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Schaghticoke Mountain Race 2016
Date/Time:  Sunday, November 20, 8:00 a.m.
Location:  41.680078, -73.512468
  • Appalachian Trail (Mile 4.0 in CT):  Schaghticoke Rd. ¼ mile north of Bulls Bridge Rd.
At mile 4.0 on the Appalachian Trail in CT, the trail turns off of Schaghticoke Rd. and back into the woods where it climbs a little over 850’ in about 1.5 miles.   This is a lung busting, challenging climb with a little rock scrambling, but generally runnable singletrack.  It will certainly get the heart rate going!  The trail ascends up to a clearing on the trail to a rock outcropping lookout point. John McElroy, whom some of you on this list know, not only has the Strava Segment Ascent CR, but also the Descent CR.  

Ascent:  https://www.strava.com/segments/9185766  CR:  19:12
Descent:  https://www.strava.com/segments/13036650  CR:  15:46

The Race:  An uphill race, followed by a downhill race.  Runners will go off time trial style in 30 second segments with John of course going last.  When everyone gets to the top, we will then have a second race bombing downhill.  Your start will be based on your actual time in the ascent race.  There will be a prize for the fastest time up and for the fastest time down.  I have no doubt that both CR’s will fall!

Cost:  Absolutely Nothing!
2016 Schaghticoke Mountain Race Report
It was an amazing day on the trails!  Mother nature greeted us with the first snow of the season and dumped 3-4 inches of wet snow onto the trails and trees.  After a few last minute dropouts, we were down to 15 trail ready runners.  

Runners went off in 30 second increments so not to clog up the trail at the beginning of the race.  The trail looked great at the start with just wet and slightly muddy conditions.  A few of us had hiked the course the day before and cleared all the leaves off the trail on the way down.  While there was little snow on the trail in the 1st 1/4 mile, it soon became apparent that the weather was going to be a factor in everyone's trek up the mountain.  The singletrack became slippery very quickly and most would have to hike some sections that would normally be runnable.  Wet snow on the trees and branches created obstacles hanging over the trail so if you were among the first runners to start, it was hard to discern where the trail was at times.

For the uphill race,  Bill Goodman was among the last few runners to start and he quickly navigated his way up through the field and was the second runner to the top, but his net time of 17:36 was almost a minute faster than that of 2nd place runner Scott Gregor.  Keep in mind that the race is 1.5 miles uphill with an elevation change of close to 900'.  Bill's pace was just under 12 minutes per mile!  To put that into perspective, Bill has a marathon PR of 2:44 at Boston this year!

Once everyone got to the top it was incredibly serene.  There was virtually no wind to speak of and the views of the valley below were unmatched.  Everyone was all smiles about the struggle of the climb through the adverse conditions.  Within 5-10 minutes, it was time to start the downhill race.  The plan was to stagger the start again based on your uphill time, with the faster runners going last, but we decided because of the treacherous conditions that were about to greet us, that the faster runners would go first to have a clear track in not having to pass too many runners.  

It certainly was quite sketchy anytime you hit a rocky sections and switchbacks.  The good thing is no one got hurt and only a few minor falls.  Most of the runners threw caution to the wind and three managed to get under 13 minutes with Scott Gregor practically skiing all the way down in 12:32.  Scott is an expert technical downhiller in dry conditions, but that was impressive!

Thanks everyone for making the 1st annual Schaghticoke Mountain Race a success.  Both "Strava" segment course records went down pretty convincingly!  Hope to see you all again next year!  
Results
​Schaghticoke Mountain Race
Sunday, November 20, 2016
                  
Name
​Time Off Set
Up Time
Up Rank
Down Time
DownRank
Overall Time
Overall Rank
Charlotte Dequeker
----
25:35
15
18:23
12
43:58
14
Alan Peck
1:00
23:58
14
14:26
6
38:24
8
Chuck Rocca
1:30
23:44
12
17:25
10
40:59
12
Chris Deming
2:00
23:07
11
19:55
13
43:02
13
Brian Vanderheiden
2:30
22:01
9
16:29
8
38:30
9
Ted Erkkila
3:00
21:52
8
13:52
5
35:44
6
Pete Lofink
3:30
23:45
13
17:11
9
40:56
11
Kahlil Gonzalez
4:00
22:07
10
14:23
7
37:25
7
Bernie Gee
4:30
20:11
6
20:44
14
40:55
10
Scott Gregor
5:00
18:35
2
12:32
1
31:07
1
Rick Rushka
5:30
20:29
7
13:26
4
33:55
4
Jim Harron
6:00
18:51
3
12:57
3
31:48
2
Virgil Bretz
6:30
19:34
4
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Bill Goodman
7:00
17:36
1
17:36
11
35:12
5
John McElroy
7:30
19:51
5
12:52
2
32:43
3
  • Events
    • Mine Hill Half Marathon
    • Mountain Lakes Backyard Ultra
    • Norbrook Farm Brewery Trail Festival
    • Housatonic River Brewing 5K
    • Macedonia Trail Race
    • Angevine Farm Trail Festival
    • Mohawk Mountain Race
    • 8 Hours at the Farm
    • Tarrywile Half Marathon
    • Bethel Turkey Trot
  • Coaching
    • Coaching Services
    • Coaches
    • Testimonials
  • Trail Racing Team
  • Blog
  • Store
  • Contact