August 21 started with a beautiful orange glow as the sun came up between the ground and some threatening clouds. At the Potter Place train station, 38 runners and their support crew and race staff gathered for the start of the Second Annual MadAthlete Emerald Necklace Stage Race. The race starts and finishes in Potter Place and follows the Sunapee Ragged Kearsarge Greenway in its entirety over three days.
The first day runners climbed over Ragged and Kearsarge stopping for the night at Wadleigh State Park. On the second day, runners started at Wadleigh State Park and followed the Greenway over King Hill and Mount Sunapee finishing at the Sunapee Middle High School. On the final day, runners followed the Greenway through Springfield, New London, Wilmot and back to Potter Place to finish where they started.
The race started in a light rain that broke up through the day as the runners progressed. Many racers favored the light to steady rain which kept the temperature down but at the cost of some really slick trails on the two big technical ascents and descents.
The first stage covered 25.1 miles with 4,860 feet of elevation gain. John Beliveau of Falmouth, Maine won Stage 1 in a time of 4:53:55, followed by Dave Caron of Danbury in 5:13:46 and Greg Soutiea of Newton, Massachusetts in 5:18:50.
Debbie Livingston of Bolton, Connecticut won the women’s race in 5:54:56, followed by Ally Koenig of Saco, Maine in 6:03:33 and Kristie Clark of Portsmouth in 6:24:55.
Racers enjoyed a restful night with a meeting to go over the course for the next day. Two racers decided one day was enough, so only 36 started Stage 2.
Stage 2 was one glorious day. The temperatures were seasonably cool, humidity way down, and we bucked earlier forecasts of rain. Stage 2 had runners travel 23.55 miles with 4,130 feet of elevation gain through a wide mixture of terrain (rocks, roots, steep, flat, single track, hard pack road, asphalt, grassy, etc.) including one big ascent and descent of Mt. Sunapee.
John Beliveau won again in 4:19:22 over Greg Soutiea in 4:37:59 and Dave Caron in 4:53:54. Greg took over second overall with a 10:50 lead on Dave heading into Stage 3.
After running together all day, Ally Koenig out-kicked Debbie Livingston by 23 seconds for the Stage win in a time of 5:19:26. Kristie Clark came in third again in 5:43:23. Debbie retained an overall lead over Ally by 8:56.
Before dinner, the newly coined “Dunk for Denning” fundraiser had race director Tom Flummerfelt get in the dunk tank for repeated (25-30) dunks by racers willing to donate specific amounts based on throws at set distances … some bought opportunities for Tom’s kids to get their chance to dunk Daddy. Raffle prizes from MadAthlete and sponsors Julbo, Montane, and Mountain Hardwear were handed out in ample quantities.
Eventually, we even got a few racers to accept the challenge to get in the tank as well as the Assistant Race Director, Mike Sarnowski.
A beautiful evening with a fire and s’mores during the Stage 3 course briefing wrapped up the day and set the stage for a great final stage.
John Beliveau and Debbie Livingston won Stage 3 and Overall in the 2015 MadAthlete Emerald Necklace 3-Day Stage Race. John crushed the course record in 14:39:12 (old record – 17:30:23). Debbie also smashed the women’s record in 17:44:23 (old – 18:07:14).
Greg Soutiea placed second in 15:08:15. Dave Caron came in third for the second consecutive year in 16:38:14.
Ally Koenig placed second in the women’s race in 18:27:40. Kristie Clark also came in third for the second straight year in 19:12:38.
The team of Kathi Russo and Shane Vanhoose came in first in the team division.
At the finish, all racers were treated to a barbecue and music as they finished. Almost everyone stuck around until the last runner completed the loop.