Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Sunapee Ragged Kearsarge Greenway


Less than a week after writing about the health concerns of ultra-distance racing, I have decided that in September or early October, I am going to try to go for the record in completing the 75 miles of the Sunapee Ragged Kearsarge Greenway.
SRK Greenway
Okay, so the Greenway Coalition doesn't formally recognize speed records, but I figure that if I complete it in a reasonable time, it will give others motivation to topple the "record" and in the meantime get to enjoy some of the best trails in the Lake Sunapee Region. The trail is a cooperation of landowners and local authorities through forests, mountains and sometimes old logging roads creating a "necklace" connecting the three mountains of Kearsarge, Sunapee and Ragged.

Before I picked up running, I used to hike a bunch of it that went through my home town of New London. Due to the fact that the trail is primarily located on private properties, camping is not allowed so this will force me to keep up a solid pace throughout the run.

Although not too much elevation gain/loss, there will be plenty of steep short hills, technical switchbacks as well as the three major climbs to the main peaks. This will be balanced out with plenty of nice double track running to hopefully keep my interest and average pace up.

I'll probably start below Sunapee and get it out of the way early and go counter-clock wise to tackle the challenging hills of Sutton and Warner, as well as Mt Kearsarge, and then get some relatively benign end miles towards the Springfield Croydon areas.

I'll be shooting for under 15 hours but it will all depend on how much supplies I'll have to carry and whether I sucker someone in to joining me. Either way, it should be a fun time...

UP NEXT: Wedding Double(Genny's and Gattie's) and possibly a 4th of July Race, then Providence 70.3 for Amber.

1 comment:

  1. You should do some recon before heading out. I hear the trails are NOT well-marked. Good Luck!

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