The USATF NE mountain running circuit begins this week with the 8.5m Mt Kearsarge race in Warner NH on Sunday (May 22).  Runners in New England will be able to test themselves over various mountains over the next six weekends.  The Wachusett Mountain 4.3m race will be held on May 28 in Princeton MA, followed by the return of the Pack Monadnock 10m on June 4 in Wilton NH.  The USATF circuit continues on June 12 with the Mt Ascutney 3.8m, while others may chose to participate in the non-circuit Whiteface Mountain 7m on the same day.  The Mt Washington road race which takes place on June 18 is limited to 1,000 runners filled by lottery in March.  Mt Washington is not part of the circuit which then continues on June 25 at Northfield Mountain.  Northfield will serve as the USATF NE mountain running championships and as a selection race for the US Mountain running team.  The final race in the circuit will be the Mt Cranmore race on August 8.  Mt Cranmore will serve as the final selection race for the US Mountain running team.  The team will compete in the World Mountain Running Trophy in New Zealand in September.

Weekend results:

 The Adirondack Runners    16th Annual Prospect Mountain Road Race
                 May 14, 2005 * Lake George, NY * 9:00 AM
  1   1/14   Richard Bolt     34 M Nashua          NH   35:56  6:21 CMS/Polar
  2   1/26   Dave Dunham    41 M Bradford        MA   39:17  6:56 CMS/Polar
    3   1/14   Matthew Mallet       29 M Saratoga Spring NY   39:56  7:03
    4   2/14   Devitt McKew         31 M Burlington      VT   40:34  7:10
    5   2/14   Nathan Jenkins       26 M Ballston Spa    NY   41:44  7:22
    6   2/26   Rocket Boy Miley     40 M Sherrill        NY   41:52  7:23
    7   1/23   Peter Gerardi        53 M Scotia          NY   42:20  7:28
    8   3/26   Bob Radliff          40 M Stillwater      NY   42:57  7:35
    9   1/25   John Onderdonk       38 M Saratoga Spring NY   43:16  7:38
   10   3/14   Matt Armstrong       30 M Clifton Park    NY   43:26  7:40

Rich Bolt ran the sixth fastest time ever at Prospect mountain, despite a lack of competition.  Rich also broke Matt Cull's single age record by 12 seconds while gaining his first win in three attempts.  Rich now holds three of the top 13 times.  Dave Dunham finished in his best place, besting his fourth from 2004 and third from 2003, despite running his slowest time by over a minute.  Dave also broke Pete Gerardi's 1993 single age record by 8 seconds.  Dave now holds two of the top five times for masters, well behind Barry Brown's CR of 36:22 set in 1990.

The Team Gloucester 11th Annual Mt Washington Prep day
May 15 7:00 AM
Rockport, MA

The 11^th annual running of a TG classic, started with a 15 minute warmup on trails through the woods to Doctor's Run.  Doctor's run is a quarter mile uphill, not unlike the pitch at Mt Washington, where the group does hill workouts to prepare for the upcoming mountain races.  Hill repeats were run at each person's individual pace.  After innumerable loops up and down the hill the group paused as some of the guys helped a family who was attempting to move some furniture.  After the good deed was completed, the runners headed off for a run back through the woods to the Steel Derrick quarry were some did laps around the 5/8ths mile wooded loop and others took a refreshing plunge.  A few did the 28' leap off a ledge into the quarry (the 2nd highest point in Rockport).  The run then continued through the woods with a loop up a hill to the water tower, then down through some fields to the home of event director Peter Watson.  There was an excellent breakfast of juices, fruits, and pancakes and viewing of the running movie (based loosely on the Dipsea race) "On the Edge".  About 20 runners from the area turned out, each signing the (im)phoster cup commemorating the workout.

USATF NE Mountain running circuit information:

May 22 - Mount Kearsarge (Warner NH) 8.5 miles, 10 a.m.
Contact: Paul Digeronimo email:mcttelecom.com;p_digeronimo, 603-456-3029,

May 28 - Wachusett Mountain, Princeton MA, 4.3 miles, 9:30 a.m.
Contact: Kevin Fallon email:nollafnivek@yahoo.com 508-835-4262

June 5 - Pack Monadnock, Wilton to Temple NH, 10 Mile, 9:00 a.m. (tentative time)
Contact: Gate City Striders - Steve Moland packmonadnock1@aol.com  Race Website http://www.packmonadnockrace.com

June 11 - Mt.Ascutney Run to the Summit, Windsor VT, 3.8 mile, 9:30 a.m.
Contact: Mt.Ascutney State Park, 1-800-299-3071 Ethan Phelps email: ethan.phelps@anr.state.vt.us

June 25 - Northfield Mountain Run, Northfield MA, 9:00 a.m. - note new date
Distances: Men: 15.6Km (9.6 miles), Women 10.4Km (6.4 miles) (different distances than past)
USATF-NE Mountain Running Champs / Teva US Mountain Running Team Selection Race
Contact: Dave Dunham dave.dunham@comcast.net Race Website: http://www.runwmac.com/snowshoes/gt%202005/2005%20nfm%20info%20050105.pdf

August 7 - Mt.Cranmore Race North Conway NH, 14.8 Km (9 miles!), Time to be announced
18th annual, first time NE mountain circuit event. Teva US Mountain Running Team Selection Race
Contact: White Mountain Milers info@whitemountainmilers.com

For descriptions of the courses and more race info, click here <http://www.usatfne.org/trail/2002mtnevents.html>. The circuit is supported in part by the All America Trail Running Association <http://www.trailrunner.com>

CIRCUIT RULES AND SCORING: (the same as recent years)
Runners score points based on their time as a percentage of the winner's overall time, making every second count! The winner receives 100.00 points. For example, a winning time of 41:08 gets 100 points; 42:21 is worth 97.13, and 1:20:32 gets 51.08 (the winning time being just about 50 percent of that runner's time. In 2005, points in a runner's top 5 of 6 races are totaled.

AWARDS: USATF New England provides awards for the top finisher in the Open, Masters, Seniors, and Veterans age groups. The 2005 circuit will again award special T-shirts to "Mountain Goats"; those USATF members who run all six races this year. Support of the series comes from Teva and the All-American Trail Running Association (AATRA) <http://www.trailrunner.com>

As a USATF New England program, scoring eligibility is limited to individuals who are USATF members from any association. As always, all races are open to all runners. However, USATF membership is required to score and win awards in the overall circuit. If you have additional questions, feel free to email or call the USATF-NE office, (617)566-7600.