Pack Monadnock -- Sun. June 6

Up at 5 a.m. and away by 5:45, heading to Wilton, New Hampshire. Rains on and off as I go; stop for coffee in Orange, then plug on, route pretty straightforward fortunately. Arrive in town before 8, go to high school and register (still Tshirts left, so I now have a "Got Hills?" shirt). Then drive (following several others) up the 9 miles or so to the ski parking lot near the top and park. Change somewhat in car, then pack bag and wait in rain for shuttle back to start. Ride with 3-4 other guys in a nice (leather-seated, GMC?) SUV quite fast (!) down hill back to school and do final prep--eat a banana, queue for loo (always too few!!!), run a bit and stretch a bit, then stow bag in UHaul truck and jog off to start with everyone else. Rain seems to intensify, and several early arrivers shelter in barn/garage or under tree. Fortunately, the start is not delayed, and we're off!

First mile had seemed pretty steep when I drove up it earlier, but not so bad to run. Game plan was to be cautious to the end of mile 6, as there's a bad climb at 5.5 according to route map. The hill is quarter over at 4 miles, half over at 8, and then the second half (900 feet) is concentrated in the last mile, so need energy at end just to finish, I figure.

In fact the first several miles were almost pleasant--somehow there were decent interludes of downhill or easy, so the ups didn't feel bad. It really is rolling despite the overall climb. My splits kind of show the variety:

7:48, 6:52, 6:56, 7:39;
6:51, 7:28, 6:55, 7:53;

This is all on minor roads or dirt roads, very pleasant, especially as the rain started to fade. Bad attack of nipple soreness, and eventually took shirt off as it was just getting heavier. Had to carry it with me (some people at water stops offered to bring it to end for me) as it had my number on it. Next time I run in rain, must put number on shorts! Water and gatorade stops were, btw, very good, and I carried a goo-pack with me just in case too (didn't end up eating it till after enfin).

Then with eight miles almost done the trail comes out onto the main road, up past where we'd parked cars; this seemed steeper, but I was getting a second wind and started to knock people off one by one, then turned in to the final auto road and braced for the last mile, which turned out to be just impossible:

7:32, 12:34 (sic. And sick).

I power-walked twice, maybe three times, during that ascent, all the while trying to keep specific people targets in reach. I did manage to knock off several more, even one or two who didn't walk (so: it *does* help, in limited doses). in the last half mile we were being cheered on by chaps who'd already finished, and they pointed out the last stretch ahead in the mist. I managed a final burst when I saw the end and got two more places, but an old guy who was helping officiate told me I'd jumped a place in the chute. Meh. I think he wasn't watching, 'cos most people were staggering not sprinting at the point, but one place won't make any difference. I was pretty sure I'd made it into the top 100, which would be top third for a 300 entry race -- given the clientele (dedicated hill-climbers) and the weather (only the very dedicated show up on days with 90% rain forecast for the duration of the race), that would have been plenty fine.

In the end I did considerably better: placed 43 out of 350+, so almost into the top 10%. Official stats (which list me as 26!!):

Time: 1:18:32
Distance: 10 miles
Pace: 7:52s

Comment: this was an AWESOME race, and I'm very glad I was able to get to it. To train for it I need to run up Jabish *towing weights,* but it's worth it. After the race I jogged down to the bag van, about a mile, and felt great -- then back to car, which was handily right next to the food tent. Changed shirt and went to sample eats -- found out I was the fIrSt person there (haha. ..oops). Lasagna, pudding, just good -- then I was off. The only person I knew even vaguely at the race was Rich C., and he was nowhere in sight, so no desire to hang about. Long drive home and then sleep and a shower.