Mount Washington Road Race Recap
This is my recap of the Mount Washington Road Race. There’s a lot of logistics that go into such a short race, only 7.6 miles, so I thought a timeline of the day would be a fun way to recap it.
3:40am, excited to wake up, but this is too early even for me (my alarm was set for 4).
3:43am, coffee,
3:50am, unpack the truck that was already packed to double check everything - the weather was really throwing me for a loop. Sunny and 75 below and in the clouds, chance of rain, high of 30s on the summit with strong winds.
4:30am, hit the road, 90 miles to get there. Eat a cinnamon raisin bagel while drinking coffee.
7:00am, finally parked. Find my driver who is going to bring a drop bag to the summit for me. I have it packed with a puffy jacket, puffy pants, a windproof shell and a variety of food to refuel after charging up to the top.
7:10am, checked in.
8:04am, eat half of a breakfast sandwich I made a last minute stop for at Dunks, but only got down half.
8:10am, take a walk and eventual light jog around the Great Glen trails.
8:30am, change into race gear. Decide on formal racing attire. After much deliberation, I decide to take a pack with gloves and a shell in it. I didn’t want to carry anything, but given the weather at the top, that seemed like a bad idea.
8:45am, line up at the start. Wow, there’s a lot of people here. Feeling nervous and excited. Eat my last awesome sauce gel, and have two clif blocks. Either I’m nervous or I should have eaten more of that sandwich but I was feeling hungry right before the start. This ended up being clutch, and I felt well-fueled for the race (until the top, but that’s later).
9:00am, go! After the flat 100m or so to start, the climb starts immediately and never lets up. I’m half, what did I get myself into and half, wow I can’t stop smiling because this is awesome!
9:13am, first mile down, that was too fast, I gotta reel it in.
9:27am, second mile, too fast again, I can’t sustain this! I started hiking more frequently at this point. I felt like I was just burning up trying to stay running for no reason. It’s a little demoralizing when you’re running and people who are hiking start passing you.
9:54am, halfway point! Finding a good rhythm. I ran till my breathing strained then hiked till my muscles burned.
10:15am, above 4000ft, very windy but the sun is still out. I put my gloves on, and was very happy I took them.
10:49am, almost there but it’s so cold. I don’t want to stop or slow down so close to the finish but my arms are turning bright red! I put my windbreaker on (and hope it doesn’t blow away in the process!)
10:49:30, jacket is on, time to finish, wow it’s getting STEEP! This must be the 22 percent grade they warned us about!
10:51am, finish, wow it’s cold up here, wow I’m hungry, my legs hurt and I need some carbs ASAP! I find my backpack waiting for me.
10:52am, I charge into the summit building and make way for the cafeteria. I sneak past the line to the cooler to grab a Coke, and in the biggest disappointment of the day, they were sold out. Nothing in my pack, the dried mango, or various bars I packed, was appealing to me. I bought Skittles and Sour Patch kids instead, with a red Powerade to wash it down. I got on my jacket and found a seat. After 20 minuets of watching other finishers stagger in, I came back to life. I went out to watch the finish line, but it was too cold just stand there and I needed to get moving to stay warm.
11:20am, start the run back down the road. I was planning on taking trails, since you could cut a couple miles off the road route by doing that. I decided my legs weren’t up for the abuse of more climbing or any technical trails. I would stick to the smooth road instead which proved to be fun.
12:00pm, Running into the headwind on the way down was rough! My eyes were watering and the wind was so strong and in my face it was unzipping my jacket as I ran. The winds calmed more and more as I descended and it warmed up too. The views of the Norther Presidentials around the 4000ft mark were fantastic.
1:00pm, Almost there, legs are starting to feel better now, quads feel abused.
1:15pm, made it down!
3:46pm, Make it home, Elliot asks to go for a run and we tear it up in the neighborhood.
Overall, this was the most fun I’ve had at a race in a while. It took me 8 years to get in through the random selection lottery, and it was worth the wait. Thanks for reading!
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
