We went to Winnepasaukee the night before to test drive a boat and stayed at our favorite campground at Gunstock, knowing that they had plenty of sites and my quest for a cheap place to stay didn’t land me anything near Loon. It was a good night on the water and a great meal at Patricks in Guilford, NH.
We forgot our sleeping bag so we went to Wal-Mart and picked up a $20 Coleman bag that would get us through the night, as well as a little lantern and some other supplies too. The inflatable mattress didn’t make it but 2 hours, so every 2 hours through the night we woke up to inflate and try to get some more shut eye. Waking up on time, showering and out to check out and on our way to Loon, not knowing how long it would take and questioning the start time (I thought it was 9:30)…
The start was scheduled for 9 AM which left me no time to register and get warmed up to the start line, but turned out to be fine and no worries – – I was there for the start and milling my way to the front of the pack where I like to be. My starts are a little fast, but I like to keep track of the competition and see the girls as they pass me (if they do). Uphill – the terrain map showed this race as all uphill, so I was fore-warned… Mostly work roads swithing back and forth across the mountain, the uphill was steep and the downhill had some spots of craziness on the trail. Goal: stay injury free! 🙂
Well only one girl successfully passed me, her name was “Jenny” from Bethlehem (and a younger age grouper) and was nice when i finally caught up to her. I passed her a few times, but was pretty happy being in 2nd, hoping the others were far behind… but not knowing and thinking of the possibility of actually winning this thing was pretty motivating. I reached the gondola and was only 1 min behind her…. down a sharp hill and then up around the corner “Upper Walking Boss” was a black diamond trail and they wanted us to run it… It was a power hike. I didn’t look back, just was swinging my arms and power hiking as best I could to maybe catch Jenny – but not to stop. Keep going – keep looking up at the top… it took quite a while. At the top we flew over the top and really really fast downhill (where Jenny took off!) and I followed until the short steep uphill to the finish line. I made it! Second woman – I was really psyched! Uphill is my strength and I beat both girls from last week that beat me (2nd and 3rd from Cranmore). I felt great – congratulated everyone and drank a ton of water watching others finish. It was great! These people are all very nice and a lot are repeats each weekend, including Kathy from Fitzwilliam (who I got to know at Northfield) and Kat from Franconia…
Here is the course description:
Course Description
The course starts at a dirt parking area along the Pemigewasset River and winds its way through the road/parking area to the service trails heading up Loon Mountain. It follows a combination of dirt trail/service roads and ski trails to the Summit Lodge at the top of the Gondola, then works its way over and up North Peak and back over to the top of the Gondola. This is an ascent-only race. The race averages approximately a 10% grade with some sections of more than 20%.
My rank for the series should have me in first – still waiting for that post, but the Loon results are out.
From Cool Running
I was 34 out of 170 finishers
Time: 65:15
2nd overall woman
1st master woman
I won a pair of Inov-8 mountain running shoes, Hammer Gel and a Fuel belt.
I am a happy girl!
