The fourth race of the Headlamp Hustle, held Thursday, Feb. 5, at the Dublin School Outdoor Center, saw Hancock resident Bill Donahue outlast a small but competitive field, pulling away from Dublin’s Lindsey Burkhardt on the penultimate climb.
The sexagenarian has been consistent through the opening four races of the Hustle. Notching solid results, one after another, before claiming top honors.
“This is not a World Cup win, but at my age, you take it where you can get it. It was a wonderful evening – I just enjoyed being out there with everybody. I started out very slow, hanging around seventh position in the pack up the first big climb, and just moved up from there.”
In this case, it would seem that wisdom does indeed come with age. Yours truly and a whole cadre of others, lacking discipline and reason, pounded the pace early and paid the price. Dublin’s unforgiving terrain gradually reduced the group until only Donahue and Burkhardt remained to contest the finale.
As Olympic action gets underway in northern Italy, we can do little more than look on with awe and assume our place as mere mortals in a world of superhumans. If you’re like me and lack the athletic pedigree to kick it with the pros but sometimes like to pretend otherwise, come on out to the Dublin XC Headlamp Hustle, a no-frills Nordic skiing race series hosted most Thursday evenings at the Dublin School Outdoor Center. The fifth race of the Headlamp Hustle is set for a 6:15 p.m. start on Thursday, Feb. 19.