: 18.1 miles, 4,500'
5. June 11- Mad River Notch, NH: 16.3 miles, 5,600'
6. June 18- Bear Mountain, NY: 18.5, 4,500'
Sunday: 8 Miles- Richmond, RI
Carolina recovery with Dad + Brady. Pretty warm again. Felt good other than some light fatigue from yesterday's effort. Pulled a really small white tick out of my shoulder, first time I've had a tick in me in a while.
Weekly Total: 72 Miles (6,700' elevation)
Weekly Highlight: Good effort at the fun run.
Weekly Lowlight: Absolutely suffering at Bear Mountain. Definitely would rather feel terrible on that than during QMT, but it was not a fun time. Didn't get redemption over 22's failed run.
Movies Watched: Surf's Up*, Superbad*, Raiders of the Lost Ark*, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom*, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse
Big weekend in the White Mountains with Black Fly in My Eye trail race on Saturday and a big mountain run on Sunday in Waterville Valley.
Monday: 4 Miles- Westerly, RI
Easy Champlin trails lollipop.
Tuesday: 8 Miles- Westerly, RI
Watch hill loop, definitely my favorite 8 mile run from the house. Also the best ocean views from the roads in Westerly (Spray rock is also nice). I hadn't run before 6am/done a full 8 miles before work since April due to toning things back.
Wednesday: 13 Miles
AM 6 Miles- Charlestown, RI
Burlingame south trail loop with Dad + Brady.
PM 7 Miles- Westerly, RI
Westerly fun run. Andrew came over so it was good to have someone to warm up and cool down with. Had the smoke from Canadian wildfires this week and the air quality was terrible. I felt fine on the warm-up however. With a race saturday, plan was just to maintain 5:30s and not push the last mile like the last weekend. Felt hard early with the smoke anyway and made breathing really tough.
First two miles with Andrew and Jonny, and then finished with Andrew who sprinted the last turn to get the win. Well slower than last week in 17:26 for 2nd but the smoke was definitely a factor and unlike last week I put no effort in the third mile.
Thursday: 8 Miles- Westerly, RI
Don't remember this one well, but felt pretty flat and tired I guess.
Friday: 8 Miles- Westerly, RI
Looped around Ice Pond and Avondale, felt pretty good. Finished up with strides. Camp at Bear Brook later that night.
Saturday: 12 Miles- Gorham, NH
Technically not in a municipality, Gorham is simply the closest. Black Fly in My Eye 10 Mile trail race at the base of the mount washington auto road. There's a cross country ski trail system here and while it has a lot of trail, it doesn't go out especially far- so three different loops today. 2 loops on the mount washington side of the road to start and finish that were more runnable with plenty of carriage road and a much tougher middle loop on the opposite side of the road. This race is really low key with only 30-50 finishers or so, but looks fun on the Great Glen trails system and one I've wanted to do for a while. It's a much more varied course than Pinelands which is 100% doubletrack/wide XC ski trails but there's quite a bit of narrow singletrack in this one.
As for competition, the same guy, Tristan Williams had won the last 2-3 years and run times in the 1:05-1:07 range. So I wasn't expecting to win this one, but was certainly hoping to be up there and take a shot. Got in almost 2 mile warm-up, a little bit more rushed than I would have liked. Low 50s and steady rain that was going on and off but rained for much of the race. Lined up in the second row on purpose to pretend I wasn't trying to win and putting myself in position to see what the top guys would do. At Pinelands, I assumed I was the top dog and went out hard in first but got passed and beat easily. It's less stressful and more enjoyable to not try to dominate the race from the start.
I saw two potentially fast looking guys- a shirtless guy (Brent) and singlet-clad runner (Tristan, the winner from the last few times). Note I didn't know who the runners were at that time. Sometimes it's hard to tell who the contenders are, but I was right today and the three of us separated from everyone else almost immediately. The two were talking before the start and clearly knew each other. I went out in third as the leaders ran stride by stride and I lurked in the shadows. It felt quite comfortable settling behind rather than setting the pace myself as I almost certainly would have went out faster. The trail was a wide and manicured XC ski trail and quite fast the entire mile was a slight downhill. The two runners started to separate around half a mile in which was surprising until I looked at my watch and realized just how fast I was running. 5:20 pace on the watch. I checked it a few more times over the next minute as it continued to show 5:20 pace, indicating my watch was not broken. Tristan was starting to fall further back so I passed him and made my way towards the leader. At the end of the mile, I caught up to him on an uphill without meaning to and made a mental note that he didn't seem like a strong uphill runner. Mile 1 beeped as I was side by side with Brent- 5:33.
