Monroe Dunbar Brook
Sunday, October 7, 2012
OK, so I'm the only one who ran an 11.5 mile race today - but then doesn't that make me the first place finisher?
I have something of a love-hate relationship with the Monroe Dunbar Brook course... I love how secluded the forest is, and the woods are especially beautiful this time of year. The waterfalls on Dunbar Brook are also a real plus. On the other hand, there's only about 4 miles of the course that I can actually run - the rest is either relentless technical uphill or steep technical downhill. I never really hit a stretch where I can get into a good running rhythm until the final couple of miles. So that can be frustrating... or I can have days like today, where I decide "who cares what my finishing time is" and just enjoy the being out in the woods for a few hours - even detouring off-course for a mile to take in a great viewpoint.
The weather was a bit uncertain this year - we started with overcast skies, chilly temperatures, and the possibility of rain later in the day. I was tempted to pack a jacket but in the end went with a short sleeved shirt and my Asics arm warmers - I think that was the best decision, though I did end up pretty chilled when I foolishly stood around talking with Bill and Konrad afterwards, rather than pulling on a jacket or sweatshirt.
We were at the back of the pack right from the start, though we did beat the 2 mile frontrunners out to the previous site of the bridge across the brook (other than a set of stone steps down to where the bridge used to be, there's no sign it was ever there.) This first mile also treated us to the sight of Nipmuck Dave powering away from us - on crutches. So now I can say that I've had my butt kicked in races by a pregnant woman and a guy on crutches. Seriously, Dave is incredible - and this was a week after his doing the Nipmuck Marathon.
We spread out on the way up the hill to Raycroft Road - no one was in sight when I got to the first water stop, so I decided to add a detour down to the Raycroft Overlook, a stone observation platform built by the CCC reputed to have awesome views of the valley. While it would have been even more impressive on a sunny day, the view was indeed excellent, and well worth the detour.
Back on course it was a slow, slow slog to the top of Spruce Hill and then back down to Raycroft Road. About a mile and a half of technical uphill, with a few short stretches I found runnable, then the generally steep, technical, slippery drop down off the ridge which I had to crawl down for fear of blowing out a knee. Not fun. Crossing Dunbar Brook on the other hand, just after the 2nd water stop, was great - the very cold water really woke me up, and signalled that soon I'd be running along the brook, which I always enjoy. First, though, the was the climb away from the water and descent past the HUGE boulders - and then I was finally at my favorite part of the course - a trail I could actually run fairly consistently!
Still, between my detour and the generally slow day (I'll admit it - I just didn't feel like hammering today) it took a while to get to the 2nd brook crossing (even deeper and just as cold as the first - fun!) and the last stretch of trail high above the brook is always a mixed bag for me - lots of running, but also some short steep climbs to break up the flow, and I've awlways got it in my head that it would be a really bad place to fall, with the steep drop down to the brook. But I finally crossed the road and ran down the corridor of evergreens to finish in just under 3 hr 40 min. Even knocking 15-20 min off for my side trip, that's easily my slowest time in 6 runnings, and that includes 2005's longer more difficult course due to the torrential storm the previous day turning the brook into raging chest-deep whitewater. About par for the course for most of my races this year - but I'm still glad I spent the morning and early afternoon in the gorgeous woods of Monroe State Forest - and even more glad that I had a chance to catch up with Konrad and Bill, who I haven't seen much at all this year - amazingly, this was the first Grand Tree race that I've actually managed to run, usually I'd have done half a dozen by this point in the series.
JMH
2012 Event Totals
Run 239.1 mi, 58 hr 50 min
Bike 147.1 mi, 13 hr 34 min
Snowshoe 14.3 mi, 3 hr 37 min
Kayak 4.5 mi, 1 hr 23 min
states visited: CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, VT
