I first came upon this race last year after scrolling through Ultra Signup for events coming up in my area. The distances were reasonable and it was only an hour away. While I already had my races squared away last year, I kept this one in the pocket. So, when it came time to plan out this season, the Emerald Necklace 3 Day Stage Race made the calendar.
The event started off Thursday night where a group of 39 gathered to be briefed on what could only be referred to as a terrible idea by anyone with more than 5 fully functioning brain cells left, at the New London town hall. Here, we checked in all our mandatory gear and went over the course for the following day, which would include summits of both Ragged Mountain and Mount Kearsage. After collectively thinking this was going to be a fantastic time, we were set free for the evening. A lot of us went over to the Sunapee Middle School, where our race/camp headquarters would be for the weekend. There, everyone was setting up tents or choosing to sleep in the gym, which was about 110 degrees. Either way there wasn’t much time for hanging out because the race was starting at 7am and sleep was of top priority.
Friday: Stage One - 25 miles
After avoiding rain for most of the night, my alarm went off at the most pleasant hour of 4:45am. Emerging from my tent, it was a slow, coffeeless stager around camp getting myself and my gear ready for the day (short sleeve or sleeveless? Oh, the decisions!). By 6am, a few of us loaded into my car and drove the 30 minutes to Potter Place, where the race would start. As we gathered, Tom, one of the fantastic race directors, went over some last minute details and sent us off on our journey as the day’s impending rain began to settle in.
The first few miles were on old rail bed, and possibly some of my fastest miles all weekend. Two miles in, we come across the SRKG trail mark and take a right off the rail bed to begin our climb up Ragged Mountain. The first bit of the climb was on dirt road, which turned off onto old jeep roads. From there it became wet and technical single track as the rain gave a slick coating to everything. Many of the sections of this ascent were steep and required power hiking. It was one hell of a way to start off the race. After summiting Ragged by the ski patrol lodge, the decent was more of the same slick, technical trail. On this section I spent a good amount of time trying to get my shoes to fit right, as I continually stopped to mess with them before finally emerging at the bottom behind (school).
From here, we ran across some fields and a seriously sketchy suspension bridge, to begin climbing a series of dirt roads and old jeep roads until finally coming into the course’s main aid station at mile 14. I refilled my pack and hand held, drank some Coke, and shoveled some chocolate covered espresso beans into my mouth before grabbing a handful of watermelon cubes and heading out.
After finishing and changing out of my nasty running clothes, small groups of us were shuttled back to the Middle School, where we cleaned up and hung out for the remainder of the day. My girlfriend, Jenn, who had to back out of the race due to injury, came up to hangout and support me the rest of the weekend. (You’re the best, baby!)
Saturday: Stage Two – 24 miles
After being fed breakfast, the day started off with a 30 minute bus ride back to Sutton Field where we finished the day before. Again, a few last minute words from the RD and we were off. The first mile was nice and cool as we headed past a lake before starting to climb for almost 2 miles up dirt roads and old jeep trails. I was feeling pretty good this morning. I was feeling none of the wear and tear from the day before and I had swapped out the shoes I was running in yesterday for my oldest, most comfortable pair to help with the foot pain I had. I kept a decent pace and ran everything I could as I knew there would be plenty of sections later that wouldn’t be so runnable.
Unlike yesterday, I brought my ipod with me and was fully enjoying this summer’s tour gems as I made my way down to the parking lot. From the parking area, I ran down a number of paved roads which just hammered my quads. This was probably the longest paved section of the race, which ran by a number of farms and scenic views before turning off on a dirt road. I make it to the last “water only” aid station and fill up my hand held thinking the finish isn’t that far off from what I could remember of the talk the night before. Turns out there was something like 8 miles left. I ran into the woods on trails I had first run years ago during one of the races of the Western New Hampshire Trail Race Series. These trails again eventually gave way to lesser and lesser used trails. I felt like this section was never going to end and was convinced that just around every turn had to be a road I would come out on or something signifying the race was almost done….. ugh. Finally I emerge at a disc golf park and run out to the main road and take a left. From here, the SRKG goes through neighborhood streets, scenic river front trails, and across the patio deck of a local restaurant where people were eating baskets of fried clams and enjoying ice cream.
Under the heat from the early afternoon sun, I ran the pavement back to the Sunapee Middle School, where the finish was located today. I crossed the finish after 24 miles 9th in 5:19. Over all, it was a solid day of running.
Sunday: Stage Three – 31 miles
Oh Lord! My legs! My Quads!! They hurt!!! Moving around camp that morning was not fun. The past two days had caught up to me. If this were any other day, running would have been filed under HELL NO!!! But that option didn't exist today. I geared up and waited in the early morning fog to begin the final stage. I went out with the group of guys I had been running with for the first half of the previous day. There was no way I could hang. I couldn’t even hang with those further back from that group….. I was hurting and mentally drained wondering how the hell I’m going to push through another day of this in my current condition.
The first several miles were ssssslllllllooooooooowwwwwwwww. My legs eventually began to loosen up a little. I was running more than walking and beginning to think I might be able to put the wheels back on this train. I get to the first aid station at mile 11 to Jenn asking what I needed. Since new legs weren’t available, I instead filled my hand held, drank some Coke, and put a few more gels in my pack before venturing on.
Somewhere in the next 8 miles my legs began to feel better but I was still physically exhausted from the past two days. Running down the creek between miles 17-19 was nice and my pace opened up a bit before coming into the major aid station of the race at mile 19 to Jenn holding up a box of Munchkins to my delight. I’m not sure there is any other sport where you can eat donuts and drink soda in the middle of a grueling athletic endeavor. Seriously, you can yell, “Look at me, I’m an athlete!” with donut glaze all over your face and no one is going to question your abilities!
The trail out of the aid station was steep for the next mile before giving way to runnable, rolling terrain. After several miles I came to Bog Mountain, the only sizeable climb of the day. Passing over the top, I knew there wasn’t that much further to go. I started making check lists in my head. Thorn bush laden clear-cut trail…. Check. Water only stop… Check. Back on the original rail trail… Check!!! From here it was just a matter of grinding it out to the finish. In a short time I was able to see the red of the old caboose out in front of the station, which just never seemed to get closer. Finally, 100 yards or so from the finish, you could hear people cheering as I brought it in strong, crossing the line 15th in 7:53 to conclude this epic journey!
