New Years Eve Dinner with RunSteveo and family. 

Totals for 1996 -

Run -  1368 Miles

Dusty - 380 Miles

Visited the Lewis Hill Bird Sanctuary several times this month with Dusty and DL.

And when we weren't visiting the Bird Sanctuary, we were visiting Stony Brook Park.

We even had a few visits to the Metacomet Trail this month as well!

1st Annual Tannery Falls Winter Run Snowshoe
December 21st, 1996 - Florida/Savoy, Massachusetts

A snowshoe adventure was completed to Tannery Falls and the Balanced Rock in Savoy Mountain State Forest.  Five of us completed the journey, including PH & the Old Goat.  Once all was "said and done", we completed roughly 13-miles in 3:55:54.

 A frozen Tannery Falls in 1996

The Old Goat hanging from the Balanced Rock

Snow, Cemetaries and Sirens

Despite an overall lack of snow in Southern New England, good planning kept us active.  Savoy, with an average elevation around 2000 feet, held it's frozen misery for our second snowshoe venture of the season.  Like X-Country Skiers, we would “find” the snow if it couldn’t/ wouldn’t find us.

The Savoy General Store provided a wake up hot cup of coffee and snacks to fill our packs, which later on provided just enough nourishment for several of us to complete our adventure.  The duration of the run combined with the cool temperatures (19 degrees according to the Old Goat's thermometer) increased our bodies fuel consumption, and those Fig Newtons went quickly.  Of course, the one “non-traditionalist” in the group depended upon his standby “Goo."  It should be noted that he bonked later in the program than two of us.  Says something for technology. 

The initial 550’ climb up Bannis Mountain (2280’) was a crawl through unbroken deep snow.  If you are going to fall when snowshoeing, it is more than likely going to happen when trying to “run” uphill too fast. 

After topping out it was clean running along snow covered Bannis Road, past Borden Mountain (2586’) and those ever interesting old cemeteries Savoy State Forest is full of.  Very rolling terrain, it seemed as though we were always running either uphill or downhill, never along flat sections.

"P’s" warning of the Upper Ross Brook Trail being nicknamed the “Mud Trail” by the motocross group he rides with was unfounded, as we shuffled down it’s frozen rutted spine to the side trail to the Balanced Rock (the more popular Balanced Rock exist along the North Pond Loop Trail, as we who run the Savoy 20 Miler know).  It’s just a short jaunt to the Rock, and well worth it. 

Leaving the balancing act, we had two choices, Tannery Road or the Lower Ross Brook Trail.  None of us had ever been on the trail, any season, so that was our choice.  What an enchanting trail this is!!  

Easily dashing along the bank of the stream, winding mellifluous onward to the junction at the falls themselves.  Our pace shuttled us along the winding stretches of pine laden forest, almost tunneling through the reaches of untouched snow covered trail.  I don’t recall being on such a wonderfully refreshing spirit lifting path.  This will be a definite repeater during the summer months, but already I wonder if the lush green amplitude of summer will be able to eclipse the sparkling frozen blankets of pristine snow of December.  The warmth provided by the tunnels and confines of pine were an unwavering contrast to the icy charging stream splashing along its journey to the falls. 

Tannery Falls themselves are a difficult aim during the winter months.  The trail winds sharply downhill (650’ elevation loss in just a few tenths of a mile!!) at steep intervals along the brook, rumbling roaring water crashes and slices it’s way eroding deep crevasses into the rock that directs the flow.  Sheer drops leave one exhilarated and scared at the same moment, the guided cable along the bank in part offers a modicum of support.  A quick view about half way down the first falls only prompts your excitement.  The muscle burning downhill leaves you at the bottom (1180’), finally able to take in the majestic beauty of one of the falls.  Overhanging rock formations obscure your view but the power and noise resounding off the cliffs leave you overwhelmed.  A short path to the larger falls leaves you totally breathless.  60 feet the water cascades, transformed into one huge sheet of ice the same 60 feet in height, folds and layers from the constant temperature changes, mist and steam rising off the assorted pools located throughout the length of the drop. 

