by Sapan Bhatt
 
I can’t think of a better race to start the year than the January Thaw. Coming off the holidays it’s a great opportunity to come together and see faces both new and familiar. 
 
This year's edition saw 22-degree crisp air and roads which were a bit slushy in spots. It’s fun to scroll back through old Thaw photos and see it’s truly a roll of the dice what type of weather we get. But that keeps it interesting.
 
Start of the 4.5-mile race, you’re working to catch your breath in the cold. I found the strip of asphalt in the middle to be the most stable. I took the liberty of going a little bit into the road on the first climb. I received a supportive honk from a plow truck and was amused at the sight he was about to see of a herd of runners coming up the hill.

The road in mile 2 has a camber that would make Sugarloaf blush. The bit of downhill was a welcome reprieve from the initial climb. Mile 3 is always the trickiest. It’s a steady climb instead of one big hill to punch up. I kept looking at my feet as Billy and I slogged through it. 
 
The next thing I knew, I saw Lindsay shouting encouragement and directing the turn down that big hill to start Mile 4. The slush made the road a bit more precarious than years past, but offered a fun ride. My favorite view on the course was where Alicia was perched taking our great race photos. That sweeping view of the horizon before you make the last turn back into the school road, amazes me every time. It was especially pretty this year with the wind whipping snow into the air.
 
The after event was a lot of fun. I especially enjoyed getting photos with Ian and his penguin suit and chatting with fellow racers. Many thanks to all the volunteers, our race director Ron, volunteer coordinator Tom, and especially Julie for crafting such beautiful penguin trophies. Here’s to a great year of running for all!

Want to run to the top of the highest peak in the Northeast? Then sign up today for the lottery to participate in the 2026 Mount Washington Road Race on Saturday, June 27. Getting into the race will be more difficult this year though. The number of race participants has been cut to 500 and the club’s lottery bypass slots have been cut to just two. Four club volunteers are needed in exchange for those two bypass bibs. 

Lottery and Two Bypass Bibs
The Mount Washington lottery for Random Selection Registration is open now through Monday, February 23. If you want to race, sign up for the lottery by February 23rd. Race officials will send out selection/rejection emails February 26. 

If you get in via the lottery you won't need a bypass slot—excellent! However, if you're rejected and would like to be considered for a bypass registration, please email me, Mark Fisher ([email protected]). Since the opportunity to enter is much more limited,  I will defer the club's two lottery bypasses to club members with the longest annual participation in the Mount Washington race.

Four Volunteers Needed
In exchange for two bypass bibs, Central Maine Striders needs to supply four volunteers on Friday, June 26, to help with parking during bib pickup. If you want to volunteer on behalf of the club please let me know.

The Central Maine Striders team has been a continual part of the historic Mount Washington Road Race. The 7.6-mile, all-uphill run has drawn thousands of runners from around the globe to make the grueling 4,650-vertical feet climb to the summit. 

Please let me know if you have questions.  Thank you!
—Mark Fisher ([email protected])
​

• 2026 Mount Washingto Road Race Info
• Renew your 2026 Striders membership to be eligible for bypass consideration
• Read Mark's 2025 Mount Washington race report

Thanks to Charlie Jacobs for finding and sharing his 1988 copy of The Pine Tree Road Runner: The Story of Roland Dyer by Rick Kraus. Its section on the history of the Dyer Memorial Races (page 33-39), covers the efforts of Central Maine Striders Gene Roy and Jerry Saint Amand to put on these races in the ’70s and ’80s in honor of a pioneer of Maine road racing.

​Download your own PDF copy.

by Ian Hepburn

In September I and fellow Strider Nick Erickson took part in the Ragnar Reach the Beach Relay Race on a team with 10 other runners. This event began in Lancaster, New Hampshire, early on Friday, September 12, and ended at Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, the next day. The course covered 204 miles split into 36 segments, which equated to three legs per runner for our team.

