Double-D running blog: Wachusett Mountain Race

Next up was the Wachusett Mountain race. This would be my 26^th time racing up Wachusett over a variety of courses. Since 2013 the course has remained the same and since 2015 we’ve had the option to stop at the summit (2.9 miles) or continue on for the descent (6.3 miles). I’ve taken both options. This year my plan was to run the full up/down as the down isn’t super steep with 1,000 feet of drop over the 3.4 miles. About 1.4 miles of that is on paved road and the other 2 miles is on dirt road (fairly rough dirt road but still not as bad as single-track trail). My goal was to get through this without getting hurt. Secondary goal was to run as close as possible to my times from last year (23:52 climb and 45:05 full loop). I got to the race early and had time to say hello to many “mountain friends”. Since I rarely do any mountain racing anymore it is nice on those rare occasions to see old friends. I headed out for a flat 3 mile warm-up choosing to change up from the last few years of running on the last 1.5 of the course. I needed to stay on the flatter ground as much as possible. After that I changed into race flats and did another mile to the start line. It was great to see teammates Tim Van Orden, Erik Vandendries, and Steve Brightman toeing the line.

A record 418 runners shot off the line up the aptly named “Mile Hill” road. I had trouble getting rolling and felt like the entire field had gone by me. By the time we passed the ski area parking lot I was around 50^th place. That is also about the time that the climb really starts to kick in and people start to realize they are in for a long day. No one passed me from ½ mile to the summit. My splits were pretty close to last year as I moved past the second place woman and reeled in other quick starters. I held my place on the downhill into the state park and began moving up again as the grade increased after 2 miles. I could see TiVo up ahead and was trying to keep him in sight. I caught the lead woman at the final turn to the summit and caught another guy as we worked up the final steep pitch. I was a bit disappointed with the 24:20 split at the top. That put me 28 seconds behind last year (which looking at my times in other races so far this year really isn’t that far off where I should be). Within a ¼ mile of the descent a couple of people went by, including the top woman who said “I hate descents” as she flew by. I caught TiVo and Erik V about ½ mile into the descent. I think I was as surprised as they were. Erik was having a quad issue but whatever it was he worked it out and was soon gone. Tim was only a little ahead of me until we hit the dirt road and then he was just gone. I worked it as hard as I could and in all 7 people went by me during the descent with 3 going by in the last ½ mile. I was being cautious but also felt like I couldn’t go any faster. I was a bit surprised to finish in 26^th in 45:22, which meant I ran the downhill 10 seconds FASTER than last year. That was indeed a surprise. Erik V set a new course record for the 60+ ascent and I ran the 5^th fastest time for 60+. Old timer (and former CMS runner) Eric Blake took the overall win in the ascent with a 40+ CR of 19:33. It looks like he is ready for Mt Washington!

Climb results

Pl Time Name Sx Age City, State Running Club

1 19:33.9 Eric Blake M 46 West Hartford, CT Tracksmith Boston Hares

2 21:00.5 Matt Rabasco M 28 Worcester, MA Old Goat Track Club

3 21:31.7 Jacob Wormald M 29 Manchester, NH Gate City Striders

7 22:30.9 Erik Vandendries M 60 Chestnut Hill, MA CMS

8 22:36.6 Steve Brightman M 56 Providence, RI CMS

20 24:03.5 Mark Swistak M 48 West Brookfield, MA CMS

21 24:03.6 Tim Van Orden M 57 Bennington, VT CMS

25 24:20.5 Dave Dunham M 61 Haverhill, MA CMS

40 26:00.9 Richard Larsen M 73 Shelburne Falls, MA Smac

71 28:31.7 Sean Radcliffe M 65 Temple, NH Monadnock Regional Milers