"P" talked freely aloud of hearing the Sirens of Tannery Falls calling his name from these hidden pools, softly whispering sweet nibbles of temptation mixed with the wind.  The only option we had was to re-climb the side of the falls past the source of the tempting and run like heck out of there.  The climb is tough, but easier than the descent as we even found the wooden steps leading back up. 

The Tannery Road / Trail leading us back was unfortunately a little bony and very steep uphill 90% of the way.  It did lend us a look at another of Savoy’s Cemeteries, interesting visits with the history of the people who once lived in this area. 

Lewis Hill Road, another unplowed gem within the forest (much of the roads within Savoy State Forest remain unplowed during the winter months for snowmobile use, these can double for skiing and snowshoeing very nicely), also seemed like an all uphill battle until we reached Adams Road, where the aforementioned Fig Newtons were expired.  Too tired to break additional new trail, we opted for a repeat of Bannis Road. 

Forgotten were the numerous ups and downs and ups again.  Three tough climbs along the road on the way back left us breathing heavy and shuffling slowly until we reached the final hill.  The five of us romped down the mountain alive and clean-lunged from the cold crisp air of Savoy’s Tannery Falls.  A most wonderful area worth exploring, a real hidden gem in the Berkshire Hills, Tannery Falls by way of snowshoeing is an option for those looking for something new. 

1st Spruce Hill Climb Snowshoe Race
December 8th, 1996 - Florida/Savoy, Massachusetts

A Spruce Hill Snowshoe Adventure was held in Savoy Mountain State Forest.  We happily hosted a handful of participants on this day.

Georgie and Bear

On Spruce Hill with Bear

SWAMPS, STREAMS AND SPRUCE HILL

If December 8th seemed early for snowshoe, it wasn’t.  From Friday through Sunday morning it continually snowed, and hard.  What we were left with was an upgrade in status from “trail run” to full fledged snowshoe assault.  Ladies and Gentlemen... start your engines... the sport of snowshoeing has arrived in Southern New England.

The conditions were fantastic!!  The morning had us glaring at 22 - 27 inches of the heaviest, wettest snow imaginable.  We set out eagerly, although slowly, a gut wrenching, quad and glut burning 2.2 mph pace around Tower Swamp and the ensuing climb up Spruce Peak (2566’).  We somehow managed to figure out that we had to take turns leading if we were to make it to the top of the mountain.

As tough and demanding the effort it took to reach the top of Spruce Hill, it was worth it.  We saw Greylock and Borden Mountain / Tower 51 in the distance.  What a great way to stomp through 3.5-miles.

Savoy Mountain State Forest with Dusty again - this time the following:

North Pond Loop

Old Florida Road

Busby Trail to Spruce Hill

7.5-miles in 2:00:01. 

Savoy Mountain State Forest with Dusty for 5-miles along North Pond Loop, Florida Road and the Blackburnian Trails.

Hit peak 2416', managed 5-miles in 1:21:38.

Metacomet Trail run with GH & the Bandit from Phelps south to Route 20 (and back).

1:00:24 / 1:04:55

2:05:20 Total.

Trail Maintenance with K2 & Dusty at Dubuque in Hawley.

We spent 2-hours clearing a mile of trail, from trailhead to Basin Brook Crossing.

Later on, DL and I attended a Springfield Blizzard Woman's Basketball game - which was lost by the Blizzard on the last shot of the game.

Granville State Forest with Dusty, 3-miles. 

South Taconic Trail Run

Catamount Ski Area to Bash Bish Falls (and back...)

We failed to catch up with Uphill & the Old Goat, as we got lost driving (Bandit and I).

Bandit and I managed 12-miles (roughly 6-miles each way) for the day.

1:32:25 Out and 1:31:53 Back.  3:04:18 Total.

DL and I attended the Neil Young and Crazy Horse concert in Hartford tonight, with the following as the set-list:

• Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)
• Pocahontas
• Slip Away
• Powderfinger
• Big Time
• The Needle and the Damage Done
• Out of My Mind
• I Am a Child
• Heart of Gold
• Helpless
• Scattered (Let's Think About Livin')
• Cinnamon Girl
• When You Dance, I Can Really Love
• Fuckin' Up
• Cortez the Killer
• Music Arcade
• Like a Hurricane

Encore:

• This Town
• Sedan Delivery
• Rockin' in the Free World

Metacomet with RunSteveo, Phelps south to Peak/Copper and back.