The race is similar in structure to the Downeast Sunrise Trail Relay, in that racers run their leg while their teammates drive to the next handoff point, and the team runs continually, day and night, until their last runner crosses the finish line. However, this race is twice as long as DESTR (204-ish miles versus DESTR’s 102.7), and teams have a size limit of 12 runners instead of eight. Teams also must have two vehicles, with half of the team in each vehicle.

The concept is for one van with six runners to cover the first six legs, while the second van leapfrogs ahead to the van exchange point at the start of leg seven.  When the first van arrives at the van exchange point, they recover their runner then drive the next van exchange at the end of leg 12, while the second van covers legs 7-12.  The pattern repeats for all 36 legs, with van exchange points at the end of legs 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, and at the finish line at the end of leg 36.  

​Each runner runs an average of 17 miles in total, although variations in the course mean some will run more or less than that (I ended up running 11.2 miles, but I did have one of the steepest climbs in the course on my first leg).

Another major difference between DESTR and Reach the Beach is the number of participants. DESTR is limited to 400 racers to protect the Downeast Sunrise Trail from overuse, while Reach the Beach runs almost exclusively on roads and is not subject to a cap on participants. This year, 308 teams ran Reach the Beach, putting the number of racers well over 2,000.  

The number of racers poses some major logistical challenges for the race organizers. Fortunately, the Ragnar races are pretty well staffed and equipped and have experience planning events like this across the country. Every handoff point and van exchange location was chosen to ensure there would be plenty of parking available and sufficient space to ensure the safety of runners and observers. Vendors were invited to be present at van exchanges points, so that in their downtime racers could get food, beverages, sports massages, and race swag.

I ran as part of Team Lavi, named after an orphanage in Haiti that was sponsored by our team captain and her husband. The naming of most of the relay teams present at Reach the Beach was very much like a list of pub trivia teams, mostly puns and some self-effacing humor. There was also a very robust “van culture” present at this race. Each team requires two vehicles that can accommodate at least six people, so most teams rent large passenger vans like the GMC Savana or Ford Transit. As a result, most teams end up driving a big white van that looks like every other big white van. To counter this, most teams get washable paint markers and draw all over their vans to make them visually distinct. Some teams even get custom magnets made, and will trade magnets with other teams, or try to “tag” other vans with their magnets.

A common theme for marking vans is to list the runners’ names next to check boxes that get marked off as they complete their legs. A lot of teams will use the rear of their vans to count their “kills”, which is the number of runners that their team collectively pass on each leg. I told my van mates that I thought the word kill was overly dramatic and that we should find another euphemism, so they decided that a “souls harvested” counter would be a better alternative. I disagreed, but I was outnumbered…

Team Lavi ended up completing the race in 30:24:59, placing 96th overall and 8th in our class (Standard Mixed Team-Open), with an average mile time of 8:56. Overall I had a great time and recommend the Ragnar Reach the Beach relay with the caveat that it is expensive. Registration fees can range close to $200 per registrant, especially if you wait until the last minute to sign up. Additionally, teams need to reserve rental vans early, because this event uses up pretty much all of the large passenger vans available to rental agencies in New England. If you like long-haul relays like DESTR, then I recommend checking out the Reach the Beach relay, or any other Ragnar relay event.

Congratulations to Pierce Coughlin (35:23) and Alanna McDonough Tucker (39:48), our top open men's and women's finishers, and to Ryan Goebel (37:56) and Kelly Harmon (50:16) our top masters men's and women's finishers, at this weekend's Central Maine Striders Fall Classic 10K road race in Waterville.

​Photo above, left to right: Kelly Harmon, Ryan Goebel, Pierce Coughlin, Alanna McDonough Tucker

​Forty-two runners turned out on Sunday, October 12, 2025, to race the sixth annual race. Due to ongoing construction at the Quarry Road Trails yurt and parking area, there was a slight course chang for 2025, but racers still enjoyed a full 10K distance through Waterville and beautiful fall weather.

