Name: Cara Baskin
Name of the Race/Running Event: Krampuslauf
Race/Event Distance: 9 hours (5k and 10k options available)
Race/Event Date: 12/7/24
Describe the Race
Krampus is a European half goat, half demon that visits children on the naughty list during
Christmas, which feels a bit more nightmarish than receiving coal in your stocking. What’s even more strange is that this turns into a celebration for many countries, dressing up as the monster itself and running through the streets in a Krampus run or “Krampuslauf.” Our very own Lyme NH offers its own twist on the tradition with a tortuous race route up and down the Dartmouth Skiway. There is a 5k race, up and down the Holt’s Ledge side, and a 10k race, which additionally crosses the street and goes up and down the Winslow side. The 9hr race lets you run the 10k loop as many times as possible in the time frame, counting only complete loops. If there are multiple people who run the same distance, the one who completes the most loops the fastest is the winner.
How did you prepare for the race/event?
I’d never done a timed race before, but knowing I’d trained on my own for fun going up and down the skiway for hours on more than one occasion, I thought this race was made for me. Several of my friends signed up for the 10k, so I was intrigued and went for the 9hr. I don’t think I prepared in a focused way leading up to the race, but I added a little vert into my weekly mileage to jump start the quads.
Any notable moments?
I was pretty overwhelmed at the start line with what I had gotten myself into. Most of 2024 felt like a wash in terms of lack of motivation, fewer miles and less vert than last year, and adding a DNF to my resume. I felt like I lost my spark and was forcing the flint to work by signing up for more races. Before the race, I dreamt of having one of those days you can’t plan, where you get in the zone, time is erased, and your body performs. The first loop took some jitters away as I saw the whole course and knew what to expect. I knew how long it would take and how quickly I could transition with new food and water in the lodge (the lodge was essentially your aid station and between each loop you wrote on a poster inside your “in” and “out” time). My first three loops were all the exact same amount of time, with the final two faster. I found my groove and barely looked up the entire day. My watch was only uncovered from my jacket in between loops. I felt confident, felt like myself, and was pleased to realize while I hadn’t had a day like that in a while, my body was still capable and my mind was still excited by it. Over the hours I picked runners off, though I felt strongly I was only racing myself and felt unaffected by my place. At hour 7 I passed the third place guy and he rushed out of the lodge to take back his place, putting a considerable distance on me within the next 1000’ climb. But, somewhere in mile 29, a half mile from the finish, I hiked past him on a climb. He asked if I was on loop 4, and I delightedly responded, “nope, fifth,” much to his surprise, and dropped the hammer, pushing the final climb and absolutely bombing the final descent. What a rush! I ended up as 1st female and 3rd overall, completely 30+ miles with nearly 14,000’ of vert in 8hrs 37min.
What do you wish you had known about this race/event before starting?
I wish I knew how deep the snow would be! I naively thought the route would be packed down for some reason, perhaps from the race director and course marking. I wore exospikes on my trail shoes for the first lap (think track spikes), which was a laughable choice given the barely broken foot deep snow up top. This did improve throughout the day’s footsteps, but not before my feet were absolutely soaked and reliably moving through freeze thaw cycles between the ups and downs. I switched to microspikes for the remainder of the day and that did help with traction. Gaiters would have been a phenomenal choice had I not judged myself for how dorky I think they look and kept them at home. I did have the foresight to order goretex trail shoes beforehand; however, I only put 5 miles on them before the race and couldn’t bear to subject my calves to the extra task of breaking them in on a hilly course. The threadbare shoelace on the extra pair of shoes I packed (for when the first pair got soaked) broke minutes before the race. Once a noob, always a noob.