44:34 / 

44:58 / 1:29:32

Promotion at work & DL hired at our local bank.  A pretty good day!

Appalachian Trail Adventure with GH & Bandit.

Began at Route 41 (Plateau Camping Area) and rambled to Jug End Road for 16.3-miles.

Lions Head:          35:13 /   35:13

Point (Break):      49:16 / 1:24:30        

Race Mountain:   57:38 / 2:22:08

Point (Break):        9:26 / 2:31:34

Everett:                45:28 / 3:17:03

Jug End Road:  1:04:12 / 4:21:15

DL and Dusty met us at the end to shuttle us back.

Monroe 30km Trail Race with Pop.

We made the 2-hour cutoff time by a mere 3-minutes.

1:57:11

2:10:16 / 4:07:28

Marked the Spruce Mountain section of the Monroe race with Dusty (4-Miles).

Granville State Forest with Dusty for 3.1-miles.

Metacomet Trail Run Phelps to Route 20 and back.

21:29

23:18 /    44:47

  9:11 /    53:59

11:28 / 1:05:28

24:06 / 1:29:35

22:10 / 1:51:45

Tunxis from Old Route 20 north to Pell Road and back for 10.2-miles (1:54:57).

A visit to Old Sturbridge Village with DL.

 Trail Run with Dusty at Granville State Forest over 5-miles.

 4-Mile Hike with Dusty at Granville State Forest.

5th Annual Wapack Trail Race

17th place at this one - tied with CP.

Rainy, fogging, slippery and cool.

3:04:34 for the 17.5-miles.

Cool, clear and beautiful today.

Not sure of the checkpoints:

   30:13 /    30:13

   47:22 / 1:17:36

   11:15 / 1:28:51

1:06:39 / 2:35:30

   29:05 / 3:04:34

Suffield 2.3-Mile Fall Race (part of the 10km event).  

Ran with DL in 24:10 (earning DL a 6th place ribbon!).

Hike Granville State Forest with DL & Dusty for 3-Miles.

Hill Street 7-Miler afterward in 1:01:52. 

Metacomet Trail, Phelps Road south to Route 20 and back.

Between 10-Miles and 11-Miles, 2:04:52. 

Mt Toby Trail Race.

Completed the 14-mile event in 2:02:02 (entire field was lost for a bit due to removal of ribbon).

1:06:48 up

   55:13 down

Hill Street 7-Miler in 1:03:39. 

Hill Street 7-Miler in 1:06:16. 

Metacomet from Sunrise Park with RunSteveo - 5-miles. 

Trail Clearing continues along the Hawley Pass Trail in Dubuque State Forest, with Dusty.

3.5-hours (2.5-Hours clearing & 1-Hour Walking).

Savoy Mountain 20-Mile Trail Race.

Right Foot and Lower Leg "numb" for first 30-minutes.

Legs were gone by Mile-12 (Head and Heart/Lungs Fine).

19th place overall in 3:15:54.

Felt like I was flying the entire second half of the race.

• Upper East Hoosac in 48:34.
• Center Road in 29:53 / 1:18:27
• Tower in 15:20 / 1:33:47
• Center Road in 9:53 / 1:43:40
• Upper East Hoosac in 35:29 / 2:19:09
• Finish at North Pond at 56:45 / 3:15:54

Marked Savoy Course with Scott B and Dusty - roughly 5km. 

Yasso 800's - Eight Total. 

Odyssey Book Store in South Hadley to Meet and Greet with Anne Rice (with DL).

Ate at Bub's BBQ afterward.

Bridge of Flowers 10km

Ran the short-course with DL (2-miles), and then continued with the 10km (late start).

Pop and the Bandit were running as well.

2-miles @ 20:28

3-miles @ 29:01 (8:33)

4-miles @ 35:34 (6:32)

5-miles @ 42:40 (7:06)

6-miles @ 49:26 (6:45)

Finish @ 50:53

Basketball Hall of Fame with DL & Brit.

