One of the smaller races I’ve run, with only 45 participants, which somewhat dampened the Halloween flavor, though some people did run in costumes. A nice course, past Lake Terramuggus at the end, and another race is in the books. It feels both like I’m making progress, but also that I’m still so far from […]

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As usual, didn’t even occur to me to check the weather before leaving, and after a beautiful pink cloud sunrise as I headed out of the house, the sky turned gray, and the rain began. It continued all the way up to Cornwall before letting up just long enough for me to get out of […]

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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. […]

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There couldn’t be a bigger contrast with yesterday’s race. This one was massive, with eight different races going on today. There were food trucks everywhere, all downtown traffic was completely blocked off, and the field was nearly 800 strong. The race had pacers, even for the 5K, and a finishing chute that wouldn’t have been […]

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I cut this one a little close, I guess. I parked somewhat precariously on the shoulder of the road, and when I tried to register, a half hour or so before the start of the race, I was told I needed to find the race director and request that he re-open online registration so I […]

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A nice, flat run through neighborhoods along the coast, but I think the course had been mismarked, so we actually ran about 3.4 miles today. Today’s was the first race to provide a technical race T-shirt in a long time, and it’s one I think I’ll be wearing again. I’m still confused about Lyme, Old […]

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My first two-race weekend in some time, and somehow, this ended up being a second surprise trail run in a row. The race itself was quite different: nearly 200 runners, pre-race group stretching, and the race was very well staffed and the route well signed. So many volunteers and signs along the route were sure […]

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Hartford probably hosts more races than any other town in the state, so I’m not sure why I haven’t run here before except because of just that reason: there’s no shortage of races, so I always felt like I could pick one up anytime. As I return from Alaska and the fall race season starts […]

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A classic small town race, this was both a benefit for a nonprofit doing work in Zambia as well as a race in memory of a local runner and VW Beetle mechanic. The bibs were reused from other races (this was not the John & Jessie Kelley Road Race), old race t-shirts were given away, […]

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Located in that triangle formed by New Haven, Hartford, and New London, East Hampton is about an hour from home. It was raining until just before the start of the Belltown Spring Sprint, which was a benefit for a post-graduation party for the local high school seniors. The race was fine; I got passed by […]

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A nice, big, well-organized race (more than 400 runners), up in Windsor Locks, near the airport. We started and finished at the high school, and while I didn’t manage to come in under 25:00 again, I gave it a good effort. I don’t know the last time I saw as many people running in the […]

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The “elusive” status of Westbrook was enough to overcome the fact that the forecast predicted solid rain all day (to the point where the race website posted a pop-up indicating that the race would go on, rain or shine). The town is one of the closer targets left on my list, now numbering less than […]

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Crossing over 120 has somehow made 169 seem not as far out of reach, so I’ve been adding races to the calendar and trying to knock off as many as I can, when I can. It’s not going to happen in the “under ten years since I started” or “before I turn 50” milestones like […]

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Trying to keep a shorter gap between races over the winter—last year I went four months—I was glad to find a January race that wasn’t too far away. It was far enough away that there was snow on the ground, though, which we no longer have down here. It felt like a slog, honestly, as […]

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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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