Thanks to all the volunteers who made the Fall Classic a success, led by  Race Director Ian Hepburn, Volunteer Coordinator Tom Farmer, and Central Maine Striders club president Martha Cowperthwaite. Julie Millard created stained glass prizes, Maeve Wilcox designed the shirts, and Alicia McCarthy organized registration and the finish line. Beth Bridger, Charlie Jacobs, Billy Kobin, Tom McGuire, Butch Parker, Amy Stabins, Lindsay Theis, and Debra Violette all helped race day run smoothly.

​Thanks also to our Fall Classic race sponsors: Waterville Parks & Rec and Quarry Road Trails, Pin High Printing, Alfond Youth & Community Center, Hannaford, Sunrise Bagel, Carrabasset Coffee, and White Pine Dentistry.
​

Thank you to Alicia MacLeay for race pictures.
A full album of free race pictures is available for download on SmugMug.

by Mark Fisher

Another year of the Mount Washington Road Race is in the books. Given the low temperatures and winds, the race officials decided to take a cautious approach and halt the June 14th race at the halfway point on the auto road. While it was disappointing to see the race cut short this year, it was a reasonable approach given the risks that are part of changing weather on the “rock pile”.

First, Central Maine Striders showed up in force on Friday night to support the volunteer effort with parking duty. Linda Fisher, Peter Leone, Ron Paquette, Donnajean Pohlman, Beth Bridger, and Jay Bachelder all provided directional parking guidance for three-plus hours on Friday evening. Providing these volunteers allows the club to secure five bypass entries to the race each year (all club bypass entries were used this year). Thank you so much, volunteers, for supporting the club and this amazing event!

On race day, despite the course being cut short, conditions to halfway could not have been much better. Cool temperatures and mist made for a pretty comfortable trip up. The views were spectacular with low clouds dotting the surrounding mountainsides. Coming back down was a quad busting 4-mile downhill trip, but on the upside, no car brake smell this year. The race organizers again did an outstanding job and the turkey dinner was a wonderful reward for the racing effort.   

Central Maine Striders is the oldest active running club in Maine, and as we turn 50 in 2025, we want to celebrate that legacy. Do you have older Striders race or running pictures, shirts, trophies, or other memorabilia from the past half century? How about club stories and memories to share? We’re looking to collect and preserve Striders history virtually, especially from the club's early years and first decades.

You can send images (high-resolution if possible), club stories, and memories to [email protected].

Please include details, such as:

• full names of people in images
• dates and locations
• any pertinent info or memories you want to share

If you need help photographing memorabilia or scanning items, please reach out. Also, reach out with any suggestions, questions, or information.

With your help we can collect and share Striders history for posterity.

Photos: Long-time member Charlie Jacobs recently sported his 1993 Sentinel 10K Classic race shirt at a club social run, and shared some of his club race bibs!

by Amy Renkert Stabins

I’ve been hearing about the Ultra-Trail Australia (UTA) race series for several years. The UTA is associated with UTMB (Ultra-Trail Mont Blanc), one of the most prestigious trail running races in the world. The UTA is held in Australia's Blue Mountains National Park, in the town of Katoomba where my sister and her family live. Her kids and various other family members and friends have run in these races in the past. We were planning a visit for this spring, and my sister encouraged my husband (Henning) and I to join her for the UTA22, a half marathon running along the fire trails and single track through the park. It sounded like a great event to arrange a visit around.

Training for this canyon trail race was challenging in the Maine winter. The UTA22 has an elevation gain of 1,177 meters (3,861 feet). Ironically, we ran the On the Run Half Marathon in Old Orchard Beach—The World’s Flattest Half Marathon—as part of our training (my time 2:19, Henning’s time 2:12). We traveled to Australia a few weeks before the race to do some backpacking and worried that the time away from running would tank our readiness, but six days hiking with heavy packs through the mountains of Tasmania turned out to be just what we needed.

