By Marty Basch

Whether running or mountain biking, they all suffered.

About 70 pain-seekers sought to conquer Cannon Mountain June 10 during the inaugural Sufferfest, a 6-plus mile race through the woods from Franconia to the summit of New Hampshire's highest ski area.

The mountain punished them.

"The name didn't take anything away from it," said mountain biker Nick Ebinger, 24, of Littleton. “I thought it was cool to bike up but I think I did more walking than riding.”

Fools suffer

Runners grunted. Mountain bikers rode in granny gear before pushing or carrying their mounts to the 4,180-foot summit.

Running to victory was  multiple Top Notch Triathlon winner Richard Morris, 56, of Franconia (1:10.11) while mountain bike winner was Greg Jancaitis, 28, of Lewiston, Maine (1:11.24).

Morris wanted to beat the mountain bikers to the finish, including a couple of twenty-something cycling buddies. Jancaitis, an athletic trainer, was competing the day after riding about 50 miles to win the six-hour group in the 24.12.6 Hours of Pats Peak in Henniker.

"My motivation was to beat the young mountain bikers," said Morris, an innkeeper. "I bike with a lot of these guys all the time."

Ouch

The course took racers from the Franconia Inn on Easton Road across the glider airport and onto the inn's single and double track cross-country trails up towards Tuckerbrook and the old Mittersill Road. Once at the reborn Mittersill ski area, the route continued along a loose rock access road to Cannon and then up the Ravine trail to the summit.

Mountain bikers had about a two-minute head start. Though Jancaitis was first to cross the finish with Morris second, the time was then adjusted.

"I have to tell you, it's not frigging easy to stay on your bike,"  said Littleton Bike and Fitness owner Dave Harkless and Sufferfest organizer.

Cannon's known for ski racing. The Top Notch Triathlon also finishes with a run up the mountain. There have also been dual slalom ice bike races there, but never a bike race.

"I definitely did more walking than I thought," said Jancaitis. "The bottom of the course was fun, in the shade. But once you got to the ski area, it was even hard to walk on the scree."

I Will Survive, I Think

Jancaitis is an ultra-endurance athlete who does a lot of cross-country riding. He's also competed in the 24 Hours of Great Glen, like many of the other bikers in the field. "Once you got to the ski slopes, it was just survival," he said.

Told he won the first bike race up Cannon, he said, "I never really thought about that. That's kind of cool."

Top female biker Meg Skidmore, of Randolph who recently qualified for the national triathlon championships being held in Burlington, Vt. said she mostly pushed her bike up the mountain (1:42.29).

"The first half was great, but most of Cannon was more hike your bike," she said. "I mostly pushed and then my back was sore. Then I carried it a bit, pushed, then carried."

Top female runner was trail runner Bridget Ferrin of St. Johnsbury, Vt. (1:13.19).

Running incognito was two-time ski racing Olympian ('84, '88) Doug Lewis (1:14.14).

Why?

Who does something like this?

"People looking for a challenge," said Harkless. With the surge in popularity of adventure races featuring obstacles like fire, mud and barbed wire racers still want to win, but they also race against themselves. Just finishing is a personal victory.

"People love this stuff," he said. "It's something different to torture themselves."

And next year, there may be teams.

So suffer.