Mt Washington Road Race

OK, so i got my spot in the lottery to run up Mt Washington, YAHOO!!

Now for the reality of it all, i have to start training for it. Lets see...last week i ran 18 miles. That is not going to get it done for this race. I have 12 weeks to whip my body into decent shape so as not to embarrass myself on this run. Can i do it? I think so! It isn't like i expect to compete for age group or anything like that, just have a good strong run. Having some of my teammates running will help, Bob Jackman, John Peabody and Martin Tighe will be there running. So, here goes nothing, Mt Washington, here i come.

Photo by Corey McEntyre

Weekend Update

What a beautiful Saturday for a race! It is the 1st annual St. Patricks Day Race in Providence, RI. For a first time race, there were 2100 finishers, not a bad turnout. Race director Charlie Breagy had to be overjoyed. And seeing that this was a St Patty's Day race, what better than the winners being from Ireland. Mens winner, Mark Carroll ran unmolested for the whole race, coming in at an easy 14.25. Womens winner and first master, Trish Hillery(photo at right), also from Ireland, took the title in 18.21. 

Photography for the race was done by George Ross and Myself, you can see all our stuff on George's website here (if you want to go thru thousands of pics).

Post race was the annual parade, check out a few of my shots here.

The post race party was at RI-RA, those pints of Guinness sure tasted good.

There was a big marathon down in Washington DC on Saturday that a few of my Turtle teammates went to run. It was the Suntrust National Marathon that was won by Patrick Moulton(no, not a teammate) in 2:21.17. Tuesday Night Turtle Finishers were:

Bob Jackman   2:40.47 (PR)

Dave Principe  2:47.15

Michaela Driscoll  2:53.12  (pr)

Jackie Jackman  3:03.59 (pr) 

Sorry to say, Martin Tighe was not able to attempt his 1ook in Ireland this weekend due to a bout with pneumonia. Alot of training to no avail, but be assured, Martin will be back for another try sometime in the next few months.

Whats up with the 6 foot plus leprechaun with Mark Carroll and Jim Harvey? Thats Way Hedding, race director extraordinaire from SNERRO in Ct. Way puts on many road races in southern RI and Nearby Connecticut including Lil'Rhody Runaround, Block Island 15k, John Kelley Ocean Beach 11.6 Miler and the late, great Norwich Rose Arts Festival 10.6 Miler.

  

New Bedford Half Marathon

                                          Pictures from the New Bedford Half marathon are up 

                                                              @ scottmasonphoto.com

                         

Treadmills Suck!

I did a treadmill run tonite at the local gym, the purple palace, also known as Planet Fitness. First off, i am not a treadmill runner, in fact, i have scoffed at these machines for the first 30 years of running. My first TM run was last May because the weather was lousy and i thought i would give it a try. Strangely enough, i came down with a knee injury the day after the run and just figured that they were evil machines and would never use one again. Now that everything is healed and i am trying to get back into running shape and a snowstorm hit Monday, i decide to give it another try because i really wanted to run. The run was OK, i did a few miles and felt it was a decent workout, then did the same tonite. My question is, how do you actually put up with the boredom of running on a treadmill? There are 24 TM's at the gym and after work, they are all full, so how bad can it be? Well, on one side i have someone with a book propped up on the machine and on the other is a guy that stops every 5 minutes to adjust his ipod. I need something to keep me going, why can't i have the New England Patriots cheerleaders working out in front of me? I feel way out of place but press on at a slowish 7.30 pace, but feel guilty, like i am rubbing it in to all these casual workout people. I also wonder why i am the only one who is sweating during their workout, am i a freak? I used to do the elliptical machines, there would be someone in front of me on their cellphone for twenty minutes, why do these people even bother? You can't get a workout while yakking on a phone. I guess we all have our priorities. Back in the day, i would run in any weather, afterall, isn't that why they made goretex. Have i really gone that soft that i even thought about running on a treadmill? I did not care if it was snowing, pouring rain or even a thunder storm, I RAN OUTSIDE! I am becoming a wimp. We were talking tonite at the local watering hole and Turtle Prez Dave Principe put it best, it is a necessary evil. F that, if i am going to get back in shape, i have to run outdoors. For those of you who run treadmills, i give you all the credit in the world, but they are so boring to run on! Running in lousy conditions helps build an inner strength that you need for racing well. I can only hope that i get that feeling back again real soon. That is my rant, agree with it or not, don't matter to me :)

Speaking of treadmill running, we have my friend and teammate, Martin Tighe. Now we all know that Martin is somewhat of a freak when it comes to running, but how did he ever manage to run 85.83 miles on a treadmill in 12 hours? It is still the standing World Record even though there is one better time that hadn't been ratified yet. During the same run, he also set the current 50 mile WR of 6:06.19 and is 2nd for 100k in 7:39.31. We are talking about a treadmill run, that is sick!! Of course, this is a guy who would do treadmill runs in an ice cream cooler for hours at the local dairy in preparation for his North Pole Marathon attempt, which he won, of course. I don't doubt there is anything Martin can't accomplish. 

