Ascutney Mountain Race, June 8, 2005

The fourth installment of the NE Mountain Running Circuit was held at Mt. Ascutney in Windsor Vermont this past Saturday. Making the trek for Team Gloucester were Dave Geary and Peter Vadala. After a enjoyable 3 hour ride we arrived at the state park entrance only to find the registration table was in utter chaos, almost reminiscent of a Rube Goldberg fire drill. However once the official from Granite State Racing stepped up things did improve.

After registering we were able to get a good warm–up and stretching session in, and then it was time to toe the line for the ascent up the 3.8 mile auto road course. The weather was once again warm and very humid but at gun time the skies were overcast at the base.

Once underway Dave was out in front of Peter and remained that way for the entire race crossing the 1 mile mark in 10:48. However the heat and humidity would take it’s toll especially when the sun finally broke through the clouds half way up. Dave was still able to place 25th with a time of 43:55 and also earn him 6th place in the usually stacked 30-39 age group.

Peter was in shortly after Dave in 41st place with a time of 47:24 and earning himself 7th place in the 50-59 age group. With two more races in the circuit it looks as though Dave and Peter are on track to earn the Mountain Goat designation this year for Team Gloucester. After four races the circuit standings show Dave is in 6th place in the male open age group with 210 points and Peter is in 3rd place in the 50-59 age group with 265 points.

Next up on the menu is the Dave Dunham sponsored event Northfield Mountain on the 25th of June at 9:00am. Hope to see everyone there!