169 Towns #122: Berlin

December 2nd, 2023 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #122: Berlin

I always thought the minimum to count for a town race was a 5K, but apparently that’s not the case. This two mile race was a nice change of pace. While the girls headed off for their CMEA auditions, I headed to Berlin for this race. Lots of runners in costumes, and Christmas music was […]

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Tags: Running

169 Towns #121: North Haven

November 12th, 2023 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #121: North Haven

After last weekend’s race, Dad and I had talked about doing another one this weekend, but I was a little surprised he was up for it on his vacation. North Haven has been a surprisingly elusive town for me, so close but not a town I’ve managed to get to during all these years. The […]

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Tags: Running

169 Towns #120: Stonington

November 4th, 2023 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #120: Stonington

This time, Grace put her foot down and insisted on sleeping in, but my dad was up for a 5K, so we headed to Stonington and parked in the lot at the Mystic Aquarium. Having a pair of African penguins at the start was definitely a first. The race was well organized, heavily staffed, and […]

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Tags: Running

169 Towns #s 117, 118, 119: Ashford, Hampton, Chaplin

October 29th, 2023 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #s 117, 118, 119: Ashford, Hampton, Chaplin

Grace and I got up without too much trouble at 6:45 and made it to the Quiet Corner of the state for the 9 a.m. start in Ashford. I pulled off the road into the Ashford Park entrance, next to another car but more importantly, right on top of a concrete culvert hidden from view. […]

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Tags: Running

169 Towns #116: Farmington

October 22nd, 2023 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #116: Farmington

Grace and I drove up to Farmington for a really nice 5K trail race at Winding Trails camp today. She was plagued by the same leg pain that bothered her during the ski season last year, so we took it slow, but she kept at it and ran most of the way. We’ve got out […]

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Tags: Running

169 Towns #115: Simsbury

September 24th, 2023 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #115: Simsbury

I had four races to choose from this morning, and went for the one I could get to in time, with a 10:30 start in Simsbury. The rain was steady the whole way up, and I only got there 20 minutes before the start. Another first: QR code, credit card-enabled registration on site, after which […]

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Tags: Running

169 Towns #114: Greenwich

September 17th, 2023 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #114: Greenwich

I’m getting closing sewing up all of New Haven and Fairfield Counties, so it was finally time to head back to Greenwich for maybe the second or third time since leaving there in 2000. I wonder if any of my former students’ families were running today… It’s been long enough that I don’t know if […]

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Tags: Running

169 Towns #113: Harwinton

September 9th, 2023 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #113: Harwinton

Grace and I have made a plan to run three races in one day next month, so we’re trying to get in shape with some races leading up to the big day. Another first: the race was run from a private home, a massive home on 70 acres, where the course began and ended. The […]

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Tags: Running

168 Towns #112: Plymouth

September 2nd, 2023 · Comments Off on 168 Towns #112: Plymouth

I’ve become little hesitant about trail races, but this one, at Camp Mattatuck, less than a half hour away, seemed like a good opportunity. Every race is different, but this one had some interesting features: for “day of” registration, a guy scribbled my details on a piece of paper which I was then instructed to […]

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Tags: Running

169 Towns #111: New Milford

August 27th, 2023 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #111: New Milford

Another long break with two trips to the U.K., the festival in Bologna, then Canada and Alaska, it’s been three months since I ran. The race was free, but also featured a first: custom-printed bibs with the name of the race on them…but no timing! I can’t recall the last race that didn’t use one […]

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Tags: Running

169 Towns #110: Lebanon

May 21st, 2023 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #110: Lebanon

This race had an unorthodox 1:30 p.m. start, allowing me to mow the lawn before the race. It was a small race, which explains how I came in fifth overall and grabbed the first place trophy for men 40-49. The race took place in farm country, not far from Hartford, in the part of Connecticut […]

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Tags: Running

169 Towns #109: Granby

May 6th, 2023 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #109: Granby

Happy to get back to racing with Grace, though it’s clear that by bringing her along on these early morning trips, I’m denying her some much-needed time to sleep in. We found ourselves driving up to Granby at 7 a.m., and she was pretty tired, having not run with me since last September. This was […]

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Tags: Running

169 Towns #108: Windsor

April 29th, 2023 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #108: Windsor

I didn’t end up hitting any more races in March, or most of April, with the family vacation and FIAF in Mexico. My first weekend at home in many weeks, I headed to Windsor, with constant rain on the drive up. Races in towns I’ve yet to run in within an hour or so of […]

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Tags: Running

169 Towns #107: East Lyme

March 18th, 2023 · Comments Off on 169 Towns #107: East Lyme

Another busy end to the year meant that it’s been four months since I’ve had a chance to run a race. Niantic is not technically a town, so the race was officially in East Lyme, and it was the biggest I’ve run in many years, with more than 800 entrants on this chilly, breezy day […]

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Tags: Running