Pics from Jay Marathon (Ultimate XC Vermont Edition)

I took a bunch of pics along with my wife plus I've included some great pics from a couple other runners (Julie and Ron). They're listed in chronological order (hopefully).

Here's a link to the pics as well --> Jay pics

Jay Marathon was totally INSANE!

I finished!

I posted a race report (sort of) and a bunch of pics on another blog. You can read about it HERE.

This video was posted today on the Jay Marathon website . It captures the 2nd half of the race, including the beaver swamp and waterfalls....and the lucky finisher even gets a surprise at the finish.

The results are listed here -->Marathon Results

Jay Marathon in 2 Weeks

The Jay "Marathon" is 2 weeks from today. Not sure why they call it a marathon since it is 33+ miles (53k for our metric friends). Calling it 'only' a marathon doesn't give this race the respect it deserves. I actually read a quote yesterday from the RD that said this was one of the hardest trail races in the WORLD! Now that's a bold statement. Maybe he could have mentioned that BEFORE I signed up :-)

It sounded like a good idea when I signed up for it earlier in the year. 2008 was to be my comeback year (having been out with injuries for most of 2007). I was also venturing into the dark side...you know, trail racing. Now I'm having my doubts about this race. The more I hear and read about it the more I think I'm in way over my head and most likely under-trained.
I'm desperately looking for a strategy that won't end in failure. The easy way (and I hear it all the time) is to say "I'm just going to have fun" or "I'm not going to race" or "I'm just going to take it easy". Probably all good advice but it's still a race and I just don't think I could take it easy. I'm sure the terrain is going to dictate what and how I do but I want to have fun AND push myself. The problem is I don't know how to do this on a race that most likely take more than 7hrs to complete.

Based on what I know about the course, this race is more of a very long technical hike then a running event, with monster hills, bogs, mud, sand and lots of water. Even the overall winner last year didn't break 10min mile pace. I haven't done an event (run, bike, hike or otherwise) that has lasted more than 2 1/2hrs for a very long time. Even with that I still feel I have decent endurance and can go slow and long....even really long.

I need to make sure I can control the blisters though. The longer the event the more likelihood I'll get blisters. I have yet to find a way to avoid them. This will be especially tough due to all the water. I had planned on using Moleskin on the known places but I wasn't sure how it would do with all the water. I just picked up a new product very similar to Moleskin but designed for wet conditions. I hope to test it out before Jay.

Deep breath...

Soapstone Mountain 24k Trail Race

I headed down to Stafford, CT this weekend to run the Soapstone Mountain 14.5m trail race. This would be my longest run all year (actually, it would be my longest run since 2006). It would also be my 3rd weekend in a row doing races over 12m (Seven Sisters, Big Lake and now Soapstone).
I knew little about the course except there was a monster climb early in the race but overall a fairly runnable race (unlike Seven Sisters).
Beautiful weather for a trail race. Sunny with a nice breeze with temps probably in the low 60's. Registration was busy but I wasn't entirely sure how many were doing the long race. There was also a 4 mile 'sampler' trail race that started right after the 14.5m race. Although I didn't see anyone I actually knew (probably not many New Hampshire runners down here in Connecticut), I did see quite a few familiar faces from previous races. I took a spot near the front, trying to size up the various runners and their abilities.
The 1st mile runs along a mostly flat dirt road before turning sharply onto a more 'traditional' hiking trail. From there it starts a slow accent towards Soapstone Mountain (I think). I was in a fairly large pack but we had a good pace going. After crossing our first road the trail makes another sharp right and WHAM, what a view! I near vertical 1/4 to 1/2 mile climb straight up a slope. I wish I had a camera though. What a picture, a stream of runners climbing single file up this monster. I think we could see the entire field in front of us all on the same trail.
Once at the top we ran by the observation tower of Soapstone Mt (again...I think) and then headed down steeply but not as steep as the accent. It was then a roller coaster trail of ups and downs through the woods, but nice enough to run at a fairly decent pace. At the 3.6m mark we came to the first (or was that the second) checkpoint, grabbed some water and continued on. At times the course was hard to follow. We were instructed to follow the White Dot trail unless we saw pink ribbons hanging from the branches. The ribbons were an indication of a change in direction. Although the White Dot trail was generally well marked, there were lots of side trails, openings, etc.. that sometimes got you a little confused as to which way to go. More than once I had to backtrack because I missed a turn (usually marked with the ribbons).
Around the 5 mile point I found myself running with a group of 6-8 runners, including the race director. She was very helpful, letting the rest of us know which way the trail went when it was not so apparent. At one point we came across a pink ribbon, turned and followed the ribbons through the woods. It was a total bushwhack, no trail, just ribbons. Interesting, I thought, nice change of pace. We continued on switchbacking back and forth following the ribbons and eventually hooked back up with the main White Dot trail. I took a Stinger Gold gel (honey, actually), felt an instant energy boost and decided to take the lead in our little chase pack. Then a strange thing happened: I started passing people I either passed previously OR started behind me at the start. I immediately assumed they must of cut the corner and skipped the bushwhack section. It never occurred to me that maybe WE made a mistake, especially since our group had the RD with us. Either we lost or they gained a bunch of time and I was not happy. Runners should NEVER get lost on a course. No excuse. The race course must be clearly marked and never should a mistake gain you an advantage. For the next 8 miles I managed to stay ahead of my group (thankfully) and continued to pick off additional runners...runners for the most part I'd already passed once today.
This course had a little of everything though and was not lacking in the mud department. There was some serious mud in sections and most was hard to avoid. It also followed a mountain stream bed down one section of a mountain. When I say followed, I mean the stream bed WAS the trail, and it wasn't dry. Amazingly I managed to get through it without a slip or fall.
I reached the last checkpoint (mile 11.6) around 1:30 into the race. "2.9 miles to go" yelled the volunteer. I was exhausted by this point and I could feel the blisters forming on my wet feet. The trail turned mostly to a single track by this point. I passed a few more runners and then the trail looped back on itself so you could see the runners coming up the hill as you were going down. I saw the group I ran with earlier...but I couldn't tell if they were catching me.
I think we came up over Soapstone Mountain again, at least it looked familiar. We descended steeply and eventually joined up with a paved road and followed it for a 1/2 mile or so, eventually joining up with a dirt road again. I think we ran on part of this at the beginning of the race. The race then left the dirt road, and followed a single track nearly all the way back to the finish line, crossing a short pasture and then finishing at some out buildings of the riding club (same place we registered at).

