Six and a half miles, 3100ft elevation gain, 1400 ft elevation loss– Sure.
As most of the mountain goat races have been, LMR was no exception–relentless! It ends with a climb up a double black diamond slope, half a miles up a 40%+ grade slope and then, once you reach the top, you get to bomb down the otherside to the finish.
Matt and Erik (who are also attempting the series) were racing as expected. However, this race offered a pleasant surprise– Zsuzsanna and some of her friends were in the area for the White Mountains and she decided she would race as well. We caught up for a bit before the race.
The race is put on by acidiotic racing, a New Hampshire based running/snowshoeing club with a great following and support base. LMR starts at Loon Mountain in LIncoln, NH and the course changes every year. This year, the course started relatively flat! The first 5k or so was rolling up and down, through some shaded wooded areas, constantly up or down but nothing too severe. Then, around mile 3, my race took a(n ankle) turn for the worst– damn gravel roads! My left ankle has been weak since I turned it pretty bad over Memorial Day Weekend. I have been treating the swelling and pain and that has been wonderfully manageable, but I still need to commit more time to strengthening the ligaments that are all but annihilated. After mile 3, you climb switchbacks up gravel road and this is where I found my weakness– walking pace. I felt uncomfortable walking much faster than I was, but this is where many people were able to pass me. They had more gusto in each step and were able to go further and faster on the walk. This is where Zsuzsanna caught and passed me, as I struggled on gravel.
Anyway, around mile 4-5 you climb a pretty steep ski slope, but it’s not the Upper Walking Boss. As someone who has never done this race before, I mentally fixated on “if this isn’t the Boss, then wtf is!!?” Anyway, after this climb, you see the finish line at the gondola, but it’s a trick. You pass the finish line, and then descend towards the Boss. After you turn around a bend, you look forward and see only hill. You’ve hit the Boss. When I got to it, I couldn’t see the top–hooray! And there were a number of runners on all 4s climbing, there were runners in the grass sitting and resting, and there were even some full out lying down in anguish! Yay! This is what I signed up for!
So I tackled the Boss with a few different strategies. First, I just put my head down and took little steps. Constantly little steps, looking down and not up. After my calves were properly burned, I turned around and walked backwards up the slope. WOW. This was the best way to do it for one reason and one reason alone– the view was incredible! You look out away from Loon and get a stunning view of Franconia Notch and the Pemi wilderness (where I will hopefully be Pemi Looping in the near future). The view makes these races more than worth it (as if the hills weren’t enough). After a while of going backwards, I switched to small steps again and stopped to rest after a while. The Boss is lined with beautiful wildflowers and I hadn’t even noticed until I stopped for a minute. But, stopping is a dance with danger because the longer you are stopped, the harder it is to start again.
I am feeling better than I look at this point.
When I finally reached the top of the Boss, there were wild strawberries crawling over the summit, but I didn’t get a chance to check them out because at this point, you are so close to the finish. My quads were beginning to feel left out of the fun– so now it was their turn to work! The finish is a large hill down and then a small hill up. Downhills are more and more becoming a stronger point for me, even with tired legs. So many runners were slowly navigating their way down this slope, some slipping on the dirt. Not me! I was flying and able to pass so many people. It was probably my favorite part of the race (other than finishing the Boss).
At the finish, Zsuzsanna’s friend Rocco took this brilliant photo of me that really sums everything up pretty well:
Matt, true to form, was cheering me on through the finish! Erik was there, too– he finished 9th and nearly an hour before me… yikes! Zsu and I took a photo and we all climbed the observation tower, that offered views of the notch and even Washington.
Will I run this one next year??? Sure. It’s July 3rd next year… so that means I can stay up there and Presi Traverse for the 4th 🙂
48 peaks 