61^st Northeast Delta Dental Mount Washington Road Race

8^th series – race 5 of 5

Saturday, June 18, 2022 – Pinkham Notch, NH

***If you want a 9^th Northeast Uphill Mountain Series -  requirements to join will be at the very end of this post***

The biggest news prior to the race was the weather!   Runners received the following email the day before the race @ 3:53pm.

“After careful consideration and discussions with the Mount Washington Observatory, we have decided to shorten the race to the halfway mark of the Auto Road. This weekend we are predicted to experience some of the worst weather for mid-June that the road has seen in recent years and your safety, and that of our volunteers and staff, is a priority.”

This would be only the second time the race was shortened to halfway. The other year was 2002, 20 years ago!   The day after the race the event director, Lisa McCoy, wrote the following;

“There was no shortage of excitement at the 61st running of the Delta Dental Mt. Washington Road Race on Saturday, June 18, 2022. The extreme cold and wind at the summit forced the course to be shorted to halfway, making the race 3.8 miles from the typical 7.6 miles. Veteran competitors Kim Dobson, 38 of Eagle, Colo., and Joseph Gray, 38 of Colorado Springs, Colo., ran away from the field to win their races in relatively convincing fashions. And both runners set short course records, with Dobson setting the win record for women runners, as she moved into a tie with Bob Hodge for the most wins at Mt. Washington all-time.

As is often the case, Mt. Washington did not disappoint in the weather department. Known as the “home of the world’s worst weather,” Mt. Washington showed it with temperatures at the base in the low 50’s with windy and drizzly conditions. Temperatures at the summit were in the 20’s with sustained winds of 75 to 80 miles per hour with the threat of ice and snow, making it too dangerous to race to the top. Even with the shortened course, runners were still greeted by high winds, rain and temperatures in the 30’s at the finish line. Living up to its reputation for extreme weather, Mt. Washington provided a day to remember.”

Mt Washington Observatory weather @ 5:38am race morning

“The weird weather didn’t dampen the spirits of the racers, however. Six-time and returning champ, Kim Dobson, went out calmly with a number of her competitors leading her out of the gates. When asked before the race if her strategy would change based on the shortened race, Kim said, “I’m going to go out conservatively, it is easy to blow up in the first half mile.” By the one-mile mark Dobson had the lead, and by the 2-mile mark she was well on her way to making history. Dobson did not blow up and won easily in a time of 31:59. Her time was the 10th fastest of the day overall and also beat the old “halfway” course record set by Anna Pichrtová in 2002. Dobson was awarded a five-thousand-dollar bonus for breaking the course record by race sponsor, Delta Dental. Ironically, with her seventh win today, Dobson passed Pichrtová, and her six wins, on the all-time wins list and cemented her legacy as the greatest female runner at Mt. Washington.

Taking the second spot today was Amber Ferreira, 40 of Concord, N.H., in a time of 34:32. Ferreira also wins the Crossan Cup as the first finisher from the state of New Hampshire. Taking third was Kim Nedeau, 42 of Leverett, Mass., in a time of 35:26. Nedeau caught and passed fourth place finisher Caitlin Patterson, 32 of Portland, Maine during the final 200 meters. Patterson finished with a time of 35:30. Finishing off the top five was Jess Elliot, 25 of Lyme, N.H., in a time of 36:41.

At the sound of the starting cannon, five-time and returning champ, Joe Gray, raced out to an early lead and never let off, winning in a record-setting time of 27:44, beating the old “halfway” record of 28:02 set by Simon Gutierrez in 2002 (Gutierrez is credited with introducing Gray to mountain running.) With the record, Gray was also awarded a five-thousand-dollar bonus. It was suspected that the contestants would go out hard since the race was shortened, and that proved to be true. Gray went out quickly in a tightly grouped pack of about ten men and by the end of the first mile had distanced himself from his competition. The gap would never close. When asked after the race about his strategy change due to the shortened course, he did not hesitate, “my goal was to win and break the record from 2002.” Gray accomplished that mission. Gray’s six wins draws him one win away from tying Bob Hodge as the winningest male at Mt. Washington.

Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier, Everett Hackett, 32 of Hartford, Conn., finished second in his first Mt. Washington Road Race in a time of 28:50. The ever-consistent Eric Blake, 43 of West Hartford, Conn., came in third with a time of 29:12. This is Blake’s 15th top 3 finish. Rounding out the top five men was Lee Berube, 31 of Syracuse, N.Y. in fourth place with a time of 29:28. This was Berube’s third straight top 5 finish. Samuel Fazioli, 30 of Derry N.H., finished in fifth for the second straight year with a time of 30:31. Fazioli did win the Crossan Cup for the second straight year as New Hampshire’s top finisher.

Sponsored by Delta Dental, the race usually ascends the Mt. Washington Auto Road from Pinkham Notch, N.H., to the 6,288-foot summit of Mt. Washington. Due to weather related safety concerns, the race was shortened to 3.8 miles finishing at the “halfway” point of the Auto Road this year. In addition to the unrelenting grade, runners face the added challenge of Mt. Washington’s famously high winds, precipitation, and unpredictable temperatures which makes this race one of a kind. Prizes include $1000 apiece for the first male and female finishers, smaller cash prizes for the next five men and women and the top three male and female masters (over 40), prizes for the first male and female finishers from New Hampshire, and a $5000 bonus for setting a new course record.”

Congratulations to Joe Gray & Kim Dobson on their wins, Joe’s 6^th and Kim’s 7^th! 

Women's podium; Amber 2nd left, Kim 1st center & Kim 3rd right

Men's podium; Everett 3rd left, Joe 1st center & Eric 3rd right

Dave Dunham checked into it, later, and found that 52 runners have run both of the Half-way Years of 2002 and 2022! AND Dave calculated their combined times to see how they would place this way 😊 Jeff Gould and Jackie placed highest of folks in this series!  Also are Donna, Don & myself. Others that have been in previous series are Len Hall, Bob Mulvaney and Emer O’Donohue. Thanks for all you do Dave!!!

Mt Washington winner, record holder AND historian Dave Dunham warming up

Needless to say, it was a very exhilarating final for the 8^th Northeast Uphill Mountain Series! Congratulations to series winners Rich Larsen & Freddie Lynne Triback!

Rich, center, in Colorado last summer training for Pikes Peak Ascent where he won his AG

Freddie, right, celebrating after this year's Prospect Mountain Road Race

Others that reached Mountain Goat status; thus earning a lottery by-pass into the 2023 Northeast Delta Dental Mount Washington Road Race were…drum roll please; Jackie Shakar, Mark Staples, Paulette Slovenkai, Jeff Gould, Brian Walfield, Don Slovenkai, Darrel Lasell, Ed Varney, Sau-Mei Leugh and Robin Meese-Varney 😊 Way to love those HILLS!!!

Talking about record breaking performances…series winner, Rich Larsen, after all the training he did for the race, he wanted to get a sense of where his fitness was. Rich’s writeup about his run June 24^th, Just 6 days after the race.

      “My own personal Mt Washington Race”

               “After all that training I wanted to get some sense of where I’m at. My plan was to stay very conservative early. My early splits were encouraging even with the moderate effort. Stayed pretty strong and steady throughout. Mile 5 was the hardest being the steepest along with full sun and no breeze. Fortunately, the breeze came back for last miles and I revived. Very pleased I got back here super satisfied with my time. Big thanks to Brad for being my support crew and giving me my ride. Floodwater Party here I come”

Mark Staples wrote: “This is pretty great. My friend & coach Rich Larsen was shooting for the 70+ course record of 1:31 this year. Trained really well. But because of the weather, no dice. So, he went up on Friday and ran the course in 1:26, shattering the record by 5 minutes. Doesn’t count of course, but he wanted to see what he could do. That’s pretty impressive.”