FINISH TIME: 2:07:23, 21st overall out of 149 finishers

After finishing and grabbing a bit to eat (nice picnic feast!) I chatted with some fellow runners and the RD (there were two actually). Turns out WE took the wrong trail with the bushwhack side track. The RD figures we probably lost 5-7 minutes with our adventure. Not sure how the RD can get lost on her own course but I don't think it was her fault. Someone clearly marked a trail, using the same color ribbons as the actual course. Thankfully it brought us back to the original trail. I heard some other runners say they went nearly 3 miles off track somewhere out there. I think I also heard the eventual winner was fooled by this bushwhack trail as well. I wasn't really mad about it though. I had a great time. This was an awesome race, a beautiful course and my favorite trail race so far. It was definitely worth the trip down from New Hampshire.

Xterra Merrimack River 10M Trail Race

When I got up Saturday morning it was pouring rain and I told myself I wouldn't race in the rain (any excuse to give me a way out since my legs were still tired). A couple checks of the weather though indicated the rain would most likely clear up by race time so I headed on down to Andover.
The race is an out and back 10m race along the Merrimack River. The trail follows the river pretty closely for the first 2-3 miles and is relatively flat. I couple of water crossings (ankle deep stuff) and a little mud but generally decent single track trails. I hit the 3 mile mark at 20 minutes even. The next 2 miles were considerably harder with several water crossings (one which was nearly knee deep for about 20-30 ft), lots of mud and roots and some pretty steep up and down crossings of ravines where brooks and streams feed into the Merrimack. We also climbed a pretty steep section at the power lines which had you sucking for oxygen by the time you got to the top. At the 5 mile mark I snagged a cup of water and made a u-turn and returned on the same trail, trying to avoid the slower runners still coming out. On single track, this isn't always that easy (but it was fun). More than a few runners took some spills. The mud was slick, the hills were slick from the rain and the bridges felt like they were iced over at times. I was able to navigate all the hard stuff but couldn't figure out how to get through a mud puddle without hurting myself. At mile 7 I was running through one of the muddy, wet sections when I stepped on a board and rolled my right ankle all the way over (and yes, this is the same ankle I've been having problems with). I kept on running (with a slight limp) but my ankle was really sore. I managed to complete the last 3 miles in about 20:30 and finished with an overall time of 1:13:49, 28th overall out of 183. It was a good effort and I felt pleased with my results. I ran the 5 mile out and 5 mile back in nearly the same times (+/- 30 sec or so).
Video of the Start

I kept thinking if this was an easy one the other ones must really suck! You definitely have to be sure footed when it comes to trail running, taking much more mental effort than road racing. I was constantly looking where the next step would be, all while running nearly as fast you can go. Overall, it was a good time and look forward to the next trail race. Race summary reports can be found at the Xterra site and on Coolrunning. Time to ice my foot...

Mine Falls Park Ice Out

I've been running in Mine Falls for several weeks now. Mostly I've been running the 5 mile trail race course used by GCS during the summer trail series. Each time I go out the trails get a little better. A few weeks back I'd say about 80% was either pure ice or at least snow covered. Now it's down to about 10-20% ice and snow covered, a very doable trail run. I brought my camera along this time and stopped a few times to take some pics.

Gate House entrance to Mine Falls.


Main trail along the canal on Mill Pond coming in from Stello's Stadium. Most of the trail from the Gate House down to the 1st canal bridge is still snow covered.


Single track just east of RT3 which runs along the fence, down to the Nashua River. The river trail was in decent shape and most is easily runnable. The snow is gone in most spots with just a couple areas of snow which can easily be avoided.


River trail along the Nashua River on the north side of the park. One of the few areas along the river trail that is still snow covered.


Looking east from the Wipple St bridge. Trail appears to be clear although I haven't run the entire loop yet.

Events in March/April

Ok, so I want to be a trail runner but....
My all time favorite race distance is the 1/2 marathon. So with that in mind my planned race schedule for the next few weeks is as follows:

April 6th - Great Bay 1/2 Marathon Newmarket, NH. This will be my 1st time running this one. Looks like a decent course but I may ask some friends who ran it last year to comment on it.
April 12th - Xterra Merrimack River 10 mile Trail Race - Andover, MA. Haven't decided on this one yet, I have another race scheduled for the following day. I don't think I want back to back race days so I need to decide on one.
April 13th - Nashua Soup Kitchen 10k - Nashua NH. This race is a club race, part of the New Hampshire Grand Prix series.
April 20th - Xterra Muddy Moose Xduro 14 mile Trail Race - Wolfeboro, NH.