White Pulls Out Narrow Win on Mount Greylock
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| Jacob Barnett, left, and Alex White celebrate after finishing second and first, respectively. |
ADAMS, Mass. – Dalton’s Alex White is a familiar presence running – and winning – on the local road race circuit.
On Sunday, he took the road less traveled by … at least by him.
And that made the difference at the 50th running of the Mount Greylock Road Race, where White outkicked Jacob Barnett to claim first place with a time of 54 minutes, 49.74 seconds on the 8-mile course up the side of the state’s highest peak.
It was the first time at Mount Greylock for the first three finishers as White, Barnett (54:50.18) Shelburne Falls’ Kayla Lampe (57:41.56) each medaled in their first time at the event.
“I don’t know [why this year],” White said. “I’m training for New York City [Marathon on Nov. 2]. So the bridges are going to be kind of a killer. There are a few really steep sections. So I’m trying to do as many hilly, long runs as possible.
“It’s just a hilly, long run for me. I’m going to run back down the mountain. I’ve got a three-mile warm-up. That’s 18 miles right there. A couple miles of cool down and get to 20 or something.”
More than 180 runners completed the ascent to the 3,500-foot summit. Not all of them had the energy left in the tank to run back down.
The event drew runners as young as under 12, led by Pittsfield’s Luke Passetto with a time of 1:23:10.87 and up into the 70 and over division, where Lowell’s Ken Goodin (1:21:30.48) led the men and Andover’s Lisa Doucett (1:45:02.75) led the women.
Runners from eight different states competed, including one, Linda Botteron (1:38:09.12) from McKinley, Texas.
They all had a perfectly clear Sunday morning to take on the challenge and, if they chose, enjoy the views.
White and Barnett were the top two, 2:51 ahead of the field, after working with one another.
“Jake set out the pace early,” White said. “I just kind of followed his lead. I told myself I’d do whatever it took to win today. If that meant going eight out of 10 effort, that means that. You never know who’s gonna show up. Maybe I was gonna lose.
“Jake showed up. I know he’s fast. He’s a trail guy. I’m not a trail guy. I’m a road guy. But I’ve been doing my fair share of hills. Every week, I’ve been trying to do something in Lenox Mountain or something along the lines of that. Grange Hall Road in Dalton, I’ve been doing that almost every week.
“I do my long runs hard. I’ve gotten up to 2,600 feet of gain in 16 miles, which, compared to this, is nothing. This was definitely one of the most challenging races I’ve done. And it was nice to work with Jake the whole way.”
Barnett is a “trail guy,” but not a Greylock Road Race guy until Sunday.
“I have not raced this before,” Barnett said. “The two of us really weren’t sure what was coming. … We did a couple of little surges, but neither of us wanted to give in.”
Lampe has more experience with hill races but is just getting into the sport.
“I haven’t done this one before, but I knew it was all uphill,” Lampe. “I’ve been training for uphill racing right now. The weather was perfect. I felt pretty good the whole way. There were some nice flats and a little bit of downhill I could recover.
“I’ve done Mount Washington twice, and I’ve done Mount Holyoke, a couple of trail races.”
Lampe said she was more of a marathon runner but got into verticals last year.
“When I did Mount Washington, I realized it was going to be uphill racing, so I’ve been doing that whole circuit,” she said. “I like the community of people who do it. It’s a lot of really nice people I meet through this. And I think it’s a fun way to challenge myself in a new way. The marathon racing, I’ve done a lot of it. It’s something new to try out to challenge myself.”
Complete results on the Berkshire Running Center website here.
Top 20 Finishers
1. Alexander White, Dalton, :54:49.74; 2. Jacob Barnett, :54:50.18; 3. Kayla Lampe, Shelburne Falls, :57:41.56; 4. David Perloff, Chelmsford, :58:36.77; 5. Matt Rabasco, Pittsfield, 59:07.63; 6. Mark Rabasco, Greenfield, 59:39.54; 7. Michael Luebeck, Maynard, :59:53.18; 8. Colin Hoag, Northampton, :59:59.31; 9. Steve Brightman, Providence, R.I., 1:00:22.32; 10. Erik Vandendries, Chestnut Hill, 1:00:43.14; 11. Paulo Amaral, Lowell, 1:02:25.68; 12. Michael Narcisi, Acton, 1:02:42.62; 13. Kasie Enman, 1:02:47.09; 14. Manny Wineman, Northampton, 1:03:20.27; 15. Michael Pezzullo, Arlington, 1:03:27.55; 16. Masaya Ando, Waltham, 1:03:32.83; 17. John Paquet III, West Warwick, R.I., 1:04:07.75; 18. David Allara, Amherst, 1:05:20.03; 19. Kevin Cavanaugh, 1:06:1.51; 20. Eric Rice, Worthington, 1:07:27.87.