Three weeks from now, Martin will be running the UK 100k Championships in Galway, Ireland. Best of luck to you, Martin. I can see a top three performance happening.        

Mt Washington Lottery

Well, today is the first day to sign up for the Mt. Washington Road Race so i figured that it is a good a time as any. This morning at 8 am, i signed up for the lottery as a group leader, hoping that i get more of my Tuesday Night Turtle teammates to try and get in also. I know that Martin Tighe is in as he did the whole mountain series last year and we have a few runners who showed some interest in this endeavor. Personally, i have always wanted to do it, but something always got in the way (mostly injuries). It was always the same weekend as the Norwich Rose Arts Race in Connecticut, that was a favourite of mine. Hopefully i get in this year as i need a goal to help me get back into running shape and is there a better race to egg you on than this one. If i do not get in, i can always park my ass somewhere up on the mountain with my camera to get the pain on your faces as you approach the summit, but i would rather try to do it myself this year.

I always liked this photo on the cover of New Englang Running taken near the finish. Really wants to make you run the race, Don't ya think ;)

Kingman Farm Moonlight Snowshoe Race

I took the 2 hour drive up to the Kingman Farm Moonlight Snowshoe Race yesterday with teammate, Bob Jackman. I had decided not to run after running just 3 times since my lousy race at Sidehiller, due mainly to shooting a hockey tourney here in RI that took up 8 days of my time between taking photos and editing. I figured to take a few pictures and hang out with some of my NH freinds. Of course, it was also an opportunity to go to my favourite brewpub, Portsmouth Brewery, after the race. I found out two things about this race, it is tough to spectate at a night race and taking pictures is even harder. I only took a few shots that were ok, if not surreal with the little light you are afforded from just the headlamps on the runners. I tried using the flash for some, but really did not want to blind any of the runners out there.

After talking to Bob and Jim Johnson after the race, i found out they had run together for the first part of the race, putting some distance on the rest of the field. Then Bob's bad luck hit again, seems there was this guy walking his dog out near the course and this friendly pooch decided to knock Bob down by running into the back of his leg. So Bob falls and has his snowshoe partially knocked off and loses a few spots in that time. The ironic thing is that his entry fee check was made out to Cocheco Valley Humane Society , had the dog known this, maybe things would have turned out differently :) There is no truth to the rumor that DoubleJ payed off the dog owner to watch his back in the race. Now Jim has a huge lead and Steve Wolfe moved up to second and Bob finished in 5th place. It was real cool to watch the headlamp wearing runners weaving down the switchbacks near the finish in total darkness, just little specks of light through the trees. 

I was glad to hear Chris Dunn announcing that the series would be expanded next year so that you can score best 6 of 8 finishes which allows you to miss a race or two. I hope to make at least six of those races next year and if i can get my fitness level close to where it should be, i will do pretty good.  I look forward to it.

We hit the Portsmouth Brewery on the way home for a bite to eat and a 

couple beers. I had a 5c's IPA and a cask IPA, both very tasty for a beergeek like me. Of course, they aren't as good as my homebrewed Imperial IPA, but still damn good.

I though about going out to Amherst today to shoot some stuff at the GrandPrix, but the weather looked like it was going to suck. I will be at the next race in New Bedford. 

Smile at the camera when you come by.

  

Ekiden Relay, New York City 1989

On April 9th, 1989, i had the privilege of running in the Ekiden Relay in New York City. It was made up of 8 international and 50 state teams plus Washington, DC and New york City. The distance covered was the marathon, 42 kilometers in 5 legs, running the lower perimeter of Manhattan and finishing with a loop of Central Park. This was the second and last year that this race was held. Why i did not make the first years race i don't know, i was faster than 4 of the 5 runners that year, but so much for sour grapes, at least i was here this year.

Asics was footing most of the bill on this race and seemed to spare no expense. We had our whole trip payed for, airfare, hotels and meals. We flew down on Friday for the Sunday race, meeting at TF Green Airport in Warwick, it was a pretty talented group of us. The RI team consisted of Charlie Breagy, Mike Crawley, Mark Donahue, Dave Murphy and myself, plus alternate runner Mick O'Shea. Also on the plane with us were Irish team runners John Treacy and John Doherty. I felt more like i was on the Irish National Team than the RI team with Mick being a former Irish Olympian and Charlie being from over there too. Once we got down to New York and got settled, it was off to dinner and a stop at an irish pub for a few pints of Guinness. It's pretty cool to hang with a bunch of talented irish runners in an irish bar, i remember getting my balls busted for drinking my Guinness too fast. What do i know, i didn't grow up with the stuff.

