49th Annual Mt. Washington Road Race
I'm not sure I'll have time tonight to post much about today's race but I thought I would still post a few pictures. This was my first Mt. Washington Road Race and it was much more difficult than I expected. I stupidly dropped my camera at one point and lost more than a minute and had been running ahead of pace up to that point. I ran 1:29:06 and our GCS Seniors team finished 1st out of 12 teams. Cathy finished just behind me in 1:29:22 (2nd NH woman) but I caught her early at the two mile mark where she started walking and told me she was "dropping out" and was going to walk back to the car at the bottom. I told her she should at least walk up to the summit. About 10 minutes later I realized I had the car key so it would be a long wait until I arrived back from the summit after the race if she decided to head back down. Then, not more than 200 meters from the finish I heard someone yell her name and looked back and there she was furiously closing in on me like a scene out of 1968 thriller Night of the Living Dead. Here you can see her trying to sneak up behind me (she's wearing the white cap/red singlet) as I casually check my watch, not knowing I was being stalked. http://www.scottmasonphoto.com/gallery/8630550_UdQTV#569391878_GvmMx-M-LBThe auto road was enveloped in fog for most of the early parts of the race and it was difficult seeing more than 100 meters ahead but as we approached the summit the view was breathtaking with sunny skies and what meteorologists call "undercast" meaning the top of the cloud cover was below the summit. According to the race officials this view was rare and akin to the view from an airplane with 130 mile visibility in all directions and a floor of clouds. Temperatures were 55F with just 5.9MPH winds from the southeast. The top picture was taken by fellow Strider Brian Sanborn whose wife Genia was also running. The second picture above is a shot of the Mt. Washington summit from the center of North Conway at about 6:30 A.M. as we drove to race. The third shot is (I think) a shot of nearby the Mt. Adams summit peaking through the clouds. More later including other Strider results.
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