While this was one of the fastest miles of the day, this was really fast considering it's about what I would have targeted in a flat road race. I certainly didn't want to empty the tank too early and backed way off. I figured I'd fall back and run with Tristan but two equally sized gaps formed between 1st and 2nd, and 2nd and 3rd. The second mile was all on carriage roads but quite a bit hillier. The gap between Tristan and I remained the same but the first guy was starting to pull away more. Mile 2 much slower in 6:42. Mile 3 threw in brief singletrack sections but was still 90% carriage road or so. The gap reversed and I started to open up on 3rd but closed a lot of ground on 1st. Coming back towards the end of the loop I was only 20 meters behind the leader but could no longer see Tristan in 3rd, surprisingly given he was the 2-3 time defending champ.
I got really confused on the next section of trail as it split into 2 and it wasn't marked. I started going one way but didn't want to cut the course and pretty much just stopped until Tristan caught up and I fell in behind him. This likely only lost 5 to 10 seconds, but now I was back in third and first place was out of sight. I ran side by side with Tristan finishing up the first loop. I definitely lost some confidence and was frustrated with that, and was completely expecting to dropped on the tougher second loop. However the effort felt too easy on the carriage roads and I pulled 10 meters ahead back into second. 350 feet of climbing over the next mile starting the second loop. This felt really difficult right away after running on the really fast carriage roads. I felt really flat and was expecting to get caught and passed easily. This climb wasn't super long but felt like a grind. I was surprised early on the climb to see the leader just 50 meters ahead or so. Thinking he either really faded on the climb or went off course. Suddenly this was a three person race for the win again. The gaps remained constant in the climb as we all ran roughly the same pace, maybe third place 20 meters behind. The climb was super wet and muddy, making footing a challenge. Suddenly we hit the top and went downhill on a fast doubletrack. The leader instantly vanished, clearly a stronger downhill runner than uphill. I thought this was my time to open up ground for 3rd place, but probably only opened up another 10 meters or so. Slow mile then fast mile in 8:32-5:45. The 6th mile, 3rd of this loop was the most technical trail through a thick pine forest. Plenty of rooty sections, mud, standing water and being pretty narrow. Slower mile at 7:48. I tried to push this section to make up some ground but he probably gained a little bit on me. Coming out the trail, there was some awkward running on grass that I felt really slow on, yet again didn't lose any ground.
Came into the final loop and crossed the street with Tristan pretty much right on me this time, maybe 10 meters back. With 3 miles to go, this was going to be a battle. I kept slightly increasing the effort trying to drop him but he remained steady. Fast downhill mile 7 entirely on carriage roads in 6:15. Still a 10-30 meter gap. Mile 8 we got on some singletrack and some wide but less manicured paths going uphill. My legs were feeling the effort and my climbing power suffered a bit. It took a while, but eventually Tristan went by me. The gap wasn't opening up much so I hoped to still be in the battle for second. Slow Mile 8 uphill in 7:38. Mile 9 was pretty fast again downhill on the carriage roads- I pushed this section trying to regain ground but the gap kept opening as he was flying now. We entered some singletrack and it looked like 2nd was lost. 6:17 Mile 9.
Half mile to go. I came across a section of field next to the auto road and he was probably 60 meters ahead or so. Tried to really put on the jets and prepare for an all out sprint as I thought my raw speed was probably better than this and could potentially nab him at the line. It helped when the gap was cut down to 40 meters as he briefly turned the wrong way and around. I assumed it was all fast carriage road for another quarter mile to the finish and prepared to absolutely hammer this section. I felt I was gaining on him before he suddenly hesitated before the next section which I thought was weird. As I got a little further, I saw there was a river crossing. I knew about this but had completely forgotten it. Tristan moved through the rocky river quickly and efficiently. I was stumbling and sliding on the other hand on the large slick rocks at the bottom of the river. After the river, there was immediately a short but very steep grass uphill. I got to the top of this and there was an out and back section to get around a fence. Tristan was already on the opposite side of the fence a full 100m ahead. He ran this challenging section much better than me and had won the battle for second. I pushed it the final fast 300m to the finish but nowhere near as hard as I would have if the gap was closer.
3rd in 1:04:33. 17 seconds off of 2nd and 59 seconds off of first (which was surprising, assumed he was 2-3 minutes ahead). While I lost both battles, I was pretty happy with this race. Felt like my effort was fairly strong throughout and it was great to battle for second pretty much the entire time rather than just be in no man's land like some other races and mentally zone out. 3 minutes faster than last year's winning time and as far as I can tell, all three of us were under the course record. Full results here.
