1/1/11 - I started the year off defending my title at the Hangover Classic in Bristol, RI, winning in 27:57. The previous 2 years this race had bad snow luck, the course was covered in inches of snow and ice. This made for slow and dangerous conditions, so it was nice to get on some dry roads this year.
1/2/11 - This date was supposed to mark the first snowshoe race for the TNT Snowshoe Team, however, Hollis, NH did not have enough snow, so the race turned into the Beaver Brook Snowy Slushy Trail Race. With a small field of 17, I was able to take my second victory in two days, I think that was my last win of the year!
1/15/11 - Feel Good Farm Snowshoe Race... this is one of my favorite snowshoe races. Feel Good Farm is an interesting place, as is the owner. This ended up being the first snowshoe race for TNT in 2011, and for some unlucky soles, it was their first snowshoe race ever. FGF is a tough place to strap on the shoes for the first time. We had 10 Turtles toe the line at FGF and I finished 7th in a field of 67. Unfortunately, this race has been taken off the Granite State SSS schedule.
1/22/11 - Whitaker Woods Snowshoe Race was one of our longer snowshoe race trips, heading up to North Conway, NH. This was a first time event put on by Kevin Tilton. He had a great course set-up and we had another good TNT showing, with 12 runners toeing the line. The highlights of this trip were popsicle sticks and a trip to Moat Mountain.
1/29/11 - A group of 7 made their way up to Center Sandwich, NH (Home of the largest dining room set in the Northeast). The Sidehiller 4 Miler was the next race on the Granite State Snowshoe Series calendar, and also a northeast qualifier for the USSSA Nationals, which meant there would be a strong field. I had a pretty good race and it came down to my first ever snowshoe sprint battle in the last 1/4 mile with Charlie Thierrault and Danny Ferreira, both of acidotic RACING. In the end I beat Danny, but Charlie out leaned me at the line...it made for a fun finish.
2/5/11 - Another snowshoe race, this time in Exeter, NH for the Exeter Snowshoe Hullabaloo. This might have been my worst race of the year, up until this point at least! The path was super narrow and I kept clipping my shoes and went down multiple times. The course was pretty cool otherwise...but this just wasn't my day.
2/6/11 - I was talked into running the Super 5k in Narragansett, RI so we could field a men's team and win the team prize. It was a beautiful day down in Narraganset albeit a little windy. With the afternoon start, I was still able to get in a long run in the morning and then attempt to run a 5k off of a race the day earlier and a long run a few hours earlier. I was happy to come away with a 4th place finish in 17:00 and more importantly, the team victory!
2/19/11 - Snowshoe double-header...Since the Beaver Brook Snowshoe Race from 1/2/11 was postponed we ended up with a double-header on 2/19/11. The TNT SST made the trip to Hollis, NH in the morning for the BBSSR, which by the way WAS my worse race of the year, then we headed to Milly's Tavern in Manchester, NH for some food and beer before heading to Madbury, NH for the Kingman Farm Moonlight Snowshoe Race. The night race is by far the most fun of the year, and after running like hell in the morning I came back to run a good race, but ended up finishing 5th instead of 3rd after following Geoff Cunningham off course.
2/26/11 - The next to last snowshoe race was held at Northfield Mountain. This was to be the first NEF Snowshoe Championship, it was a tough race with lots of climbing and it made me tired.
3/13/11 - 2 weeks after running up Northfield Mountain on snowshoes we headed way up north to the FINAL! snowshoe race of the season, The Granite State Snowshoe Championships. This race starts across the street from Mountain Washington. It was a nice mix of groomed trails and long climbs. The race went well for me, finishing in 5th place behind 4 acidotic guys. We finished out the year sipping on some beer provided by Redhook and acidotic RACING.
3/20/11 - The New Bedford Half Marathon, finally a race where I could show that I was in shape, getting ready for the marathon doesn't usually result in great 3-4 mile snowshoe races. This race went pretty well, and I ran faster than I had expected. I tied my PR according to the official results, and on the watch I beat it by a second. I ran with teammate Matin Tighe late int he race, but couldn't reel him back in, in the final half mile, and he got me by 2 seconds.
4/10/11 - Doyles Emerald Necklace 5 Miler, It was a great after party, I don't think I raced? Jackie ran a 5 mile PR though!
5/1/11 - The Cox Sports Marathon was the main goal of the spring. This was actually the first time I had ever run a marathon in Rhode Island, so that was something to check off my list. The race went pretty well, I feel I ran as well as I could with the training I had in the legs. I finished with my second fastest marathon in 2:42:37
5/21/11 and 5/28/11 - We through in two USATF Mountain Series races before getting down to training for the Transrockies Race. Northfield Mountain Race on 5/21/11 and Wachusett Mountain Race on 5/28/11. The Wachusett Race went much better then the Northfield Race, but both were a blast.
7/17/11 - North South Trail Long Run. Jackie, Karen and myself ran 35 miles of RIs NS Trail. It was a great run in 90+ degree heat!
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| Jackie and Karen on the NST |
8/7/11 - Because we are in the Brooks ID program, Jackie and I were lucky enough to get a free entry into the 1st Annual Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon in Providence, We had no intentions to race this 1/2, but took it as a good opportunity to get in a long run. I ran 17 miles before the race, while Jackie did slightly less. We then ran in the race together, starting out EZ and passing all the runners that went out too fast. You can read about it HERE.
8/21 - 8/26 - Transrockies Run...the epic run of the year. I highly recommend anyone that enjoys running in the woods to try this adventure. You can read about it here!
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| Stage 2 Transrockies |
9/18/11 - Our Turtle teammate Karen Benway was planning on racing the Pisgah 50k. This worked out well because Jackie and I had 30 miles on the schedule. So we decided to make the trek up to the race and it made for a nice easy way to get in 30+ miles, while practicing fueling for the upcoming JFK 50 Miler. Other than a wrong turn late in the run for me, it was a great day.
10/5/11 - 6:45 pm TNT vs NRA Showdown. This was probably the most proud I have been of the Tuesday Night Turtles as a team. When there is a race on the line, and the other team is trash talking that they would beat us to death, the Turtles came out of the woodlands :) We might not have the fastest folks around, but we had the most team pride on this night, and with that we took home the big W...it was a great night!
11/13/11 - RI 6 Hour. This was the third running of the RI 6 Hour, not bad for a race I thought up in the shower one morning. The 2011 event went well, other than those damn cops.
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| Sunrise @ Warwick City Park |
11/19/11 - The JFK 50 Miler was a great trip. I was happy with my new 50 mile PR and super happy to see the TNT Women's Team of Jackie Jackman, Karen Benway and Issy Nielson, come away with the team victory and also breaking the Women's Team Record that was set back in 2002 by over 2 hours!! JFK Race Report
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| 2011 JFK Course Record setting women's team! |
So those were the major explorations of the year, there was also running the Fat Belly to Fat Belly the afternoon after running Northfield Mountain and the Grog and Dog Jog on Columbus Day Weekend. Not to mention the Run for Hope a few weeks ago, but I had enough recapping! On to 2012, which I already started with a not so good race at the Hangover Classic, ending my three year winning streak. But I followed that up with a great 2 hour long run today in the Arcadia Management area with Karen Benway and Zak Kudlak, so things are already looking up! Good Luck to everyone with their 2012 adventures!
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