“May the Force Be With You”

Sleepy Hollow Mountain race report. 5/13/12

I made a special trip to visit family in Burlington, Vt. on Mother’s Day week end and there just so happened to be a trail run nearby. This race is the first of six races of the USATF NE- Mountain Goat Series. Sleepy Hollow is a beautiful little mountain resort in Huntington,Vt. Its loaded with lots of single track and wide grassy roads for runners and cyclists and cross country skiing. You felt very welcome as soon as you arrived and this place provides a nice venue for this kind of event. This new location is replacing the Northfield Mt. venue where for the last ten years Dave Dunham has been the race director. This years race director Kasie Enman is one of Vermont’s finest long distance runners and she put on a great race in her backyard with the help of some happy volunteers. Who laughed and clapped and cheered as they help direct you on the race coarse
My brother from Maine was also visiting in Vt. and decided to come along with me as a spectator and to see what the heck I have been up to by doing this trail running thing. He had a great time and met some interesting folk. The prerace announcements were a funny intro to the series. Paul Kirsch gave Dave Dunham a mt. goat hat to wear as testimonial for all the years of directing the Northfield Mt race.  Paul is the director for the series and Dave keeps the scoring. There were about 130 runners or so that started. Immediately you run up this little slope to Molly’s Meadow where the finish is and then straight up this hill. Within the first half mile I was huffing and was wondering what I have got myself into. The weather was near 60 degrees and mostly cloudy with peak a boo sunshine. It had rained all week up there so trail conditions were ripe for muddy trails and spongy grassy roads. Lots of the trails were named after Star Wars characters so you felt the “Dark Force” of the quads burning going uphill and the magical energy of Yoda as you fly downhill. At mile 4 ish you pass through Molly’s Meadow and go out for another 2 mile loop. It was cool to see my brother here so he could see me all sweaty and muddy and woohooing!. Out of the meadow I went and could see some of the leaders just finishing. They looked spent and so I knew more steeps lye ahead. I felt like a Jedi Knight going up the last climb as I slashed the rocks and roots with my light saver. The final mile unfolds on a descending grassy ridge road so if you had any energy left in your light saver you could really let it rip here. I tried the best I could but the dark forces were strong. As soon as I saw the finish at the other end of the meadow I gave it one more burst of energy and nailed my estimated arrival time on the nose. 1:12:00.  I cheered in some runners behind me. One runner fell flat on his face 20 feet before the finish as he tried to pass this fast younger runner. My brother was amazed at the whole scene at the finish and he provided some kudos. He also made sure I had some recovery beverage and some gorp which was a huge help. I congratulated the R.D. for putting on a fine trail race and told her how much I enjoyed it. She was full of giggles and I told her I would come back next year!