Mark left & Rich right @ Mt Greylock Road Race

More pictures of the day follow the series standings

Joe Vigor’s pictures from the race can be checked out here   Joe Viger Photography (jvsportsphoto.com)

Points for the Northeast Delta Dental Mount Washington Road Race: (983 finishers)

1)       Joe Gray                            38M        27:43     100.00

 

           10)      Kim Dobson                       38F         31:56       86.80

 

78)      Rich Larsen(1^st 70-74)      70M        38:59       71.10

 

111)    Mark Staples                     52M         41:37       66.60

 

172)    Jeff Gould                          57M         44:38       62.10

 

205)     Jackie Shakar(2^nd 60-64)   62F         46:20       59.82

 

214)     Freddie Triback                  50F         46:32       59.56

 

298)     Donna Smyth                      62F         50:13       55.19

 

305)     Brian Walfield                      60M        50:24       54.99

 

398)     Don Slovenkai                    66M        53:10       52.13

 

498)     Fred Ross III(1^st 75-79)      75M        56:17       49.24

 

504)     Darrel Lasell                       64M        56:22       49.17

 

700)     Ed Varney                           63M     1:02:56       44.04

 

861)     Paulette Slovenkai              62F      1:09:59       39.60

 

947)     Robin Meese-Varney          61F     1:20:18       34.52

 

 

Points for 4 best races and “money winners” 😊

 

          1)         Rich Larsen               313.44       1^st Male      $75

 

          2)         Mark Staples              303.28       2^nd Male     $50

 

          3)        Jeff Gould                    278.70       3^rd Male      $25

 

          4)        Freddie Triback            267.14       1^st Female  $75

 

          5)        Jackie Shakar               262.00       2^nd Female  $50

 

          6)        Brian Walfield                261.54

 

          7)        Don Slovenkai                228.53

 

          8)        Darrel Lasell                   216.85

 

          9)        Paulette Slovenkai         193.46       3^rd Female  $25

 

          10)     Ed Varney                      192.26

 

          11)     Sau-Mei Leugh               175.13

 

          12)     Fred Ross III                   160.48(3)

 

          13)     Robin Meese-Varney      159.97

 

          14)     Kevin Cavanaugh            151.84(2)

 

          15)     Donna Smyth                  120.83(2)

 

          16)     Jim Hoburg                       96.84(2)

 

          17)     Walter Kuklinski                86.25(2)

 

          18)     Josh Curtis                       67.06(1)

 

          19)     Candace Cox                     0.00(0)

 

 

      Current Streak:

          1)      Darrel                    20

 

          2)      Robin                    15

 

          3)      Brian & Freddie     10

 

          4)      Ed                           9

 

          5)      Jeff                          7

 

          6)      Mark & Rich            4

 

          7)      Fred                        3

 

          8)      Don & Paulette       2

 

 

       All time finishes: 

          1)       Fred                               56

 

          2)       Donna, Walter & Jeff     29

 

          3)      Darrel                              24

 

          4)      Sau-Mei                          22

 

          5)      Kevin                              19

 

          6)      Robin & Don                   15

 

          7)      Jackie, Ed & Josh           14

 

          8)      Paulette, Mark & Rich     13

 

          9)      Jim                                  11

 

          10)   Freddie & Brian               10

 

          11)   Candace                           0

 

 

            Total all time series points:  

 

1)      Jeff                             2153.49

 

2)       Fred                          2139.43

 

3)      Donna                        1891.56

 

4)      Walter                         1521.98

 

5)      Kevin                           1475.16

 

6)      Darrel                          1377.34

 

7)      Sau-Mei                      1376.02

 

8)      Josh                             1055.63

 

9)      Bob Mulvaney              1047.63

 

10)   Rich                              1020.15

 

11)   Mark                                999.23

 

12)   Jackie                              932.80

 

13)   Cris Cote                         874.13

 

14)   Don                                  866.83

 

15)   Len Hall                            791.04

 

16)   Dennis Gilyard                  762.25 

 

17)   Karen Encarncion             707.89 

 

18)   Laurel Shortell                   678.77 

 

19)   Robin                                 657.74

 

20)   Ed                                      645.76

 

