1996 Race Report
Report by Kevin Molloy - CR
A large crowd and perfect weather conditions welcomed the start of the 36th Mount Washington Road Race. A strong field including New Englanders, Dave Dunham. Eric Morse, Craig Fram, Dan Varrington and Mike Casner and Kenyans Daniel Kihara and Kip Kemboi Kimeli set the stage for and exciting race. In the womens race, Julie Peterson, Jacqueline Gareau and Alayne Adams made for a strong and competitive field. The men’s masters division would be a formidable effort between Bob Hodge and Tom Schmiedel.
The field canon blasted off at 10:03 and 1000 excited runners sprinted off on the only flat part of the whole 7.6 miles.
The very early leader was Dave Dunham however he was soon joined by Kenyan, Daniel Kahara. Almost immediately, as the runners met the first grade, Daniel inched his way head of Dunham, who settled back into a lead pack that contained all of his NE running mates - Morse, Fram, Ratcliffe and Verrington. Most of those in the press vehicle believed that Daniel had gone out way too fast. There was general consensus that he was fading even after only half a mile. Time would tell. According to John Stifler Pat Carpenter did a similar time three years prior and ended up breaking 60 minutes, but admitted he had gone out far too fast.
At the first mile mark, which is actually .9 mile, Daniel's time was 5:48, which is a 6:40 mile pace. He looked very strong and on the winding road, he was soon able to acquire a visible break on the rest of the field. This becomes a strong psychological advantage on any race but, at Mt. Washington ,it can be an even stronger advantage. At about the same time that Daniel was making his impact on the rest of the field, Julie Peterson from Beverly MA, had also taken an early lead over the favorite Jacqueline Gareau from Canada. Time would tell whether Julie could out fox the very experienced Jacki.
As we drove from Julie's position in the field, back to the male leader we could see that all of the top runners now had an increased look of determination on their faces. The race had really begun. Mike Casner, in particular, seemed very focused and looked as though he was in for a good day. Dave Dunham is hard to read behind his mirrored glasses, however he looked very smooth and the strong lead of Daniel at mile 2 (estimated at close to 60 seconds) did not seem to be worrying him. Very little does worry Dave Dunham. By mile 2.5 Daniel's lead was over 70 seconds and , although he was sweating profusely, his style was still silken smooth.
At about the half way mark, the grade seems to become just a wee steeper. There was now a feeling that Daniel had the race to himself and the media experts felt that he would come through in about 29 minutes. We were sitting next to the 1/2 way clock when Daniel passed us in 28:10. A course record was within his reach and only the elements could deny him. Dave Dunham crossed the half way in 29:40, 90 seconds behind Daniel. Dave had widened his lead over Eric Morse to 16 seconds and Craig Fram another 18 seconds but still looking strong in fourth place.
Another strong contender for the laurels was the other Kenyan in the pack, Kip Kemboi Kimeli. His personal trainer was on the bus with us and advised us that Kip was on his way back from an injury and was using the race as a real test. He looked extremely strong at the half way mark in approximately 10th position.
Just after mile 4 the trees started to thin out and hence we become more exposed to the elements. After rounding one particular bend on the road, the vehicle appeared to shutter from the impact of the wind. Can you imagine how the runners react when they first feel this impact. At about mile 4.5 we pass Daniel again and he was really leaning into the hill at an angle that looked like 45 degrees. The road surface suddenly changes to dirt and the tree line is well below us. How will this combination impact the runners ?
Daniel went through the 6 mile mark in 45:18 -( 7:54 pace) and was very close to course record pace. The question was, could he sustain this pace for the last 1.6 miles or would the mountain win ?
At about this time John Stifler, sensing a possible record, jumped from the moving van and ran alongside Daniel, encouraging him to go for the course record and a bonus in prize money. It’s hard to say whether this had any impact on Daniel but it made John feel good.
The last 100 yards of the race is probably the steepest part however it did not impede Daniel from smashing the course record for a new time of 58:21, 56 seconds ahead of Derek Fronde’s 1990 record.
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