Appalachian Trail Marathon

August 3rd, 1996 - Salisbury, CT to Mount Washington, MA

I completed my 13th marathon today.  

My route took me along the Appalachian Trail, from Salisbury, Connecticut into Massachusetts.  

The turnaround point was at the summit of Mt. Everett.  

Total time on the trail was roughly 6:27:53, which included a break for a lunch at Everett.

• 1:15:44 @ Bear Mountain (from Route 41)
• 1:04:45 / 2:20:29 @ Mount Race
•    34:52 / 2:55:22 @ Mount Everett
•    10:00 / 3:05:22 @ Lunch - Rest - Refuel
•    36:03 / 3:41:26 @ Mount Race
• 1:33:46 / 5:15:13 @ Bear Mountain
•     42:17 / 5:57:30 @ Lions Head
•     30:22 / 6:27:53 @ Route 41

Yasso 800's - Seven Total.

Appalachian Trail Hike Adventure IV with DL and Dusty.

Undermountain Trail @ Route 41 to Sages Ravine.

We completed 7.3-miles for the day:

49:36 Undermountain to AT Intersection

1:20:00 (2:10:00) to Sages Ravine

11:27 to Paradise Lane Trail (2:21:29)

45:00 to Undermountain Trail Junction (3:06:30)

21:41 Down Undermountain to Parking on Route 41

3:28:11 Total

Trail Maintenance in Hawley at Dubuque State Forest with Dusty.

We spent two-hours cutting out the Hawley Pass Trail.

My third attempt at the Escarpment 30km Trail Race.

Drove out with the Bandit.

3:40:32 and 27th place (roughly).

Not too hot but very slippery.

Windham in 40:33.

Blackhead in 1:15:53 / 1:57:27.

Stoppel Point in 59:42/2:57:09.

Finish in 43:22/3:40:32.

 Yasso 800's - Six Total.

Cummington Ambulance Trail Race (10k)

 11th Place overall and 1st Clydesdale!

45:39, with overall winner at 41:03.

Our old friend from Texas Peter R. passed away tonight.

Yasso  800's - Five Total.

Yasso  800's - Four Total.

Appalachian Trail Hike Adventure III with DL and Dusty.

Race Brook Falls Trail @ Route 41 to Mount Everett.

Another wonderful day to be outdoors, and to hike.

We completed 5.4-miles for the day:

1:35:08 Up Race Brook Falls to AT Intersection

35:43 to Everett (2:10:51)

25:29 Lunch Break on top of Everett (2:36:20)

32:42 Down Everett on AT to Race Brook Falls Trail Junction (3:09:02)

1:14:26 Down Race Brook to Route 41 Parking Area (Lengthy Stop at Falls)

4:23:29 Total

Hurricane Remnants at Work - 13 Hours of OT.

Metacomet Trail Run - Holyoke, MA

Route 116 Notch Visitor Center to Harris Mountain Road.

10.8-miles in 2:11:15.

  1.3-Miles:  22:52 / 

  3.3-Miles:  21:05 /    43:57

  5.4-Miles:  24:05 / 1:08:02

  7.5-Miles:  27:36 / 1:35:38

  9.5-Miles;  23:23 / 1:59:01

10.8-Miles:  12:14 / 2:11:15

Old Goat + Cemetery Man

1st Northern Tunxis Trail End-2-End

My friends the Old Goat and Cemetery Man convinced their Mom's to provide "a rolling aid station" by driving around Barkhamsted and East Hartland so that we could enjoy cool water and snacks along a 21-mile adventure.

We would begin at Pell Road and ramble south, covering the Tunxis Trail to Satans Kingdom.  Hopefully completing the 21-miles or so in one piece (or, four pieces as there were four of us).

The Old Goad and Cemetery Man were joined by CP and I, for a great sunny day.

2:34:55 to the Route 219 Crossing / 1:28:34 to end prior to Route 44

Finished in 4:03:30 or so, with a bit of being "lost".

Hill Street 10-Miler in 1:33:05. 

1st Wapack Range End-To-End

June 23, 1996 - Greenfield, NH to Ashburnham, MA

First ever installment of the "Wapack End-to-End" adventure.

