169 Towns #62: Fairfield

December 17th, 2017 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #62: Fairfield

I arrived at the Scandinavian Club just a few minutes before the start, with just enough time to register, drop off my donated toy, head back to my car to drop my wallet and keys, and run back to the starting line. I can tell you there is not a lot of parking down in […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

169 Towns #61: Killingly

December 10th, 2017 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #61: Killingly

Killingly may not technically be the farthest away as the crow flies, but it’s close when it comes to how long it takes to actually get there, a combination of sheer distance and also removal from either I-84 or I-395. It was about an hour and a half to get out to this corner of […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

169 Towns #60: Weston

October 29th, 2017 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #60: Weston

This was not the greatest day for a race, but I’ve been pretty lucky over the year, so I didn’t mind. It was a rainy day, and I misjudged when and where the 5K would start, not realizing the half marathon would start a good five minutes before our race. We all stood around waiting […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

169 Towns #59: Portland

October 14th, 2017 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #59: Portland

It didn’t turn out to have too much of a zombie element to it, but I really enjoyed the setting of this race, which ran in part along the old Portland Brownstone Quarries, a National Historic Landmark. The course passed the quarries and then meandered through a few neighborhoods before ending up back at the […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

169 Towns #58: Seymour

October 7th, 2017 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #58: Seymour

While my dad ended up injuring himself before the race, meaning we didn’t have three generations of runners represented, I was happy to have the chance to run with Grace again, in her second 5K. She did great, though the course was tougher than the previous race we ran together, and the hills took their […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

169 Towns #57: Warren

September 30th, 2017 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #57: Warren

A nice race in the woods in Litchfield County, with cider and cider doughnuts to cap it off. I felt pretty good, especially as I was able to pass and hold off some locals who seemed like they might be in my age group, where I managed to come in third. The race was pretty […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

169 Towns #56: Lisbon

September 23rd, 2017 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #56: Lisbon

After hopping onto 395, it was only about ten minutes from Bozrah to Lisbon, where I pulled into the parking lot of the Lisbon Fall Festival with 15 minutes to spare before the start. I found the registration table, got a number, dashed back to my car to drop my wallet, and got in the […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

169 Towns #55: Bozrah

September 23rd, 2017 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #55: Bozrah

Connecticut’s towns have some great names, and it seems to me Bozrah is right up there near the top. Bozrah is noted as an elusive town according to the club, so I was happy to be able to knock this one out. It was a nice little town run, starting and finishing at the fire […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

169 Towns #54: Newington

September 16th, 2017 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #54: Newington

This was a small race, a nice little town course around a park and a loop through a quiet neighborhood, finishing around a pond in the park. I felt pretty good, and as the race went on, I kept some fellow runners in my sights. I passed four guys I could tell were older than […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

169 Towns #53: Monroe

September 10th, 2017 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #53: Monroe

Before the race began, I was standing around with another group of 169 club runners, talking about previous races, and particular, about that race a few months back that was poorly marked enough for a bunch of us to end up running neither the short distance nor the long distance, but something in between, because […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

169 Towns #52: Wethersfield

August 27th, 2017 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #52: Wethersfield

Apparently Old Wethersfield isn'[t actually a town, according to the official list of Connecticut’s 169 towns, but this race, held in Wethersfield proper, is known as the Old Wethersfield 5K, so there you go. My mom accompanied the girls and me to the race, and the girls each got to run in their own fun […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

169 Towns #51: Bolton

August 25th, 2017 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #51: Bolton

With the kids off bowling, my mom accompanied me to my fifty-first race, not far from Hartford, about an hour from home. It was a benefit for the local high school track team, and the course was the team’s 5K course, around the baseball field and across fields and forests behind the school. It was […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

169 Towns #50: Killingworth

July 23rd, 2017 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #50: Killingworth

This was a nice course, a big squarish loop around the town, with maybe 150 runners participating. It was a four miler, so I naturally lost a bit in the final mile and came in just barely over 30 minutes. It was a warm day (I am looking pretty beat in this photo) but Killingworth […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

169 Towns #49: Westport

July 15th, 2017 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #49: Westport

I’m whittling down the list of towns within a half hour or so where I haven’t yet run a race. I know it’s going to make finishing out the map tougher later on, but it’s hard to resist knocking them off now, when I need a quick race to do and not take all day […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running

169 Towns #48: Bethel

July 4th, 2017 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #48: Bethel

Some town races are more memorable than others, and this one, the 52nd annual Firecracker 8K in Bethel on the Fourth of July, was one that will stick in my mind. First of all, it started right downtown, with no giant high school or empty field parking lot; as far as I can tell, people […]

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Tags: New Haven · Running