21)   Paulette                              631.57

 

22)   Freddie                               600.39

 

23)   Brian                                   592.74

 

24)   Jim                                      515.15

 

25)   Meg (Paugh) Dillingham     492.66

 

26)   Elaine Dill                            471.71 

 

27)   Stacy Dutch                         321.24

 

28)   Tammy Richards                 294.31

 

29)   Peggy Hoburg                     216.86

 

30)   Emer O’Donohue                216.25

 

31)   John Kowalski                    190.97

 

32)   Paul Jones                         128.06

 

33)   Dick Hoch                          121.67

 

34)   Jill Larsen                          110.17

 

35)   Carol Buzby                      108.02

 

36)   Barry Follett                        53.00

 

37)   Candace                               0.00

Rich warming up

Hi Jackie!

Great to see Tom Raffio, such a great race supporter!

Event Director Lisa McCoy is very busy!

And we are off!!!

Donna on course thanks to Glenn Gilligan!

Thanks also to Glenn!

Ed looking great!

Way to go Robin!

Freddie, Donna & Dorcas enjoying the jaunt down

Thanks so much to Paul Grant, left, for all you do to make the race special!

Rich sets an AG record!

Amber, with daughter Charlie, wins the Crossan Cup!

Kim recieves a check for breaking the women's course record, as did Joe for the Men's

Great to meet up with Kim once again.

Great to share race weekend w/friends! Congratulations to Suzy for her induction into the Mount Washington Road Race Hall of Fame!

The 9th series will consist of the same 5 races (Mansfield, Greylock, Prospect, Ascutney n Washington) you must do complete 4 to qualify for a lottery by-pass!

     Mount Washington  will count, IF you get in. In order to meet series requirements for MT Washington, you must enter the lottery as an individual. If you don’t get in email me your notice of not getting in and you will  still be considered  a “Mountain Goat” towards a lottery by-pass, if you complete the other races.

Each “Mountain Goat” will also receive a custom certificate…suitable for framing!

Lottery by-pass:

       You must complete at least 4 races. Up to 30 runners will be able to earn a lottery by-pass into the 2024 Northeast Delta Dental Mount Washington Road Race. If fewer than 30 runners join the series, all will have a chance. If more, the first 30 to join will be eligible to receive a by-pass, after the first 30, additional members will be put on waiting list.  To clarify, if one of the first 30 runners to sign-up doesn’t complete the requirements, the next person who qualifies for a lottery by-pass moves up, etc. Placement of your entry into the series will be determined by the date and time your sign-up email is received by me AFTER “the checks are in the mail”. Send an email to mtnrunr@comcast.net to let me know and you wish to join. After you complete each race, email your time to me, PLEASE! Times will be as listed in the official results, so if you disagree with your time you must straighten it out with the RD.  I will calculate and keep track of points, etc.

Requirements to join the series:

1)           Send a tax-deductible check for $15 made out to “America Trail Running Association” (ATRA), PO Box 9454, Colorado Springs, CO 80932 

OR you may join for $25/year link here Individual Memberships — ATRA (trailrunner.com)  

Please indicate “neuhms - team support” on your check memo line

 

2)          Send a tax-deductible check for $15 made out to Mount Washington Observatory, PO Box 2310, North Conway, NH 03860

OR you may join for $25/year link here Mount Washington Observatory | Membership       

Please indicate “Northeast Uphill Mountain Series” on your check memo line

Tremendous thanks to the Mount Washington Auto Road for the lottery by-passes! If your going to be in their area, please be sure to check and see what’s going on! https://mtwashingtonautoroad.com/   

Thanks to my local club, the Red Clover Rovers for providing money for the “Mountain Goat” certificates you will receive after the series is completed.   

Placement will be based on total points from your best 4 races (which is how everyone will be scored).  Whoever wins the race gets 100 points; everyone else’s points will be calculated by dividing the winner’s time by your own. Example: winner’s time is 1 hour, yours is 2 hours. Your points would be 50.00

Let others know about the series that you think might be interested and HAVE FUN!