80-Degrees, Sunny and Breezy.

I drove up to the event with CP, ready to tackle the challenge.  The Gulliver's really did a nice job coordinating the shuttle between points, as well as the aid stations.

Ran with Curt P and Paul F, finished in 4:54:59.  We lost some time on the top of one of the peaks searching for Paul's contact.

1:16:32 / 1:16:32

1:34:08 / 2:50:40

2:04:18 / 4:54:59

Appalachian Trail Hike with DL and Dusty.

Bunker Hill Road Access Trail to Lion's Head and through to Bear Mountain.

This was a wonderful day to be outdoors, and to hike.

We completed 7.8-miles for the day:

2:12:48 Out

24:16 Lunch Break on top of Bear Mountain

1:24:31 Down (DL Ran Much on the way back)

Total Time on Feet - 4:01:36

Mystic Aquarium with DL. 

Ran 6-miles around Feeding Hills with RunSteveo. 

DL and I went "online" for the first time - joining AOL. 

Heublein Tower Run II

Long 16.5-Mile Trail Run through Penwood and Talcott Mountain area, second consecutive season.

Finished in 3:10:27, which was almost twenty-minutes slower than last year.

There may have been a few reasons for this:

• Temperature in the high 80's.
• Very Sunny, Very Hot, and Very Humid.
• Stomach Problems due to a lunch that may have been "too big".
• Ended up Lost a bit at the bottom of Heublein.

This could have started at T-Ville, with the following breakouts:

T-Ville Out        24:25 /    24:25

Penwood Out    37:28 / 1:01:53

Heublein Out    30:03 / 1:31:57

Heublein In       23:00 / 1:54:57

Penwood In       46:34 / 2:41:31

T-Ville In           28:55 / 3:10:27

5th Consecutive Greylock Half-Marathon.

Ran with Pop on a warm - humid day that was also very wet.

We came across RunSteveo on Rockwell Road, and we stuck together from there in.

@ Rockwell Road                          1:01:46 / 1:01:46

@ CCC Dynamite                             14:58 / 1:16:44

@ Jones Nose Parking Area             23:34 / 1:40:19

@ Adams Road/CHarbor/Finish        51:54 / 2:32:13

Marked the last portion of the Mount Greylock Race Course with Paul H and Dusty.  

We took care of Jones Nose, Adams Road and Cheshire Harbor Trail.

Nipmuck Trail Marathon

June 2, 1996 - Ashford, Connecticut

I completed my 11th marathon at Nipmuck Trail.  

I ran a 3:56:50 in the race, which was good for 15th place.

Sprained my right ankle badly at mile 1.5.  Ran the first 15-miles with GH.

  6-Miles      49:27 /    49:27

12-Miles      53:01 / 1:42:28

19-Miles   1:05:38 / 2:48:06

26-Miles   1:08:42 / 3:56:48

Appalachian Trail Hike with DL & Dusty.

Route 41, Plateau Campsite area to Lion's Head and back, total of 4.7-miles.

Nice, sunny and cool 60-degree day.

Melville's Monster - Mt Greylock State Reservation\

17.4-Mile Trail Run

Completed the route up Cheshire Harbor and over the west side of the Mountain on a coolish 60-degree day.

39:54

24:57/1:04:51

10:41/1:15:32

16:39/1:32:11

22:35/1:54:46

27:46/2:22:33

20:55/2:43:28

41:34/3:25:02

Soapstone Half-Marathon!  1:50:29 and 18th position for 13.8-miles or so.

Soapstone Mountain Half-Marathon Trail Race

It was another warm 80-degree day.

Start to Tower               17:57/17:57

Dirt Road                      22:53/40:51

Road Xing                    20:47/1:01:38

Dirt Road (~11-miles)   27:16/1:28:55

Tar Rd/Soapstone        13:42/1:42:37

Last Mile/Dirt Road        7:52/1:50:29

Middle of Soapstone Course with Dusty - 5-miles. 

Visit my Mom for Mother's Day.  Included a 6-mile run in Hawley along the way. 

Yasso 800's with RunSteveo;  7 total. 

