By Peter Oliver
The registration numbers were up, the weather was stunning, the foliage was beginning to get its act together. All was right in the world for the Allen Clark Hill Climb, held Sunday, October 1. The riders came in all sizes, ages, and types, aged 11 years old to 78 years old, with one hand cyclist mixing it up among the regular bike riders on the 6.2-mile ride from the intersection of Routes 100 and 17 to the top of Appalachian Gap.
The overall winners were 30-year-old Alan Boguslawski of Gardner, Massachusetts, with a time of 26 minutes, 40.22 seconds and 42-year-old Kristen Kulchinsky of Dix Hills, New York, with a time of 27:36.19. Boguslawski was back to successfully defend the overall title he won in 2022, and Kulchinksy's time, in an unusually large women's field, was the only thing even close to the times recorded a dozen years ago by the inimitable hill climber, Marti Shea. In fact, Myriam Paquet, the Montrealer who finished second among the women with a time of 28:42.04, would also have won in any year since the days of Shea.
The women weren't the only speedballers to take on the climb. Veteran riders among the men put on a particularly strong showing as well, with 60-year-old David Burnett of Wenham, Massachusetts, finishing in 26:56.15, leading a trio of over-60 riders under the magical 30-minute mark. Burnett, in finishing fourth overall, was just 16 seconds short of winning the whole darned thing.
Not quite so speedy was 11-year-old Daphne Buzby-Mueller, who raced last year as well but chose this year to charge all the way to the App Gap summit rather than call it quits at the junior finish at Mad River Glen. She was just a wee bit slower than Boguslawski or Kulchinsy, but, as the only representative of the grade-school generation, she made it all the way to the top. She might possibly have set an all-time Allen Clark record for the size of her smile at the post-race awards ceremony.
All of the event proceeds will be going to the new accessMRV initiative, formed by the collaborative efforts of Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports and the Mad River Valley Chamber of Commerce. Thanks to the increased participation, the net revenues for this year's race were roughly 70 percent more than what they were last year.
Finally, not to be overlooked, was the ever-determined Marc Hammond, The Valley's only representative in the race. Hammond crossed the finish line with a respectable time of 36:11.85, for 10th place in the men's 50-59 division. He embodied the spirit of the race's namesake, Allen Clark -- not always the speediest, but always eager to ride.
