Horse Hill Farm 7K

Another weekend, another race. Thank god it's only 1 race this weekend. I think my body rejected me last week after running 2 races. I was so beat up last week that by Friday I needed to see a doctor about some issues I experienced on Wednesday and Thursday. All seems OK now but of course there are follow on visits later this week. I guess they have to spread my money around the medical field so all the doctors can pay off their BMW's.

Goals for this race:

1. Don't walk.

2. Try not to fall down.

3. Advance in the GSSS standings.

4. Win my age category.

OK on to RACING!!

On Saturday morning I was heading up to Merrimack, NH for the 5th race in the GSSS. This race was layed out by Steve Wolfe on what is, his home turf. So I was expecting another experience like the layout of Cobble Mtn where he and Chris Dunn laid out the course and it was so tough that Steve didn't even show up to the race (just kidding, Steve was very sick and unable to toe the line). I showed up as usual 2 hours before the start and the race director Mike A. was napping in his car waiting for volunteers and racers to show up. I spoke with him for a few minutes and he explained to me that the course was basically bullet proof. Last weekend we dealt with a light packed snow at Sidehillers and then soft wet mash potato's at Frosty's. Today we could uses skates. I guess you have to be ready for anything at these SS races and there is no use in complaining because you can't change anything, and everybody has to do the same course. I always think it's funny when people ask the distance of a snowshoe race. Of course the race director is going to give as close to an accurate answer as possible but due to about 1000's variables a course will run differently on consecutive days. In fact it will run differently at noon as it ran from 7 am on the same day. And guess what, everyone is suppose to run the same course so it really doesn't matter much.

Anyway, Steve Wolfe soon showed up and we decided to take a quick view of the first 2K of the race and Steve needed to redo some of the course markings so Jim Johnson wouldn't get hopelessly lost. As Steve and I headed out in just our trainers we experienced exactly how hard the snow was. I was like being on an ice rink. I had no traction at all and was worried that I might fall even before the race started. We headed out on the main trail and soon hooked up with John Skewes who was testing out his brand spanking new Dion SS's, he had traction!! This was good to see. After a couple hundred yards we took a left off the main trail and then headed UP. I was really struggling to get any good footing. When we reached the top of the hill we ran down a series of switch backs where the 1K and 6K mark would be chalked onto the ground. I made sure I took note of this because here's where I wanted to start pushing it hard to the finish. We continued to run out to the 2K mark and chalked other critical junctions in the course. Soon we were back to the starting area where the lot was now full and buzzing with racers. Dungeon Rock was once again quite noticeable in their bright orange singlets. After greeting all the usual racers, Chris Dunn, Ted and Liz Hall, Bill Morse, Dan Cooper, Jay Myers, and Patrick Smith, oh I almost forgot, Jim "I don't do 2nd place" Johnson! Jim was whining about not feeling well and that he even skipped a day of running over the week. Was Jim ripe for the picking? Nobody was buying it, we all knew that when the gun was fired Jim would soon be ahead of the bullet.

It was now time for the race. We were all lined up and Mike was giving us final instructions when a car came hot wheeling into the parking lot. It was Ri, Ri was late as always, only this time he was really cutting it close. He quickly signed in with a couple of friends and took his position up front. In a few moments we were off. This was a fast start, and I had smartly changed my cleats from the deep cleats that I need last weekend for the mush to my ice cleats for today's hard pack. As always Jim was off like a shot and before we even hit the first turn he was out of sight. I don't know how he does it but I bet he will do really well in Boston this year. Steve W, and Chris D followed with Mike Wade in fourth. After that, 4 of us started working together. Or should I say 3 of us sucked off of poor Jay Myers. Jay was up front with myself, Patrick Smith and Ri in toe. I thought we were running pretty fast when all of a sudden at about the 1.5K mark, Dan Cooper comes flying by me. I wish him good luck, but I'm thinking to myself, WHAT THE F is he doing? Dan's burst however was short lived and we soon sucked him back up under the power line section of the course. As our foursome made it's way around the course we switched positions every now and then but mainly let Jay lead the way. When we hit one of the major hills I was out of gas and started walking ARRRRGGH!!! At that point Patrick passed me and was now on Jay's tail. Ri was now chasing me down. Ri is a very strong runner, or should I say Ri is just plain STRONG. If you read some of his stories about the races he did last year you would just shake your head and say, "I'd never do anything like that". Anyway, soon Ri passed me and I was now on the back of the train. I decided to just rest and wait until I could use my road speed to attack. At around the 5K mark I noticed that Jay was starting to slow down and Ri and Patrick had passed him. I decide it was also my turn. Jay, you see is only 5 points behind me in the GSSS standings and every spot I give up to him would hurt my goal of finishing in 3rd place like I did last year. I managed to pass Jay just before the last climb back up through the switch backs that we started off on. I knew that I could put some distance on him if I let it rip coming down the back side of the hill. So I let the "Big Dogs Run" and flew down the steep hill. At the bottom of the hill was a stream that you needed to jump and take a left hand turn. Well I made the jump with out any trouble but had forgotten about the left turn. I shot into the woods and realized my mistake as I was doing somersaults through the trees. I popped up quickly and got back on the trail for the last .5K. I could see Patrick up ahead of me and I could hear Jay behind me. I though about trying to chase down Patrick for about .0001 of a second and realized there was no way that was going to happen. But now Jay was gaining on me. The good news was the traction was good and I just kept trying to lift my knees and driving to the finish. Once again I was lucky and just nipped Jay by 4 seconds.

Now you might think that I'd be all smiles after the race but Steve Wolfe snapped a photo showing my true feelings. I was in some pain and look at Jay in the tan shirt, HE'S SMILING!!! Something is just plan wrong here.

So, how did I do against my goals?

1. Don't walk. NOPE, I think I walked 2 or 3 times.

2. Try not to fall down. NOPE, I took a great header after jumping the stream

3. Advance in the GSSS standings. Barely, I'm now in 3rd place, but only by a point.

4. Win my age category. Yup, but Jim Hansen was only 21 seconds behind me.

So now the GSSS standings look like this:

1. Jim Johnson 390

2. Ri Fahnestock 346

3. Scott Graham 328

4. Ted Hall 327

5. Jay Myers 322

So nobody is going to catch Double J. (There's a big surprise). We might be able to get Ri if he is late enough to the last race (this is a real possibility). So it will come down to the last race for 3rd place. Ted, Jay and myself are all on Acidotic Racing but we all want this and it should make for some interesting racing at Kingman Farm 5K. You see, Kingman Farm 5K is being held at night and all racers have to wear a head lamp so you really won't have any idea who is behind you and will be running scared the whole race. This is going to be fun!!!