7-Sisters 12-Mile Trail Race

Finished in 2:12:05, a new personal best.  This had me in 17th place overall.

Temperatures were in the sixties (degrees), sunny and warm.

Timed Points:

1) 15:58

2) 14:10 /    30:09

3) 17:51 /    48:00

4) 14:41 / 1:02:41

5) 19:48 / 1:22:29

6) 18:01 / 1:40:31

7) 16:02 / 1:56:33

8) 15:32 / 2:12:05

3.5-miles on the Metacomet, Phelps north with Dusty.

Evening at the Richie Havens Concert at Asnuntuck Community Technical College with DL.

Metacomet Phelps south, 4.7-miles.  DL and Dusty hiked.

7-Sisters Training Run completed all 12-miles in 2:34:48.

(18:20, 35:19, 56:31, 1:13:49, 1:36:24, 1:57:00, 2:16:07, 2:34:48)

Back to Shenipsit with Dusty for 3.5-miles. 

Shenipsit with Dusty, 3.5-miles. 

Another 7-Sisters Training Run with RunSteveo; this time completed in 2:26:54 for 10-miles.

(23:50, 44:11, 1:10:29, 1:40:43, 2:05:43, 2:26:54)

Once again, McLean with Dusty, 3-miles. 

McLean with Dusty, 3-miles. 

100th Boston Marathon

April 15th, 1996 - Boston, Massachusetts

I was fortunate to run the 100th Boston Marathon today. 

It was my 10th marathon completed, in a time of 3:24:14.

Mile Markers as follow:

•   5.0 -Miles -    45:05
• 10.0 -Miles - 1:23:25
• 15.0 -Miles - 2:02:28
• 20.0 -Miles - 2:42:59
• 25.0 -Miles - 3:22:35
• 26.2 -Miles - 3:32:15

7-Sisters Training Run completed all 12-miles in 2:33:51.

(18:16, 34:51, 57:36, 1:15:11, 1:36:37, 1:57:43, 2:15:54, 2:33:51)

7-Sisters Training Run with GH and RunSteveo.

Completed the 12-miles in 2:50:48.

(21:47, 41:06, 1:04:43, 1:21:14, 1:46:09, 2:08:10, 2:29:51, 2:50:48)

 Hill Street extended loop - 10-miles in 1:24:32.

7 Sisters course to Summit House, 10-miles.

(20:15, 38:10, 1:01:14, 1:29:03, 1:45:12, 2:04:37).

Hike Phelps north on Metacomet with DL and Dusty, 53:50.

Hill Street extended loop at twilight - 10-miles in 1:25:20.

7-miles in Shenipsit in 1:11:33.

Yankee Candle with DL and JC for a visit. 

Hike with DL and Dusty in Hawley. 

Hawley - Dubuque State Forest for 10+ miles in 1:52:40. 

Hill Street Loop in the dark, 7.2-miles in 1:00:10.

4-miles in the Academy Swamp, covering 54:21 with Dusty.

Savoy Fire-station to Dubuque State Forest in West Hawley, and back for 20-miles.

Completed the run in 4:21:56.

• From the Fire-Station in Savoy Hollow, I climbed Banas Mountain and made my way towards Haskins and Chapel Road, using the snowmobile corridor, 33:43.

• Followed the snowmobile route after crossing Chapel on Hawley Road to Savoy Road, coming out at the maintenance area (King Corner) on Route 8A in 36:12 (total time of 1:09:56).

• Climbed King Corner in 12:48 (total of 1:22:49).

• Rambled around the Moody Spring side of Dubuque for 1:26:24 (total of 2:49:08).

• Back to the Hallockville Pond side of the forest (east-side) to get back toward Savoy for 46:25 (3:35:33).

• Finished up along the road to get to the fire-station in 46:22 (a grand total of 4:21:56).

Dusty returns to action - 2-mile hike on Metacomet from Phelps north. 

Hill Street Loop, 7.2-miles in 53:35.

2nd Annual Moby Dick Marathons
February 18th, 1996 - Lanesborough, Massachusetts

I completed my 9th marathon, the 2nd Annual Moby Dick.  It was a run on snow, and Georgie H and I wore snowshoes.

