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Mainers Steeled to Run-Paddle-Bike-Hike-Ski Grueling Tuckerman Inferno

April 22, 2009 - Matt Lunt of Portland saw the Tuckerman Inferno race as a way to get back to where he was physically eight years ago when he ran track for Connecticut College. Needless to say, the training alone was an eye-opener.

When Lunt lines up Saturday in New Hampshire, he'll set out to complete a grueling pentathlon. The ninth running of the Tuckerman Inferno features individuals and teams competing in a race that involves an 8.3-mile run, a six-mile kayak, an 18-mile bike ride, a three-mile hike, and a wicked steep one-mile alpine ski race.

Lunt, who has always wanted to compete in multi-sport races, thinks he may be competitive -- but there is no way to really know since he has never put himself through this kind of, um, experience.

"I can kind of predict what the run will feel like, and the paddle, and kind of predict what the bike will feel like. I have no idea what it will feel like to run uphill for an hour," Lunt said.

The event is staged by the Friends of Tuckerman Ravine to help promote wise use of the backcountry -- and to help preserve the storied ravine located in the White Mountain National Forest.

There are 211 athletes entered, including 22 individual men and several Mainers. In addition, all teams and individuals bring pit crews to help set up the various events.

"This is a great event for the off-season in our area. It brings about 400 to 500 travelers from away just from participants (and their pit crews). Many people also come to watch," said Donna Woodward with the Friends of Tuckerman Ravine.

Lindsay Davis of Portland is the runner on a five-person team that has entered before -- and finished 12th out of 30 teams.

A top-10 finish would make Davis' team, the Barker Brats, happy, but Davis said the Inferno is as much about the buzz around the mountain as the competition.

By competing in the first leg in the race, Davis gets to join the pit crew and her other four teammates. She said many spectators do the same by following the athletes along the New Hampshire course -- from the run along Route 302, to the paddle on the Saco River in Bretton Woods, to the bike back up Route 16 to Pinkham Notch, and to the hike up to Tuckerman Ravine, where the skiers rip down the snowy cirque to the finish.

"There always have been a ton of people," Davis said. "Some are super-competitive. It ranges. If it's an all-male team, usually it is more competitive."

The Inferno can take as long as three hours for individuals to complete, which is why Lunt wasn't sure he could finish -- despite spending several months running and biking five days a week.

Then he raced in two 50-kilometer Nordic events this winter. That gave him the reassurance that he could finish the Inferno and even compete for a top spot in the race.

"The last 30 minutes of those two 50K races were so painful. Combined, they were the worst hour in sports I have ever had," Lunt said.

Painful, but with a payoff. They prepared Lunt to endure roughly three hours of his dream race.

"I wanted a big reason to start training seriously again. This is my second year teaching, so I needed to be active to keep my sanity and to stay happy," said Lunt, an alternative education teacher at Mt. Ararat Middle School in Topsham, where he also coaches the track and ski teams.

Lunt grew up skiing in Maine, and worked as a ski instructor at Loon Mountain in New Hampshire, so he has plenty of time logged in alpine territory. He is as comfortable on a pair of telemark skis as he is whipping down an alpine course.

Still, he has no expectation he'll feel comfortable by the time he arrives in Tuckerman Ravine on Saturday.

"I know enough about skiing not to hurt myself," Lunt said. "But it will be a mental and physical challenge just to hold these turns. I won't be thinking about speed then."

IF YOU GO

WHAT: The ninth running of the Tuckerman Inferno, a challenging pentathlon.

WHERE: Mount Washington in the New Hampshire White Mountains, between Glen and Pinkham Notch, N.H.

WHO: Athletes covering an 8.3-mile run, six-mile kayak, 18-mile bike, three-mile hike, and one-mile ski.

WHY: To help raise money for the Friends of Tuckerman Ravine's efforts to promote wise use of the backcountry -- and the preservation of Tuckerman Ravine in particular.

DIRECTIONS: The start of the race is at 850 Route 16 in Glen, N.H. Take Route 302 in Portland north to Conway, N.H., and turn north on Route 16, following it to Glen, N.H. The final stage of the race takes place further north on Route 16 at the Pinkham Notch Visitors Center, where the hike up to Tuckerman Ravine begins.

WHAT ELSE: The hike up to Tuckerman Ravine can take more than two hours, so spectators venturing to see the ski portion need to wear hiking boots and bring water.

TO LEARN MORE: Go to www.friendsoftuckerman.org.

DEIRDRE FLEMING, Portland Press Herald, April 16, 2009


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Regions: Sebago


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