Kearsage Mountain Race, Warner, NH, May 29, 2004
With a large contingent of Team Gloucester runners slated to compete, the 2004 edition of The Mt. Kearsarge Hill Run promised to be a run to remember. Wes Lassen, Jenn Brooks-Lassen, Bob Gillis, Pixie Harrington, Steve Davis, David Geary, Peter Vadala, Bob Lindberg, Layce Alves, Maryke Gillis, and self-proclaimed Team Gloucester "wanna-be" Greg Lowe were all looking forward to the charge up the mountain. (Peter Watson was sick and opted out).
Expectations were low in the Friendly's parking lot that morning, thanks to the pre-race feast of fish, chips and Murphy's beer that most everybody racing took part in to honor Brooks's 25th birthday the night before.
After the 2 hour ride to Warner, the entire Team Gloucester crowd was ready to tackle the 8.5 mile, 2400 ft. climb to the top of Mt. Kearsarge. The weather was perfect, except for the 10-15 mile/hour headwind and the runners were ready (barring the pounds of fish & chips they still had in their bellies).
The course can and should be broken into two sections. First is the 5 mile road race which, though extremely hilly, also includes some significant downhill stretches. The second section is the 3.5 mile climb to the summit that provides some breathtaking views of southern New Hampshire.
The gun went off and so did Lassen and Brooks as they weaseled their way to the front of the pack in typical fashion. Not knowing what to expect, the two ran conservatively through the first 1K before Lassen picked up the pace and pulled away.
Gillis caught Brooks around the third mile, and the two ran together until mile 4, when a surge by Gillis earned him a 50m lead heading into the climb. Unproven on the hills, Lassen was concerned about the famously hard-charging Gillis, but he pulled away to finish 26th in 1:06:25. Shortly thereafter Gillis (35th, 1:10:00) and Brooks (2nd female, 1:10:49) came charging up towards the summit. Bob Lindberg was just a step behind, finishing 44th with a time of 1:11:32. The next group of Team Gloucester runners to come up the bend ran most of the 5 mile portion of the race together, only to find the climb was the deciding factor. Davis (1:13:22) separated himself from Lowe (1:14:24) and Geary (1:14:25). Vadala, who is recovering from multiple injuries and the Boston Marathon, finished 77th with a time of 1:17:22. First time mountain runner Alves was next with a time of 1:23:38, followed by Harrington in 1:42:59 and Maryke Gillis in 1:46:40.
For the series, Brooks is second in the women's open division and Davis is second in the men's 40+ division.
Paul Low won the men's race in 53:07, giving him a perfect 200% score for the series. Low was followed by youngsters Joshua Ferenc (54:23), Kevin Tilton (54:31), and John Traugott (55:02), all age 22; Richard Boit took the 5th spot in 55:09. On the women's side, Kelli Lusk ran to an incredible win, finishing top woman and 16th overall in a women's course record time of 1:03:40. Lusk shattered Nikki Kimball's 2002 record by 50 seconds.
After all was said and done, Team Gloucester had a strong showing in the second race of the USATF-NE Mountain Series and showed lots of promise….after all, what team really has a pre-race dinner of greasy, buttery, DELICIOUS fish & chips? Even though Lassen, Vadala, Alves, and Harrington were all thwarted from running Mt. Washington by way of the post-race raffle, the team had a great time and is looking forward to competing again in this extremely challenging and well organized race.