The event began at the Greylock Visitor Center in Lanseboro, Massachusetts, and ran up the snow covered road to the summit of Mt. Greylock, then down to North Adams, and back.

Covered the 28-mile version in 6:16:43.

The breakdown of splits were as follows:

Visitor Center to Summit - 1:54:33;

Summit down to North Adams on Notch Road - 1:08:12;

3:02:46 at the "half-way" point of 15-miles.

1:53:58 back up to the junction with the final mile to the summit (avoided summit on return).  This placed us at 4:56:44 for this point;

Final descent on Rockwell Road in 1:19:58 to end out at 6:16:43.

ODE TO REAL COLD MEN

So I thought I had seen and done it all vis a vis running in strange places for insanely long distances.  Then the farmer called to remind me of Mount Greylock and his plans to conquer the beast in sneakers.  I looked out the window that morning and groaned.  True dead of winter stuff here, folks.  Driving through northern Massachusetts I looked over at the grin on this guy’s face and knew I was in for it.  I mean he’s Fitzcarraldo, the windmill dude, Dr. Strangelove, all of the above when he gets this look in his eye.  I knew there’d be no stopping him on this quest.

We arrived at the visitor center around 9 in the morning and dodged obnoxious snowmobiles as we walked toward the hospitable lodge.  I sat on the couch and admired the pretty park ranger while Ed ran his hands over the diorama of the Mountain, mentally tuning his Zen state for that morning’s fun.  No kidding now.  This was really the last place on earth I wanted to be.  At least that’s how I felt when I saw that Ranger Sally had a wedding ring.  Then our fellow ghouls straggled in and I could see that this was a for real event.  So I disappeared into the bathroom to write some graffiti on the wall and hoped against hope that Ed would forget I had driven up with him.

SADDLE UP, EASY RIDER!  His voice shook the stall.  I fell off the seat.  Here we go again.  Fortunately the crew had left 5 minutes earlier in pansy ass sneakers.  We Bulls would be lashing Snowshoes for this trek.  Only problem was that I had never worn snow shoes.  It wasn’t a pretty sight.  The first 7 miles to the base of the summit were, however, quite beautiful.  Ed and I even managed to smoke Dion, Joe and the boys.  I should have relished the moment.  It’d be the only Moment that day.  Because Lord Greylock was readying some payback for the proud.

Leaving the protection of the trees below the summit was like getting hit in the chest with a sledge hammer.  Naturally, I wore my 1930’s issue wool hunting uniform and I was soaked in sweat.  50 mph gusts of arctic wind sift through those fibers and find your very white blood cells in no time.  I knew my number was up at the summit, mile 8.  Bob Dion joined us at the top, allowing me a chance to pullback from the duo a little while I waited for the downhill section.  So I waited and waited and waited.  Mile after mile after mile and the damn mountain wouldn’t go down.  Truly dispiriting.  So I did the old, walk, trot, jog, walk thing until I met up with Ed and Bob coming back up the turnaround.  They looked like Chechen Rebels home from a night at the front.

“You don’t want to go there.  Don’t do it,” they warned.  I would have gone, really would have done the upright thing, finished the steep section, real man and all that.  But they had good food.  I thenceforth trailed them like a beggar, picking up scraps they’d toss over their shoulder.  Believe me you lose your pride pretty quick out in no man’s land.  That’s why they call it no man’s land.

It was a mutually beneficial run from there.  Bob and Ed set the pace just ahead, providing me with a little motivation to put one weary foot in front of the other.  And I gave them that healthy fear of failure, of being passed by a highly competitive opponent breathing down your neck.  Yea right.

At the junction leading back to the summit, we stopped to discuss making the extra 3 mile run to the top and back.  I fiercely argued that we had to go the extra yardage and finish the quest or we couldn’t live with ourselves.  Ed said something about bad luck visiting a mountain top twice in a day. Bob kept looking down the hill with an insane smile on his face.  I decided that this crew really didn’t have the je ne sais crois necessary to reconquer Greylock so I took command and ordered my men down the mountain.  Of course I trailed at a good healthy distance in case either of them fell by the wayside.  A really good healthy distance.

