Nearly a year ago, a week before we moved east, I finally had the chance to run Mt. Marathon, the Alaskan mountain race. It was a lot of fun, and fulfilled a long-held dream of mine, as we’d watched Dad run the race so many times as we grew up.
The other big mountain race he ran, though he only started when I was in college, was the Mount Washington Road Race, in New Hampshire. It’s a different kind of run: not only is it on the other side of the country, but you only have to run up to the top of the mountain, rather than the up and down route that Mt. Marathon requires. The problem is, Mt. Washington is more than twice as tall as Mt. Marathon, and is famous for having “the world’s worst weather.” Now, it’s June, so it’s not going to be that bad, but still, the race is more than seven miles, uphill.
I thought I’d give it a shot this year, and thought it’s not quite as tough as Mt. Marathon is to get into, we still had to rely on a friend with a free slot when I didn’t get picked in the lottery. So, here we are, the night before the race, staying at our friends the Swensons’ place, just as I did ten years ago to the day, getting ready for tomorrow’s race. This time, though, I’m contemplating the run myself, instead of getting ready to drive up and provide rides back down the mountain.
Dad came in from Anchorage yesterday, I drove up from New Haven after work, and we all caught up on the World Cup and spent the night at Aimee’s family’s place in Wellesley. I’d love to have brought the girls up to New Hampshire, but it’s a lot of sitting in the car and waiting for someone to run up a mountain. Maybe next time.
This morning, we drove up through the motorcycle-choked roads of southern New Hampshire, and stopped for lunch at the Mexican restaurant in Conway where we’ve eaten many times before. The Swensons are unchanged, save for the sad departure of their dog Lily, and the recent arrival of a new Jetta SportWagen, whose in-dash computer I’ve been asked to troubleshoot.
It’s taken awhile, but I’ve been getting back into running after my customary multi-month rest period after the marathon. With the return of early morning daylight and better weather, I’ve been able to run around the neighborhood, and, most excitingly, through the local park whose trail system starts across the street from our house, which is a huge benefit to living where we do. As always, I hope I can keep it up this time, and am signing up for a few races to keep myself from falling behind in my training. I haven’t been running hills recently, so we’ll see how tomorrow goes, but I’m looking forward to the chance to run two iconic mountain races with Dad in one year.
