9th Annual North / South Pond Shuffle Snowshoe Race
January 7th, 2006 - Florida & Savoy,  Massachusetts

Race Directing duties at the ninth North-South Pond Shuffle Snowshoe Race at Savoy Mountain State Forest...  once again part of the WMAC Dion Snowshoe Series!

This time, we managed 3.3-miles with 94 participants.

Annual Woodford 3.5-Mile Snowshoe Race
December 18th, 2005 - Woodford State Park, Woodford, VT

The Woodford 3.5-Mile Snowshoe Race found me finishing 7th out of 111 participants.

Juliana Hatfield opened up and X completed the double billing at Pearl Street, Northampton.  

Attended with DL and RunSteveo.

Northern Nipmuck Trail Marathon

November 20th, 2005 - Union & Ashford, Connecticut

Completed my 32nd marathon distance run today at a Northern Nipmuck Trail Marathon, with Wuzzam, Summer, and Tippi (6th completed marathon).  My finish time was recorded as 6:28:18.  Looking at this, I think it was much further than 26 miles.

Mt Washington State Forest Marathon - September 13, 2005

 Riga Plateau, South Taconic & Appalachian Trails, MA, NY & CT

I completed my 31st marathon at Mt Washington State Forest, with the Riga Plateau, Appalachian Trail, and South Taconic Trail thrown in for good measure.  I had Tippi and Wuzzam along for the day, which set a record for high temperature unfortunately for us.  This was Tippi's 5th completed marathon.

Our time was 5:10:41, which shows we were really running pretty hard.  The lack of water on the trail was a real concern for me, with Tippi.  Luckily, the stream at the bottom of Bear had plenty, and from there on we were set.

Wuzzam looked absolutely beat climbing and coming down off Bear.  He needed the stream to cool off in as much as Tips did.

I took Tippi out  to Little Egypt, around the "High Bridge" area, to explore snowmobile trails.

We parked on Upper East Hoosic Street / Adams Road along the Adams and Savoy border.  Ventured on the old section of East Mountain Road until we noticed the orange snowmobile signs pointing us into the woods.

Nice path, lost a good bit of evelation along the bank of the Tophet Brook.  Continued on toward Reed Brook, and Ziemba's Dairy Farm on Walling Road.  Turned back and explored a sidepath to come out lower on East Mountain Road, about half-way up the climb.

Hallockville Pond Marathon

August 11th, 2005 - Hawley, Massachusetts

Today I completed my 30th marathon.  Locale was Dubuque State Forest and we named the event the "Hallockville Pond" Marathon.  

For company, I had Wuzzam being his norm good sport, and Tippi with her normal determination.  Old Farmer Tom met us along the Notch Trail on bicycle, and enjoyed a few miles with us.

This was Tippi's 4th completed marathon.  Our time ended up at 5:21:16.

Attended a concert at "The Egg" in Springfield, Mass with DL and the Magrats.

The Pixies played an incredible show!

Setlist (approximate)

• Caribou
• Cactus
• Bone Machine
• Velouria
• Here Comes Your Man
• River Euphrates
• Wave of Mutilation
• Is She Weird
• Mr. Grieves
• Ed Is Dead
• Gouge Away
• Monkey Gone to Heaven
• Subbacultcha
• The Holiday Song
• Nimrod's Son
• Been All Around This World
• I Bleed
• Crackity Jones
• Hey
• Vamos
• Where Is My Mind?
• Gigantic

Savoy General Store Marathon

July 28th, 2005 - Savoy, Massachusetts

Tippi and I ran the Savoy General Store Marathon.  It was lengthy, over 29-miles I believe.  From Haskins Road to the General Store, which brought us all the way over to Windsor Jambs, we had the company of "Max", a friendly dog we picked up at Loop & Haskins intersection. 

Tippi along the trails of Savoy, 2005.

Oddly, each time we came to an intersection on the trail, "Max" knew which way we were planning on turning (even though he lead).  He managed this for 9 - 10 miles.

Total for the day was roughly 29 - 30-miles in 6:17:52.  It was my 29th completed marathon, and Tippi's 3rd.  After finishing, I met Jane Phinney in the Savoy Town Offices;  she is the Savoy Town Clerk and is the author of  "Taking the High Road".

Nipmuck Trail Marathon

June 5, 2005 - Ashford, Connecticut

Completed my 27th marathon distance run today at Nipmuck Trail Marathon. 

My finish time was recorded as 4:48:13, which was good for 29th place.

  Mount Greylock Centennial Marathon

May 21st, 2005 - Adams, Massachusetts

Fairly large group (about a dozen or so) completed a "do-it-yourself" Greylock Marathon, aka Old Goat 50th Birthday Bash & Annual Celibacy Run.

Our time was 6:47:02.  This is a very difficult course, with 5 lengthy climbs.  Five out of the twelve starters completed the full 26.2-miles.

This was my 28th marathon completed, and Tippi's second.

8th Annual South Pond Shuffle Snowshoe Race
"... or was it the North & South Pond 5-Mile Snowshoe Race"
"or...  better yet...  the 8th South Pond Shuffle at North Pond"
March 12th, 2005 - Florida & Savoy,  Massachusetts

Race Directing duties at the eighth South Pond Shuffle Snowshoe Race at Savoy Mountain State Forest...  once again part of the WMAC Dion Snowshoe Series!

This was held just after and in the middle of 24" of snow coming down.  It is the infamous "train" race.  Waste-deep snow through the entire 5-miles.  We broke into 1-minute front-running intervals, with people taking turns breaking trail.

With a mile to go, I broke away with some distance with only AS following me close.  Just at the gate, for the final rush to the finish, I just pulled back and watched the chaos begin with the sprint to the finish.  I crossed the line in 8th (of 32), at what have been one of the best days to snowshoe race ever recorded in our parts.

Annual Woodford Snowshoe Race
March 6th, 2005 - Woodford State Park, Woodford, VT

The Woodford 3.5-Mile Snowshoe Race found me finishing 7th out of 41 participants.

8th Annual Hawley Kiln Snowshoe Races
March 5th, 2005 - Dubuque State Forest - Hawley, MA

Another organizing effort, this time for the original 7-mile Kiln Klassic, as well as a short version for those who wanted it.  54 finishers in the long route, 7 in the shorter version.  Ended the day with a trip to South Face Farm!

Hawley Kiln Snowshoe Race Marking
March 4th, 2005 - Dubuque State Forest - Hawley, MA

Late afternoon, the Bandit, Tippi and I made a few additional markings for tomorrow's race.