Sunapee Scramble

Newbury, NH

Sunday, June 1, 2025

(I'm one month and four races behind in the blog, so these next few posts will be more of abbreviated recaps.)

My first time running this race.  This year it was also the USATF national mountain running championship.  There is just not much infrastructure around here, so to avoid paying $300-$400 for lodging, we stayed the night before at a Best Western in Springfield, Vermont, about a 40-minute drive from the race site.  With a 9am start time, this gave me enough time to get "free" breakfast at the hotel before leaving.  Oatmeal and OJ would work well as kind of my go-to pre-race breakfast.

Arrived at Sunapee Ski Area with plenty of time to check in, use the real bathrooms, and go for a warm up run with Brady.  People who signed up early got a shirt and people who signed up late like me got a kind of cheap foam and mesh cap.  Not complaining.  I signed up less than two weeks before the race and didn't really expect any give-away.  Picked up my two bibs.  Why two?

Regular race bib for the front.

And USATF age-group bib to be worn on
your back.

Got in a decent warm-up of about 1.5 miles with Brady.  Tried to stay away from the hills / mountains, as I would be getting in plenty of that soon enough.  Temps would be favorable today, with just 46℉ at race start.  However, as it pretty much poured all day yesterday, mud would the feature of the day.  Back to the car to strip down to race gear, one final visit to the inside bathrooms, and ready to go.

Race course:  we would run the inner loop first,
and then the longer outer loop, both in a CW direction.

Very few flat parts on the course today!

Race start and loop 1:  I lined up quite a few rows back, especially given the elite runners from around the country in the field.  A very punctual start at 9am sharp.  Should be the goal of every race.  We start pretty much right away going up a muddy ski slope.  It's hard to get any traction going uphill on mud, so most of us are running on the edges of the mud, where there is at least a little bit of grass to grip onto.

Initial ascent up muddy ski slope.  The fast runners are way ahead of us.
(I'm in blue singlet and blue cap, just ahead of guy in yellow cap)

After a 500' climb on the muddy ski slope for about half a mile, we exit onto a dirt service road for the rest of the way to the summit.  We then start downhill on another ski slope, before hitting the single-track glades section.  This section is really muddy, before exiting onto another ski slope for the rest of the run down to the base.  The ski slope itself has some crazy sections calf-deep in mud!

Single-track through the glades section

I can only assume that my weird pose keeping my arms outstretched
is to give me some sense of balance through a tough muddy section

This pic and the next one will give you a sense of
the downhill calf-deep mud sections just after the glades

It was fun running through this, but I do remember
feeling like I might go down in the slippery mud (I didn't)

Finishing up Lap 1.
Time to go back up the mountain again.

Loop 2:  As I start the second climb up the mountain, I notice a 60-64 bib just in front of me that I have caught up to.  He puts a little distance on me on the 2nd climb of the muddy ski slope, but once we get onto the dirt service road again, and then start a long single-track uphill slog in mud and puddles, I catch back up to him.  I'm right behind him and think about passing him in a deep mud section that he slows down on, but then I realize as nice as it is seeing the 60-64 bib ahead of me and knowing where my competitor is, as soon as I go back him, the advantage will be his with my own 60-64 bib on my back showing.  I decide to hold off on any takeover attempts until we're done with my nemesis, the uphill climbs.  One by one, the lead three women come through, and as there is not much room to pass here, I get out of the way for each.  When Lauren Gregory comes by in 2nd place (females started 15 minutes after the men), I quickly got off the trail, but in my haste it was rather awkward as I was hanging onto a tree trunk for balance.  She is racing for a spot in World Championships, and actually takes the time to ask me if I'm OK.  Not necessary at all, but what a class act!

We reach the top of the climb, and one male runner goes past me and then past the other 60-64 runner, and then another younger runner goes past me in rapid succession, so I join in with them and make my move to go past the other 60-64.  I realize I'm fully exposed now with the age-group identifying bib on my back, and when the three of us run through thick mud, I'm hoping to lose the 60-64, but he stays right with us.  Now what?  Once we hit downhill mud, I make my move and go past the two younger guys that had overtaken me.  I stepped on the gas the whole rest of the way down and end up running the final 1.7 mile downhill section 40 seconds per mile faster on the second loop than the first, despite obviously being more fatigued.

Not only do I hold off the other 60-64 runner, but I pass one more on the way downhill to the finish.

Finishing strides

Final result:  1:46:21, 111th of 279, 2nd in age group.  Full results here

I had no idea of where I stood in my age group until the awards ceremony.  The medal I received is not much of an award, but to me it's more about how I placed as opposed to what I may have received for an award.  First place in my group was from PA and a good eight minutes ahead of me, whereas the guy that I chased on the uphill portion of second loop and he chased on downhill portion was just 39 seconds behind me.  He was a nice guy from Washington State that came over to talk to me at the finish.  He also passed the same 60-64 runner that I passed downhill to eke out 3rd place by 7 seconds.

Shorts and legs were just a little muddy after 
this one!

With my award

With Brady post-race

Overall this was just a really fun event.  The only real downside I experienced was absolutely NO post-race food included.  After hosing the mud off my legs and shoes, we headed home with a stop in Bedford for a hearty lunch at The Common Man on I-93 rest area.