Before today, I don’t think I’d ever been up to this part of Connecticut. In fact, I think I’ve never taken a left turn at the end of Route 8 when it dumps you out at that T intersection near the Museum of Tort Law. It was a lovely fall day today, with beautiful colors. It seemed like no one was around as I approached the race, but then I came upon a parking lot absolutely chock full of people, including a high percentage of 169ers, as this is an elusive run.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I pushed hard, gave it my all, felt like I was pretty fast, and yet still came in at 25 minutes and just out of the medals in my group. This is definitely where I am now, thanks to running only 3 miles a day most days a week without any speed work or any longer distances, so I can’t complain.

Hartland Harvest Run | 5K | 10/12/24 | 25:17 | 134/169