MorFun in Mass.

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While others were enjoying a race on one of my favorite islands, I was having MorFun in the mountains of southern New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts. I had decided to run this week’s Grand Tree race, the MorFun Wapack Trail Race 21 Miler. I was going to run it last year, but was hurt and not able to run it, so this was a little unfinished business. The race is actually a multiple distance race with distances of 50, 42 or 21 miles. It is run along the Wapack Trail which is a 21 mile long trail from Greenfield, New Hampshire to Ashburnham, MA. For the 50, you run an out and back on the trail and then back up the last mountain, down the mountain to the last aid station, turnaround and repeat. For the 42 you have the option of not doing the last 8 miles, which I wouldn’t blame anyone. This race should not be confused with the other Wapack Trail race held in August. That race, also a Grand Tree race, does an out and back on a section of this same course. This race uses the whole length of the trail, so it’s MorFun.

The race is billed as a tough, rugged, hard race. It is.The RD warns you that it’s tough and has little sympathy for people who don’t prepare. He even requires you to have $50 on you if you choose to quit at an aid station to call a cab. He doesn’t believe you should bother the aid station people for a ride because they are there for the runners still on the course. The 50 Miler has over 14,000 feet of elevation gain and an equal amount of elevation loss. So I figure the 21 miler has about 6,000 feet up and 6000 down. It most reminded me of the Escarpment Trail race. Footing from the start was terrible with rocks and roots everywhere. With rain at the start there was also ankle deep mud throughout the course, and the granite boulders were as slick as ice. Multiple injuries occurred. I witnessed two personally. One was a split open chin from a close encounter with a racer’s face and a rock, and the other was a fractured ankle. Good thing for the runner with the split chin that a dermatologist was running right behind him and had a little medical kit to butterfly his laceration closed. Right place, right time.

The day started at 3:00 AM and I was on the road by 4:00. It was about a two and a half hour drive and I was never there before. I arrived up at Ashburnham about 6:45. The small parking lot was full from the 50 milers cars except for two spaces, and I took one. The 50 Milers had started at 5:30. I didn’t see anything that looked like a place to register. There was only a couple of other people here and after asking, they did not know where to register either. The bus was to leave for the start at 8:00 and the RD said to make sure you were there by 7:30 to register. That’s what time he had showed up. He then threw the race bibs on the hood of his car with a list and allowed for self service registration while he was doing something else. Ahh, the laid back atmosphere of a trail race.

The bus left for the hour long ride to the start at 8:00 on the nose. Arriving at the start, the race director gave some last minute instructions and told everyone that the race would start in ten minutes. The bus rapidly cleared with 51 runners scattering to find a private area in the woods before the race. After a 5 minute warning, then a 1 minute warning, the RD blew an air horn and we were off. Of course, the trail starts up a hill. The course is only the Wapack Trail, which is marked by yellow triangles. No additional markings were put out, but the trail is marked pretty well and wasn’t a problem navigating. A few times I did have to look back to make sure the reverse trail was marked to be confident I was on the trail still. But if you do get lost, the RD puts his cell number on the race bib so that you can call him and he can hopefully get you back on course. He did say something about it being a good idea to bring a cell phone. One 50 miler was lost and did have to call him while we were on the bus.

The race basically went up and down a lot and had some ridge running too. For all its ruggedness it is a very beautiful trail. Once the weather cleared up later in the race, beautiful vistas greeted you as your reward for the arduous climbs. It was well worth the difficulty.

The aid stations were great. Since it was an ultra event, they offered much more than you typical 21 mile race. The volunteers were great and they were mostly ultra runners, so they knew what you needed when you came in and how to help you. I was wearing my Bimbler’s Bluff Buff and at the last aid station, a woman said she had run the Bluff. Her name was Pam Dolan and she was from Mystic, CT.She wasn’t feeling well and didn’t run the race, but stayed to help volunteer.

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All finisher’s got medals that were personalized with your name. He had a sheet of inscribed names on medal plates that he stuck on the back of a generic running medal. A little corny, but it was hard earned and went up with my other medals. I finished the race in 5 hours and 30 minutes on the nose.

Check out my pictures in the gallery. Also check out this guy’s pictures and captions. He did a much better job than me and he ran the ultra distance. Damn overachievers. http://picasaweb.google.com/slatour0694/WapackTrailRace2009