MVP Health Care Bitter Pill
2011 Results
Results and Wrapup: (Less detailed text results are available, and you can also view the results in the very cool new timeline format!)
|
This year's MVP Health Care Bitter Pill couldn't have gone better! (Do we say that every time? Maybe, but its always true. :) Our amazing volunteers and staff raced around the woods setting checkpoints in the downpour just before 33 teams arrived to register on Friday night. Some racers took advantage of our famous navigation clinic, and then everyone tried to grab what sleep they could.
After a 4:30am captain's meeting in the dark, teams got about 10 minutes to look at their maps before a 5am start on foot. 6 points in any order brought them to some beautiful vistas, a huge field of wild blueberries, and back to pick up their bikes for some fun logging roads and hike-a-bike out to a reservoir. There teams dropped their bikes, and trekked and swam to pick up four points. (Comments from the local fishermen seeing teams of three swimming the reservoir towing drybagged backpacks were priceless.) More biking, and then a trek/bushwhack to a surprise climb, one truly incredible vista view of Lake Dunmore (easily in the top three locations we've ever included in a race), a hidden pond, and other points while fighting their way back to the transition area where lead teams received the present of... more biking! (Of course.) Some great riding (what an epic downhill), and then another swim/trek leg saw racers finding their way around Silver Lake before hopping back on their bikes for the ride to the finish (remember that downhill? yeah... what goes down...) At the end of the day, team Untamed New England was unstoppable, turning an early lead into a course-crushing 9 hours 56 minutes - an hour and a half faster than the next team Snot Rocket Science. The only other team to finish the full course, Sunrise Adventure Sports, crossed the finish at 12:03. Every team had a full day, stretched themselves to the physical and mental limits, and went home with a smile! After a long day in the heat and sun, many racers jumped into the Blueberry Hill Inn's stream-fed pond to cool off and clean up, picked a handful (or two) of fresh blueberries, then got a post-race massage, listened to the live band, swapped stories, ate and drank (great meal!), and cheered for the winners as they each walked away with their share of one of our largest prize vaults ever. Folks that stuck around until it got a bit darker were treated to a slideshow of GMARA memories. What a great walk down memory lane - there was much laughing and reminiscing over all our years of racing. We'll be posting this soon too - look for an update with the link to it. This year's course was a great mix of endurance, navigation, pain, fun, and beauty - something for everyone! Friday night's deluge combined with high temps on race day and loads of distance made this a contender for our toughest course ever. Despite that, I was able to see racers at many points mid-race, and regardless of where they were or what they were doing, everyone was smiling. Racers, volunteers, spectators - everyone had a great day. How could we ask for more? Full, exhaustive results: http://www.gmara.org/bitterpill/results11.shtml All Photos: http://gmara.smugmug.com/Races/Bitter-Pill-2011-all See a photo you love? Mouse over it and click the green thumbs up - the most popular go to the best of gallery here: http://gmara.smugmug.com/Races/Bitter-Pill-2011-best-of Please, if you have any photos or blogs about the race, send them to us at info at gmara.org, and we'll put them online for everyone. I'll post 'em here when I get them:
Of course, a huge thank you to our sponsors: MVP Health Care Eastern Mountain Sports Outdoor Research Black Rapid camera straps Catamount Outdoor Center Grangers Trail Runner Untamed Adventure Zanfel poison ivy wash And to our partners: Amalgamated Culture Works (best. shirt. turnaround time. ever.) Blueberry Hill Inn (beautiful Vermont inn - worth a visit!) bevo catering CVPS Local music by Breaking Bread Middlebury Mountaineer Sustainable Wellness Massage And last but definitely not least, our volunteers and staff: Bert, Blythe, Chris, Colin, Graham, Hanna, Jenn, Jim, John, Justin, Kate, Kristin, Laurie, Ryan, and Shawn. You. All. Rock! Seriously - we couldn't do it without you. Post-race celebration dinner details, coming atcha soon! Keep an eye out for details on our next race! (Wanna help? Let us know - we promise you'll have a great time, and there's a discounted race entry in it for ya!) -- Race on! -Tim & the GMARA gang |
Results tracking/display Copyright 2006-2011, Tim Curtin and GMARA - tim at gmara.org for info
Timeline view:(hover over any mark to get more info)