Pre-Race
Pineland Farms is a stunning venue located in the scenic hills of New Gloucester, Maine, where rolling fields meet dense woods and well-maintained trails. The farm produces many fine products including cheeses which you can find at Hannaford. The Trail Festival at Pineland Farms is held every Memorial Day weekend and features a variety of events. Saturday offered 25K, 50K, and 100K races, which were one, two, or four loops of the (slightly short) 14-mile course, and Sunday offered shorter races and dog-human canicross competitions. Spanning both days was the 30-hour ultra where runners completed as many miles as possible along a 10K loop (the solo winner, Jason Bigonia, hit 22 laps and 150 miles!).

Arriving on race day, the scene was heartening. The farm crew and the volunteers worked all weekend in the rain and chilly conditions to make sure things were ready for the runners. The start/finish area, where race organizers set up tents, is located right next to the parking lot. Check-in was quick and I headed to my car to change and stay warm before the start. 


The Course
The course is fairly runnable (1,700 feet of climbing over 14 miles per loop) with wide sweeping trails and some flat sections in the grasslands. The climbs can be steep, but short, and the trails aren’t technical. The main factor, especially as the day progressed, was dealing with mud and soggy conditions. I went with my trusty Saucony Peregrines (you could go with something like Hokas, but I appreciated the extra traction) as well as a running vest. I got this Aonijie vest for $40 and thought it did very well. If I trail ran more, I would spring for something premium, but this was a nice snug fit for people looking to carry hydration on longer runs. 

The loop featured four aid stops that were decently well spread over the loop. They were stocked with giant water jugs and my course favorite, Untapped maple syrup energy gels. You could definitely get away with just a handheld bottle and gels in your pockets. The first loop I did with the vest, light jacket, and gloves and then as I warmed up, I ditched all those and just ran with one of the vest’s soft bottles. 

Race Highlights
At the start, Andrew Combs, the eventual winner (who also set the course record in 3:24:29) took off like a bullet. I was relieved as if there were any bears on the course, I would likely not be eaten. My plan was to take the first loop steady and get a feeling for the work that would need to be done on loop 2. I wanted to stay hydrated and charged as the majority of work would be done in the last 8 miles. 

Loop 1 went smoothly and I credit the Striders’ Saturday runs for making me feel dialed-in to the 14-mile distance. The scenery was fantastic; sweeping meadows encapsulating forests, never too exposed to the elements. I understand trail runners saying they like to "play" in the mountains. You have a different connection to the course versus road running. The pacing with this type of distance and incline is also very different. Your muscles get strained and pushed, but your heart rate isn’t spiking to threshold. What you gain by going slower is depleted by the elevation changes and this course pushed me into some of the strongest mental autopilot I’ve experienced. 

After getting through the first loop, I took a quick break at my drop bag to refuel and shed some gear. I felt like an F1 car getting new tires and set out on loop 2 feeling strong. Then, the rain started. My core was warm enough but my hands started to numb to where I struggled to get the gels out of my pockets. The course was also getting muddier and more worn which required more attention and discipline on the footfall. The conditions forced me to stay in the moment and focus on pushing forward.

I grabbed three Untapped gels at the next station and refilled my bottle. Having lost the dexterity to go into my pockets, I held them like my sword and shield, leading me into battle for the next 10 miles. For someone who's loyal to salted watermelon Gu, the Untapped is really good. It’s more liquid than Gu and the familiar maple syrup taste makes it easy to go down. My one critique is the packaging is a longer tube so you have to reach a bit to push from the bottom to get all the fuel.

The last 8 miles, I was around more of the tail pack of the 25K racers and some 100K runners. We shared encouragement as the rain eased and I crested into the rarely traveled above 20 miles of a run. I’ve seen both sides of this zone: the energized surging version and the desperate struggle bus. I was grateful to be in the former and spaced out my remaining fuel to keep myself from bonking. I kept the pace steady, using the building adrenaline to combat the growing fatigue to get through the finish in third place in 3:53:38. Not considering myself much of a trail runner, I was elated to finish my longest run to date in both time and distance.