No race photos, this is the only photo I took that day
One mile cooldown with Dad in the rain, getting a bit cold. Disappointed in the post race "Barbeque"- just salad, potato salad, and sausage without a bun to eat them. Overall, I thought the course was quite fun. Mostly fast/runnable loops 1 and 3 similar to pinelands but a really tough mostly singletrack loop 2 mixed things up well and some short sections of singletrack in loops 1 and 3. Definitely enjoyed the varied terrain versus Pinelands/Catamount all being doubletrack and fairly runnable. Felt a lot stronger here than Pinelands. I didn't love the organization though, race director seemed clueless, I missed a turn due to poor marking and only 34 finishers as it's probably not very well marketed. I'd do it again and was glad to get it done this year, but certainly isn't a priority/run every year kind of race.
Sunday: 16 Miles- Waterville Valley, NH
Toughest pre-QMT run here- 16 miles with 5600' of elevation change. Tough loop called Mad River Notch- up and over Mount Tecumseh (waterville valley ski area) and up and over mount osceola/east osecola with some very challenging trail sections. Last 4 mile slight downhill and quite runnable on Greeley Ponds trail. This would net me 3 NH 4000 footers and bring my total to 30.
First climb 2500' over 3.2 miles to the Mount Tecumseh summit. Nearly 2 miles runnable and was surprised to feel fairly strong and not tie up/have a HR spike like I do on the first climbs of other mountain runs. Steep last mile to the summit, mostly hiking but still felt pretty good. Nice trail through the pines, especially higher up although quite rocky throughout. Got the Tecumseh summit feeling pretty good. Very nice view which was surprising as I was expecting a forested summit. Several runners came through and spent almost no time to admire the view. Now the descent- 2100' drop over 2.5 miles. There was an unexpected 150 ft climb after 400ft of descent and 1850ft straight down after. I remember thinking this was fairly steep and uncomfortable. Only able to manage 11-13 minutes pace. Went by pretty quickly though. Refueled and refilled my water bottles at a stream at the bottom. Then a mile on a dirt road uphill.
Now the real challenge- 2100' climb over just under 3 miles to the summit of Osceola. The first mile was pretty gradual but very technical. After that there were a bunch of switchbacks as it got higher and I alternated powerhiking/running. Usually right after a switchback, there'd be 30 seconds-minute of very runnable terrain before getting steep again. This trail was quite crowded, especially compared to the Tecumseh trail which only had a dozen people or so. Here I'd constantly have to call ahead to people to get past them. Felt like a long but not brutal climb and eventually popped out to a fantastic summit- 180 degree sweeping view, definitely one of the best views in the whites I've had in a while. The 2021/2022 views were pretty disappointing, so this was a nice treat. Stayed at the summit for a bit. Popped over to East Osceola, then a brutal descent off that- 1800' over 1.2 miles. Lots of stopping and figuring out the best route scrambling down stuff. A lot of jumping off rocks and one time I landed weird on my ankle and felt like I sprained it. After moving it around a bit, it just felt a little weak/strained and fortunately I was okay. My ankles are so much stronger than 2021/2022 as that likely would have been a terrible sprain last year.
Got to Greeley Ponds trail- 4 miles to go, but all slight downhill with 700' drop and very runnable, especially the last 3 miles which were essentially a dirt road. This was a nice finish after a lot of steep technical miles before. Started to bonk a bit with 1.5 to go but hung tough and ran 7:44 and 6:50 for the last miles.
Post run rinse off in Mad River
16 miles with 5600' gain- slightly less mileage than the last few long runs, but a much harder route and the most climbing of any of these runs (and only a few runs I've ever done with more elevation). +3 NH 4000 footers which is great, been working on this a long time and was disappointed with 2021/2022 progress. These were a solid bunch, not as nice as the more epic/well known peaks but way better than the ones I did in 2021/2022. Next shot at the NH 4000 footers should be in July as I hope to stay a few extra days after Loon. Would be really happy to get a few more and move towards the mid-40s. Approaching the point where I can start to think about a final round to finish the 48.
Weekly Total: 70 Miles (8500' elevation gain)
Weekly Highlight: Nice trail running in the Whites. Race went pretty well, wasn't expecting to get 3rd but felt like I really gave it my all at this one and ran strong throughout, just lost to better guys. Nice route and happy to get in more NH mountain running on Sunday.
Weekly Lowlight: Fun run in the smoke felt harder than last week and wasn't very enjoyable.
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