Saturday, we ran Central Park. I did the whole loop i was to run the next day, but wasn't paying too much attention as i was running with Dave Murphy, who finished second at the NYC Marathon a few years before and was telling stories about that. We ran 10 miles and i was second guessing if that was a bit much for the day before our race, didn't matter, i was having a great time.

Sunday morning, we wandered over to Tavern On The Green where the relay was starting. My leg was going off last so there was time to kill. I was hanging around watching everyone warm up for the first leg of 5k and was just amazed at seeing Steve Scott doing strides. He has the longest, most graceful, effortless looking stride, just incredible. He was fastest on the first leg, blasting a 13.35 5k time. We started out with Charlie Breagy doing 14.43, running mid pack at 25th position, he handed off to Mark Donahue for the 10.8k leg which he ran 32.32 and moved us up to 14th place in the state team division. The international teams were running their own division, not that we had to worry about trying to compete with them. The third leg was a 9.3k leg that we had Dave Murphy doing, he ran 28.20 and moved us up into 11th place and was followed by Mike Crawley for 7.1k in 21.32 to put us into 10th position. It should be noted here that the second fastest state time for this leg was by Dave Dunham in 20.44 for Massachusetts. I took the handoff for the last leg, 10k around Central Park. I remember not feeling all that smooth out there, but being a relay, i was all alone for most of the run. As in any relay, you do not want to get caught from behind, but about 4 miles in, i hear people cheering for RI and then almost right away for Pennsylvania. I'm thinking, oh shit, Sydney Maree is running for them, nothing i can do except watch him blow on by. Sure enough, here he comes, there he goes, former world recold holder for 5k. Next from behind comes Paul Cummings, ex-olympian, on his way to a 29.24 followed by Pat Peterson, who ran 28.46. Now after all this, i think i must be running 6 min pace which i wasn't, my finishing time was 30.27, not a good race in my mind, but my teammates did not mind. We finished 14th in our division. The team from Ma. was in 4th place with DD, Dennis Simonaitis(who i knew from work at the Athletic Attic), Wally Collins, Paul Gorman and Tim Gannon. The Irish team finished first in their division with a come from behind win on the last leg, John Doherty ran 27.50 to pass Pat Porter( 28.20) for the win.

This was a fun race. It is too bad that it ended after only 2 years. The race was on tape delay replay by NBC on a Sunday afternoon. So it was a pretty big deal.



Click on the results pages to enlarge.

Sidehiller Adventure

I have been looking forward to running the Sidehiller since Feel Good Farm, thinking that my fitness level is starting to improve and i am getting a used to running in snowshoes. Oh well, wishful thinking.

Bob Jackman and myself hit the road at 7am for the three hour drive up to the race. I'm getting used to these long rides to the races, so it is not a big deal. We pulled into the lot about 10 to see a pretty good crowd already there. Sign in was quick and then it was off for a warm-up run. I was feeling quite good, which surprised me, considering the long ride. We ran a bit with some of the CMS heavy hitters, but turned back before them, i did not want to push it too far. So now i am feeling positve about the race. I lined up well towards the back of the pack. Paul Kirsch started the race by just saying GO, and we were off. The snow seemed real soft and could not get any grip at all, by the time i was half a mile in, i knew this would be a long day. It seemed like my feet were sinking and rolling, there wasn't any stability there which isn't good when you have a funky knee. Once i was across the road and into single track, it got worse. My knee was screaming at me, the smart thing would be to end the race here but i was going to finish this even if i had to powerwalk most of the way, which i did. I like running the downhills and even that hurt today. Not much more to say, i guess these things happen when you are coming back from a 2 year break due to injuries.

I must say that it was a good course and real cool how the locals shovel snow onto the road so you can cross without killing the cleats on you shoes. Not many people along the course, but the ones out there were very supportive which is greatly appreciated when you are having a bad day. Thanks to them all.

On the brighter side of things, at least Bob managed to split up the CMS winter train, getting 4th place. I hear that DoubleJ and Kevin Tilton had a good battle up front. CMS took 1,2,3,5,6 and 7th places for a real good showing.

Right now, i don't know if i will try anymore snowshoe races this year. I will probably be better off working on base mileage and looking forward to some late spring races. It is always frustrating trying to get back into shape and attempting a few races early on. What you have done in the past is always in the back of your mind and you can't figure out why you are not improving faster. People say you are not a young as you once were, i don't buy that excuse. There are plenty of real good 50 year old athletes out there and i will be one of them again, one of these days. Being patient with the comeback training is the hardest part.

You can read some race stories by some of the faster guys:

Steve Wolfe
Chris Dunn
Jim "DoubleJ" Johnson
Dave Dunham

Photos by Kristen Thanks for not taking my picture :)

Check out Bob looking for a BIG meal.

Actually, we hit Milly's Tavern in Manchester on the way home for some good food washed down with some excellant beers. We have been hitting a brewpub after every race, part of the fun of going to faraway races.