Wicked Running Club

Two of our newer Wicked members, Bill Morse of Dracut, 57, an attorney, and Jay Curry of Lynn, 36, a registered nurse at Union Hospital in Lynn, tend to seek out challenges that test the limits of human endurance. That drive literally drove them recently to the tiny town of Jay, Vermont, about 5 miles from the Canadian border to compete in the Jay Mountain Trail Ultramarathon, an amazing 33 mile run encompassing both single and double track, a grueling 50 foot rocky river crossing in ankle to shoulder deep water, mountain climbing up Jay Peek (3,800ft. elevation), a run through a beaver dam, and lots of mud slogging. Check out the website and its ominous warnings about the inherent dangers of this particular trail marathon at Jay Mountain Trail Ultramarathon.

Bill reports that the area had just sustained six days of rain prior to the Saturday, July 26 race. This made for some sloppy conditions. “The mud was especially tough and the rivers and brooks that we had to run up or down for miles at a time were high in some spots with fast moving water. There was one river crossing that had a ‘rope assist’ all the way across. The current was very strong. The course conditions were so tough this year due to the previous week’s rain that more than one half of the field of 400 did not finish.”

Jay recalls the race vividly. “The race started on some double track trails for about 4 miles before you got to the first river run. During this portion you also had to run through culverts with rushing water. I felt like I was in an episode of Fear Factor. After this you had the roughly 3 mile climb up to the summit of Jay Peak. This climb was steeper than Mt Washington and reminded me of the last 50 yards of that run. We were told to walk down the descent to save the quads, but the trail was so steep that is was hard to walk. After this, we had more trails of deep mud, more rivers, running through waist deep swamps, wide river crossings with strong currents. The last 5 miles or so were through corn fields and open fields. I finished the race in about 7hrs 58 minutes. I felt more wiped out and sore than I did after the Ironman. The aid stations were will stocked. The rumor around the finish line was that about half the field were either pulled because they didn’t make the cut-off or dropped out. I loved this race. I loved the challenge.”

Bill finished the event in 8hrs. 46min. “This was a very tough race, but, moreover for me it was one of three killer trail races that I’ve been lucky enough to get through over the last three years, namely the Greylock Marathon in 2006, The Escarpment Trail Run in the Catskills in 2007, and now Jay Mountain in 2008. The triumvirate is complete. One more thing off my ‘bucket list!’” Bill and Jay had an ongoing joke for this race. “I (Bill) told him (Jay) that his 20 year younger legs would beat me by an hour. It ended up being 50 minutes. Long live we seniors!!!!” (Here, here!)

And what event is Jay planning for the future? Well, he and fellow Wicked members Patrick Smith, Denise Murphy, and Tim Clarke are all signed up for the Lake Placid Ironman which will take place in July 2009.

And just in case you thought these two amazing athletes took some well deserved rest after this event—wrong! They were back out there right away with their regular routine, swimming on Tuesday night at Stiles Pond and running Lynn Woods on Wednesday night. Seriously, you guys should think about auditioning for Fear Factor. I have the utmost faith that you would be most successful. A tip from Jay on trail shoes: “I highly recommend running with the Brooks Cascadia trail running shoes. They didn’t hold the water, so my feet never felt heavy.”