Bob and Ed bounded down the hill like kids at the final bell.  I stayed behind and ran to the summit on my own.  And I did it extremely fast.  Extremely.  Extremely enough that I ended up finishing the race in about 7 hours.  The latter hour of which found me crawling on my hands and knees as women in thongs and fine tan lines whizzed by on flaming green and red snowmobiles.  I must have looked pretty scary because nobody stopped to pick me up.  By the time I hit the parking lot, Bob and Ed were fast asleep in their cars inhaling carbon monoxide.  I pulled off my socks in Ed’s truck and watched as my toenails came off in the process.  Seems the crusty buggers had snagged on my wet wool socks.  I hadn’t felt the pain because of the frostbite.

So here’s a healthy Bronx cheer to those of you who decided to opt out of the Greylock quest.  I’m going to say that you really missed out on the time of your lives, a unique opportunity to test your primal bounds, to run with the wolves, to gasp on the edge of being, to wake up around oh....  11:00 on a Sunday morning, lounge on the couch in the sunroom and browse through the paper, enjoy a piece, two pieces of cinnamon raisin toast, take a nap, take another nap, watch an old movie with a pint of ice cream and some cute thing.  Ahhhh heck.  So maybe I made all this up.  But maybe I didn’t.  If any of you get a mouthful of hair when some freak streaks by you this coming season, just look down at his mangled toes.  You’ll know where you should be next February.

Snowshoe twenty-miles plus on the Good Thunder to Tannery Falls.  

Trip included Burlingame, Brown Road, Savoy Hollow, Banis Mountain Summit, Tannery Road, and back through Little Egypt (Brown Road, High Bridge and Burlingame).  

Totally time was recorded at 4:37:42, with Dusty.

   51:07/    51:07  Burlingame to Brown Road

   32:48/ 1:23:55  Firestation

   19:50/ 1:43:45  Banas Summit

   44:28/ 2:28:14  Tannery Road

1:14:22/ 3:42:37  Brown Road

   34:05/ 4:16:42  High Bridge

   21:00/ 4:37:42  Burlingame

Academy Swamp snowshoe, 4-miles in 53:18 with Dusty.

Academy Swamp snowshoe, 5-miles in 1:13:00 with Dusty.

Academy Swamp snowshoe, 4-miles in 58:04 with Dusty.

Pop, Bill D, Ken S and PH carried torch for Bay State Games today! 

Good Thunder Snowshoes arrived today! 

Dusty ACL surgery on left knee. 

Third visit to the HTC's Peoples State Forest 17.1-miler.

Completed the two-loops in 2:05:42 (59:46 loop 1, 1:05:57 loop 2).

Academy Swamp snowshoe, 4-miles in 53:41 with Dusty.

Academy Swamp snowshoe, 4-miles in 54:39 with Dusty.

Hill Street Loop with RunSteveo, 7.2-miles in 1:05:06. 

Academy Swamp snowshoe, 5-miles in 1:29:35 with Dusty.

Academy Swamp snowshoe, 4-miles in 1:01:41 with Dusty.

Academy Swamp snowshoe, 3-miles in 45:00 with Dusty.

Fat Ass Fifty

January 7th, 1996 - North Adams, Massachusetts

I participated in the annual "Fat Ass 50" in North Adams, Massachusetts.  It consisted of many loops on the road, on a cold, gray day, as well as a pretty bad snowstorm on the drive home.  I believe I finished the run in 5:32:35, for 50k.

This was my 8th marathon completed.

Pop and Bill D finished 20-miles in 3:36:00.

Temperature was at 4 degrees for the event.

(36:21, 56:10, 1:01:47, 1:06:02, 52:44, 1:00:29)

Academy Swamp snowshoe, 1.5-miles in 40:00 with Dusty.

Academy Swamp snowshoe, 3-miles in 1:31:28 with Dusty.

Academy Swamp snowshoe, 2-miles in 48:31 with Dusty.

4.4-miles of snowshoeign from Phelps south, 53:55 with Dusty.

3.5-miles of snowshoeing from Phelps north, 1:14:50 with Dusty. .