The Unstrung Harp
Active member
Had a blast at this race last weekend. Nine miles in length (or maybe more like 8.7 according to my gps), the Bradbury Breaker involves roughly four ascents up Bradbury Mountain. "But it's so small!" you say. Yes, it is small, but it's not so small that it won't give you a pretty serious beating. I believe even many of the folks at the front of the pack had to walk up the steep section before the summit. It's hella STEEP! And, speaking of views from the top, you see a rather understated but still lovely one of the Atlantic Ocean from up there. I dig.
Check out the elevation profiles and other info on this page: http://trailmonsterrunning.com/bradburydirt/
The race is held at Bradbury Mountain State Park in Pownal (minutes from Freeport) and is part of a three race series, as many of you probably already know. If you haven't been to Bradbury, it is worth a trip; what it lacks in size is made up for in technical/steep/intense terrain that will seriously test anyone's focus and ability. I actually recommend going alone a time or two first while you get to know the trails; I ran first there with a friend and literally almost fell on my face a few times due to the distraction! Not usually an issue for me... Anyway, alone, I fared much better. And by race day I'd been on the course three or four times, and knew that I would need to really relax and focus - and was fine.
I was one of the few non-serious runners there. The crowd of about 130 people was full of ultrarunners, marathoners, etc. But me, I just like trail running and am not competitive in the least. And the cool thing, was that it totally didn't matter. The vibe was super friendly and relaxed, and I never felt unwelcome (which has happened before elsewhere). Great sense of community. Very, very awesome.
Thanks to the Trail Monster Runners for putting on a really wonderful and refreshingly down-to-earth event. Not sure if they are members here but I believe some of them just completed all or most of the 100MW (as mentioned in another thread) (at a run, mostly!) so maybe. The blog reports I've read are all amazing - kudos to everyone who did that, and, to those who also promptly came home to tear it up at The Breaker. You all are sick!
Hope to see some VFTTers there next year....or maybe at the 12 miler in September.
Check out the elevation profiles and other info on this page: http://trailmonsterrunning.com/bradburydirt/
The race is held at Bradbury Mountain State Park in Pownal (minutes from Freeport) and is part of a three race series, as many of you probably already know. If you haven't been to Bradbury, it is worth a trip; what it lacks in size is made up for in technical/steep/intense terrain that will seriously test anyone's focus and ability. I actually recommend going alone a time or two first while you get to know the trails; I ran first there with a friend and literally almost fell on my face a few times due to the distraction! Not usually an issue for me... Anyway, alone, I fared much better. And by race day I'd been on the course three or four times, and knew that I would need to really relax and focus - and was fine.
I was one of the few non-serious runners there. The crowd of about 130 people was full of ultrarunners, marathoners, etc. But me, I just like trail running and am not competitive in the least. And the cool thing, was that it totally didn't matter. The vibe was super friendly and relaxed, and I never felt unwelcome (which has happened before elsewhere). Great sense of community. Very, very awesome.
Thanks to the Trail Monster Runners for putting on a really wonderful and refreshingly down-to-earth event. Not sure if they are members here but I believe some of them just completed all or most of the 100MW (as mentioned in another thread) (at a run, mostly!) so maybe. The blog reports I've read are all amazing - kudos to everyone who did that, and, to those who also promptly came home to tear it up at The Breaker. You all are sick!
Hope to see some VFTTers there next year....or maybe at the 12 miler in September.
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