Mt. Washington American Record and White Face Mountain Vertical Kilometer Victories!!!

June was a hectic month of some competitive, tough events. Very thankful to have come out of this with good health and hunger for more racing and exploring new races and places in the months to come.

One of Italy's talented mountain pro runners came out to the USA for the mountain running action. Molto Buono!! (Luca C.)

Here's a quick recap: First I headed out to the White Mountains of the "Live Free or Die" State to handle some unfinished business at the Mt. Washington Road race which takes athletes uphill on the auto road for a lung busting quad thrusting ascent of 7.6 miles! Last year I won the event for my first time in 59:09 passing Matt Carpenter on the All-Time list. A HUGE accomplishment for sure. I felt I had more in the tank and this year I wanted to prove that by breaking the American Record at the event.

 

POP, the gun goes off and immediately I find company in a familiar rival over the years (Andy W.). We started to separate from the field fairly early and without Eric B. in the race this year due to injury it was safe to say after 2 miles I would finish 1st or 2nd. I would have been ok with 2nd as long as I ran a respectable time. I continued to press and eventually found myself with a little gap reaching the 4th mile all alone as the wind started push back. Around one of the steeper hairpin turns, I glanced to check where my competition was. With no immediate threat in sight I was able to just focus on staying consistent and of course, I lost track of the time. My goal to break the American Record had began to loose itself from my grasp and now I had more work ahead than I had realized. I crested a steep portion of the course as I headed into the last kilometer and noticed I needed to pick the pace up if I wanted that record. As I hit the middle of the "Wall", a 20%+ grade for 200 meters I knew I had what eluded me the year before...Mt. Washington Road Race American Record!!

The clock stopped at 58:15 and I took a major sigh of relief. Soon after crossing the line, I thought not about a brilliant victory but already I began to ponder at ways to break 58 mins the next time around. I started to think of the long journey I've had to this point. The stomach bug from Columbia that thwarted my race plans earlier in the year, the niggles that kept me sidelined a few weeks back and on the positive side, the people in my life that supported me through these hard times.

 

Its crazy when you think about social media and trail running websites and news sources. When you have a bad day, they forget about you almost over night and count you out the next time you are up to bat. They may sway hundreds, maybe even thousands, but I only care about those that are right there with me through it ALL who have had faith from the beginning. Truly they are the ones that matter whether fans, friends or supporters. I appreciate you all from the bottom of my heart!

I followed my MT. Washington record setting day with a win in the USA Skyrunning series Vertical Kilometer event at Whiteface Mountain! Thanks to Ian G. and Jan W. for hosting such an awesome event and promoting the sport of mountain running!

Special shout out to Spenco Medical as without them, my feet would hate me. Spenco makes all sorts of products that help you #loveyourfeet. This particular product came in handy as I had a few spills over the course of my technical training period. With Aqua Heal I'm able to cover scrapes and cuts with a comfortable patch that allows them to heal FAST and keep me out there training hard. THANK YOU Spenco! I must say I got pretty good looking feet for a mountain goat (;