by Mark Fisher

This was a year of significant change for the trip up the Rockpile. Among the changes to the 2026 Mount Washington Road Race were a significant drop in race capacity (from about 1,000 to 500 runners), shuttle service offered for the trip down, and food trucks versus Harts Turkey Farm for lunch to name a few.

We clearly appreciate the effort needed to put on a race in such a rugged, unpredictable, and ecologically sensitive environment as Mount Washington. Keeping it safe and reducing the impact on this amazing ecosystem is a challenge for sure. 

This also meant a significant reduction in team lottery bypass slots for the Striders. Volunteers needed from the club were still five, but our slot allotment went from five runners to just two. Thank you to our Striders volunteers who helped again this year with Friday parking duty during packet pickup. Dean and Amy Rasmussen and Mark and Linda Fisher represented the club in our orange vests and authoritative flags, and we were treated to an amazing light and cloud show from the mountain. 

The race-day weather on Saturday  was uncharacteristically mild with warm temperatures (borderline hot) with almost no breeze the entire way up. It was unusual to have no wardrobe additions as you ascended the Mount Washington Auto Road for 7.6 miles. The views were spectacular with some broken clouds at the summit.

We had two striders running up the mountain in 2026. 

Dean Rasmussen finished his 44th in a row MTWRR with a time of 2:32:44 to finish second in his age division. Another amazing year for Dean!

Mark Fisher completed his 19th MTWRR with a time of 1:55:26 for 10th in his age group.  

The race organizers commented that they hope next year to make the race “bigger.” The Mount Washington Road Race continues to be a special running experience boasting the tag line, “Just One Hill”.