| djspookman wrote: |
| noski wrote: |
| Congratulations! How many competitors were there? What did they think as they "decompressed" at the Valley House? I wonder if the series will come back next year. It would be nice to have some anecdotal information from competitors to share with management of MRG/SB and the series promoter. |
Thanks! I had a blast out there! There were 37 total competitors, and I think that 36 finished. Everyone I talked to (only a few!) liked the course! I overheard someone saying this was the longest randonee rally in the series. Apparently the other races are half the length. I think the low number of competitors was a direct result of the weather Sunday though.. which is too bad because it really wasn't that bad! |
Hey DJ -
This was definitely a long race (winning racer being 2hrs20mins) but by no means double other stops on the circuit. We have pretty average vert in our course (~4500) but the distance is much longer - I think perhaps 3 to 5 miles longer than other courses on the circuit. All in all, it's definitely more challenging, but having a longer course with the same vert is better than having a ton more vert than other stops... does that make sense?
Feedback from Andrew McLean, the racers, and the volunteers was all very positive; granted, we didn't get the best weather ever, but the turnout was good and the competitors were extremely enthusiastic. Lost in all of this is the fact that Life Link donated over $10,000 in cash and prizes for the raffle after the race and everyone in attendance (and many not in attendance) won some prizes.
As far as a return to the MRV goes - it's obviously too early to say for sure but I've already planted the seed in the minds of our friends out at Life Link. At this point, all parties involved - the SB events department, Life Link, Andrew Mclean, SB management, MRG folks - are really supportive of this event becoming an annual staple here in the valley.
I can't help but dream as I sit here in my office and think about this race.... Imagine a course that starts at the Valley House, climbs Racer's Edge-Snowball-VH Traverse-Jester to the top of LP, traverses the Long Trail to the summit of Mount Ellen, descends ME via FIS-Lower FIS, and climbs back to the Valley House via Slide Brook-Village Run-Castlerock Connection-Header-Lwr Downspout-Coffee Run.... Same vert, similar distance, but beginning and ending at the same place... logistically much easier to pull off!! Don't get me wrong, I truly hope we can work with MRG on this event again next year, but it's fun to daydream from time to time...
To those of you on this board who volunteered - thanks again!
-TTT
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