Race Report - Mt. Summit Challenge

I entered the Mt. Summit Challenge pretty much last minute with my cousin Lynn and her daughter Kerri. While not on my race bucket list, it was one I'd wanted to do. You can read the Team Rabbit recap on this here.



My cousin had done this race a few years back. Neither one of us was really trained for it, let alone any other race. But we were both game, so it was a go! I drove up Saturday, late morning, with Riley. After a short visit there we all went over to her mom and dad's house - with both of our dogs - and then from there Lynn and I went to packet pick up. While there we took the opportunity to drive the course: that is 3.5 miles uphill to the historic Summit Inn! Aside from a slight dip in the road early on, it is pretty much uphill the entire way. And in the last mile gets even steeper! In fact, there is even a scenic overlook along this point! You know the course is steep if you have one of those!! I joked and told my cousin I was going to take a picture there the next day...


Back at my aunt and uncles' house the dogs were happily playing in the back yard, which was like a giant private dog park to them! Riley loves chilling in the yard at home, but doesn't usually get this much open space to just run around in! It was great watching her:

Riley, running happy at me!

After dinner, then Suzy's ice cream for dessert, we headed home and it was not long before we headed to bed. The race had a 9AM start time but we were meeting Lynn's friend at the finish so she could drive us to the start. Otherwise, we'd have to drive up and run down to the start. Or park at the start and run down after we finished. It was nice to be able to get a ride! 

The start was near the fire station in town and one of the fire fighters was going to be going uphill in full gear! Whew. It was all nice and low key. Lynn's daughter was doing her first race - ever - and humored me with a pre-race selfie!

Thanks for humoring me, Kerri!!

The start line was an "S" painted on the street! They moved us all behind it and then we got a "GO!" The first quarter mile-ish is flat, then you head up the on ramp onto the road, where it is basically just up! There was a slight dip after the maybe first mile? All  know is I made sure I ran the entire first mile before walking! Then I started counting steps, and trying to make the walk steps equal the run steps. Most of the time.

Uphill as far as the eye can see!

Here's the lovely view from the scenic overlook:

It really was a gorgeous view!

The last mile seems to get steeper as you go. I confess, I walked a lot as I went along. My cousin warned me that the heat of walkers, who started 3 minutes after the runners, would pass us. She was not kidding! I'm still happy I did my run/walk to the top!

Lynn and I finished just seconds apart! Her daughter beat us by over 10 minutes and even won her age group! Here we are regrouped at the finish!

Happy finishers!

And here is mom and daughter stretching out their calves!

Coordinated stretching! Congrats, Keri!

Our pre-race driver, Sue, won her age group also! Thanks again, Sue!

Congrats to Sue!

There was a fun post-race party inside the inn afterwards with pizza and a band. The band and pizza were both good! The view from the top was even prettier!

Beautiful day and a beautiful view!

Maybe next year we will actually train for this race?

Happy and Healthy Training!