Work gave us the afternoon off, so John, Michael and I did a quick trail run to the top of Pleasant via Ledges Trail. It was a beautiful day and the trails were packed like a sidewalk.
Date: 12 February 2021
Distance: 3.5 miles
Moving Time: 0:55:15
Pace: 15:49/mile
Elevation Gain: 1650′
Michael and I signed up for the Sugarloaf Uphill Climb, a 2.2 mile race up Sugarloaf Mountain in Carrabassett Valley with roughly 2500′ of elevation gain. The average pitch was 20%, but at its steepest was 30%. The race was advertised as being 2.5 miles, so we were both surprised when we turned the last corner to find the finish line.
Date: 11 October 2020
Distance: 2.2 miles
Pace: 18:04/mile
Elevation Gain: 2362′
Time: 0:39:12
Place: 35/166
M40-49: 3/15
This summer I attempted to run all of the Belknap Range mountains in a single run, but bailed because I didn’t bring enough water. I returned to run the mountains I missed for a long training run. It was a beautiful day and the trails were runnable.
Date: 27 September 2020
Distance: 10.1 miles
Moving Time: 03:08
Pace: 18:33/mile
Elevation Gain: 2958′
Not surprisingly, the races I planned to run this year were cancelled due to Covid-19. So I was pretty pumped when I heard that the Beast of the East half marathon was going to happen. It had been on my radar for a couple of years, so I signed up for it right away. Bibs were sent out to runners and the start was done in heats of 50 people socially distanced by cones with bib numbers on them spaced out six feet apart. I was grateful for some normalcy and the day was perfectly cool and dry for a race.
Date: 20 September 2020
Distance: 13.1 miles
Pace: 16:30/mile
Elevation Gain: 4429′
Time: 03:35:13
Place: 81/130
M40-49: 20/31
Tracing White Mountains Trails:
Red Ridge Trail
Red Ridge Link
Bryce Link
I needed a long mountainous trail run for my training schedule, and Jeff came along to try out some trail running. We decided on Mount Israel to knock off a 52 with a View peak and do a little Tracing White Mountains Trails. It was a cloudy day so we had no view, but we saw some bears. A cub crossed the street on the drive in, and I spotted another while we were running along Guinea Pond Trail heading toward Sandwich Notch Road. In all my years running and hiking in the White Mountains, it was only the second time I’ve seen a bear.
Date: 09 September 2020
Distance: 9.4 miles
Moving Time: 02:33:09
Pace: 14:16/mile
Elevation Gain: 1973′
Tracing White Mountains Trails:
Guinea Pond side path
Mead Trail
Wentworth Trail
Bearcamp River Trail
As one of my long weekend runs, and in order to do the Belknap Range Hiker badge, I planned on doing a loop of the entire Belknap Range. Short-sightedly, I only brought 1 liter of water at the start. I had a filter and 2 liters of capacity, but I thought I could pull off 1 liter until I hit Round Pond. I was wrong. It was warm and humid and the climb back up Piper from Whiteface had the midday sun on my back. I got to Round Pond dehydrated and completely drained. After drinking as much water as I could and napping by the pond’s edge, I bailed on my plans and headed back to my car.
Date: 09 August 2020
Distance: 14.2 miles
Moving Time: 05:01:49
Pace: 21:11/mile
Elevation Gain: 3499′
A long Sunday run at Bradbury Mountain State Park. Looking at my logs, my legs felt flat but I got it done. I had been struggling with ankle and foot problems and was trying to push through it.
Date: 02 August 2020
Distance: 10.8 miles
Moving Time: 02:32:35
Pace: 14:06/mile
Elevation Gain: 1647′
This long Sunday run is one of my favorites, Southwest Ridge Trail up Pleasant Mountain. Great views all the way up, and a runnable grade after some early power hiking to warm up. If you time it right there are all the blueberries you could want to eat.
Date: 26 July 2020
Distance: 8.2 miles
Moving Time: 02:16:10
Pace: 16:39/mile
Elevation Gain: 2557′
Fueled by my previous hike where I completed a section of the Appalachian Trail, I headed to western Maine to do the same. In my mind I was going to take a few hours to trail run from the AT trailhead to Baldpate Mountain and back. It would complete another small section of the Appalachian Trail. In reality it took me nearly those two hours to do the first climb, Surplus Mountain, and I sucked down all of my water in the process. I still completed a small section, but now I’ll have to return to connect the in-between.
At the trail head I met a Native American AT thru hiker, True North, and his dog. He was keeping an eye out for a reportedly sick thru hiker, Mango, to give him a ride to town. I told him I’d keep an eye out for him, but I didn’t come across Mango during my run.
Date: 19 July 2020
Distance: 7.9 miles
Moving Time: 02:47:35
Pace: 21:06/mile
Elevation Gain: 2151′
I got up early on a Monday morning to get in a mountain run before picking up my kids for a vacation day. I try to stick to the rule of running or hiking at least as long as the total drive time. Sometimes the pull to the mountains is greater than arbitrary rules. On the summit I met a guy who spent the previous couple days hiking and camping in the Caribou/Speckled Mountains, and that morning made the long drive home. When he got there he realized he had lost his false front teeth. Amazingly, he made the drive back up to the mountains, hiked back up Speckled Mountain to where he had camped over night, and found his teeth on the ground!
Date: 25 May 2020
Distance: 6.9 miles
Moving Time: 01:58:55
Pace: 17:18/mile
Elevation Gain: 2246′
Tracing White Mountains Trails:
Evergreen Link Trail
Maine Wanderlust 