Ridge to River Half Marathon

Newry, Maine

Sunday, September 13, 2020

Woke up to a chilly 38° in a tent 45 miles away in Gorham, NH.  We packed up camp and while the tent was dry overall, the fly and tarp were wet with dew and my wet fingers were just so cold packing things up.  First stop was DD for a breakfast sandwich, and while I really wanted a hot coffee, that likely wouldn't sit well with me for the run, so orange juice it was.

Moose Brook State Park, Gorham, NH

Arrived a good hour early for the run.  There were three events:  marathon (already started at 8am), half-marathon (which I'm running, starting at 10am), and 10K (11am start).  There were 200 entrants in total across all events.  The bibs, pins, "medal", and a few goody items were available in a most-unusual manner, even for COVID.  They were all inside a paper bag, hung outdoors clothesline style.

Not long after getting "checked in", Matthew arrived with his UNH teammate Sam.  Brady recognized Matthew from a distance right away and was very excited, so I took him off leash and he sprinted to see Matthew.  We met Sam and normally I'd just extend my hand and introduce myself, but the whole COVID thing throws a weird awkwardness around introductions.

South Ridge Lodge,
Sunday River, just after arriving

Me, Matthew, Sam
in weird COVID times

I went for a solo warm-up.  Anywhere you go involves hills.  In fact, the only other time I've run here at Sunday River ski resort was in March 2015 with Matthew after a day of skiing, and the title of my Strava post that day was "Very Hilly Run w/Matthew on Dead Legs".  That was 5 miles and 760' of elevation gain (albeit after day of skiing); today would 13.1 miles and 3,700' of gain.  Just took it slow on my warm-up and checked out the first 1/2 mile or so of the course.  That was enough.

Previous visit to Sunday River:
March 2015, Mark and Matthew on right,
my cousin David and his son on left

Race start:  We lined up in now familiar staggered starts of 10 per wave.  One other older guy came up to me and remarked something to the effect that I looked older than most in the first wave.  Thanks a lot!  It was certainly true, though.  We'll see if I belonged in the first wave or not...

The starter announced that one we were at our starting points, we wouldn't need our masks for the remainder of the race.  Whew!  I had experimented with a buff as pre-race e-mail instructions indicated you might want to bring something that you could pull down over your mouth and nose if you encountered other runners and the buff I had was itchier than I wanted.

The gun went off, and up we went.  It was actually a fairly short climb and then it leveled off before going back downhill.  Matthew had taken the lead and I was a way behind his teammate Sam, but I could hear several runners just behind me.

At the start (in blue singlet on right)

And the 1st wave is off ..

Climb 1 (of 2):  One mile in, we started the longest and steepest climb, a nearly two-mile single-track climb up White Cap Mountain, gaining 1,700' with an average grade of 19%.  I was able to run most of the lower and upper thirds, but the middle section was just too steep for me to run uphill over rocks and roots.  My uphill climbing skills are subpar, and sure enough, the two youngsters behind caught right up.  For pretty much the entirety of the 2-mile climb, a 16-year old runner was literally right on my shoulders.  If I slowed to a power hike, he hiked.  If I picked up the running on a less steep section, he did as well.  I was going to tell him to let me know when he wanted to pass, but I didn't hog the trail in several spots where it widened and he could have easily passed, so I just let it go.

Near the top of the ascent, the grade lessened dramatically and we emerged onto rock above treeline.  This was very runnable and I was able to pick up the pace even.  I thought for sure both of the two youngsters would just blow by me now, but in fact, the opposite happened!  I was able to open just a little bit of distance on them for the first time since the start of the race.  I'm theorizing that the steeper and tougher the climb, the worse I am relative to others.  I think my past slow results on Loon Mountain's "Upper Walking Boss" bear that out.

Stock photo from the race website.
This view is the above-treeline section headed to Barker Mountain that we
ran after the 1st tough ascent.
It really looked this awesome as we ran here.

On White Cap Mountain
(Official race photo)

On traverse to Barker Mountain

Quickly reached the summit of Barker Mountain, and now it was time to cash in on the downhill!  An 800' decline awaited us over the next three miles.  Much of the descent was on ski slopes, but after goin through the "Spider" aid station and getting a drink, the final mile before the next climb was a really fun "Mahoosuc Single-track".

Climb 2 (of 2):  Well, I knew this was coming along, and although I seemed to put more distance on the two youngsters, I was dreading them catching me again.  The next (and final) lengthy climb was slightly less elevation gain at 1,500' this time and with a friendlier average incline of 13%.  This was entirely on service roads along a ski trail "Lollapalooza" climbing up to the Jordan Peak and Oz summits.  Except for a few short steep sections of skree, I ran pretty much this entire climb.  I was tempted to hike more of it, but fortunately was also scared of getting caught again, and with wide expansive views, when I took a look back down the trail on turns, I could see the two young guys coming.  It looked like they had traded positions, and they weren't right on me, but still this was no time to let my guard down.

Making my way up Jordan Peak

At long last we reached the top of the climb.  It was at the summit of a ski lift, and there were a couple of people spectating and cheering there, which was nice.  They said it was all downhill from here.  Well, not exactly, but that sure sounds good.  We were at Mile 7.5 for reference, and to be fair the next six miles were mostly downhill.

We descended for about a mile, before slightly turning uphill and onto some oddly soft moss terrain.  We had about 1/2 mile of single-track that was fairly flat and pretty cool, before being dumped out descending on ski trails again.  We then dropped 1,200' in 2 miles, crossing through the Spider aid station for the second time and washing down my final Gu. 

Getting close to the base of the mountain now and at just over 11 miles, I'm thinking that at least on GPS, this course will be less than 13.1 miles.  I have no problems with that at all!  I am tired and ready to be done.  All of a sudden the course turns uphill and away from the base.  NO!  A 150' climb awaits us, which while obviously nothing like the climbs we just put in, is tiring just the same.  Finally, a sharp right turn onto a wide ski trail and we're once again heading towards the base.  At the trail turn, I glance back and see no one behind me.  Whew.  Hopefully I can hold on now.  We drop another 500' over the next mile and we drop out within sight of the finish.  Except ... in a cruel twist of seeing the finish line, we're send back up another ski slope.  Only a 100' climb this time, but I am done.  Finally, I cruise through the finish line, spent.

Tired, but still upright.
No falls today.

Who is first one to come over and congratulate me?  Why, it's Brady, of course!  

When the next person after me came through,
the RD announced, "Congratulations.  You get a hug
from that dog right over there!"  [Brady]

Final results:  2:05:19, 3rd out of 54 overall.  Full results here.

3rd place?!  Pretty good, eh?  Well, it was a distant third in a small field, and a full 12 minutes behind that second guy place:

At least I did end up putting a fair amount of time on the youngsters that were chasing me.

This was really a great race on a beautiful day in the mountains of Maine.  The RD did an awesome job in my book and had great pre and post communications, something more RDs could take a cue from.  It's a decent haul from Westerly, but I would certainly consider it again.

2nd, 3rd, and 1st place 
(and a happy canine)

Neat "medal"

Considering COVID restrictions, not a bad spread at all!