Grace and I set out for this 9am 5K at about 8, but when we got to Haddam, we realized that the Haddam Neck Fair is not actually in Haddam, but across the river in East Hampton. And the nearest bridge wasn’t very close, meaning it took us another 25 minutes to get there.

We made it to the start and got registered with 9 minutes to spare, and had a great race, Grace’s tenth.

Haddam Neck Fair | 5K | 9/15/21 | 30:23 | 93/169

I’m still not sure about the Groton vs. Groton (Town of) distinction, but as the summer race season ramps up, I took a look at the calendar yesterday to see what I might be able to do the next day.

There was only one race was scheduled for a town I’d yet to run in and which had same-day registration, so Tour de Noank in the Town of Groton it was. It might have helped to look at the weather forecast or bring a towel, as I keep meaning to, as it was pouring down rain most of the drive and was still raining when I arrived.

The race was a pleasant, flat tour through the streets of the village, except for one big hill at mile 2, and happily, the rain let up for the race.

Tour de Noank | 5K | 6/12/21 | 24:33 | 92/169

I’m not sure when road races started happening again, but at a certain point, after getting vaccinated and as other things began to return to normal, I checked in on the old reliable CT race calendar, and returned to the old familiar practice of checking upcoming races with the list of towns I’ve yet to run in, adding potential opportunities to the calendar. It’s been so long since we’ve really had anything on the calendar, but that’s starting to change.

This race, my first in more than a year, was in Rocky Hill, not too far away up 15 and 91, and was a good opportunity to ease back into things. My running during the pandemic has been…not non-existent, but perhaps not as consistent as it could have been in a world with many other obligations removed. Not having races as a reason to train has maybe had something to do with it, but either way, I’ve been running, but not much, and without many goals in mind. I was a little slower than my last 5K in 2020, but it felt good to get back to racing.

5K for Education | 5K | 5/22/21 | 24:24 | 91/169

The family is out of town, and there’s apparently only one race going on in Connecticut today, so I ran it. But it is a doughnut run. At each checkpoint, runners had to pull a paper out of a bowl and follow the instructions.

At the first stop, I pulled an “EAT.” It was a decent doughnut, but just so dense and doughy, it was hard to eat quickly. The clock is ticking, you’ve been running for 10 minutes, and all you want to do is keep running. I finally finished it and ran onto the second stop, at about 1.8 miles. Thankfully, I pulled a “FREE” out and kept on running.

At the final stop, at about 2 1/2 miles, I pulled another “EAT.” I don’t know if I was just warmed up or what, but this one went down a little more easily, though I felt pretty nasty over the last 3/4 of a mile to the finish. The finish line was quite a scene, with lots of people pulled aside to eat the doughnut they had been forced to carry. I crossed soon as I got there, got myself marked, took my paper off for them to do the timing, and watched people reluctantly chow on doughnuts. One poor guy came through with three doughnuts, having received a “CARRY” at each stop. He compacted them into one mega-doughnut and started eating. I left.

Great Donut Challenge | 3m (+ 2 doughnuts) | 2/15/20 | 26:58 | 90/169

The town of Brooklyn (an “elusive” town per the Run 169 Society’s calculations) is about as far away as you can get and still be in Connecticut. The race course here turned out to be three laps around a school parking lot, which is a little bizarre, but wasn’t as bad as it sounds. It becomes a different kind of challenge, to set or keep a pace with each lap, and to keep ahead of or even pass those around you. The weather was nice, and the race had a good turnout, and I was able to actually push myself for the first time in awhile. I got passed near the end, but still felt like I turned in a respectable performance.

Tailgater 5K Road Race | 5K | 2/2/20 | 23:16 | 89/169

On an unseasonably sunny day in January, Grace came along for our first race in a long time. We both felt good, and she did great, smashing her PR. The race was very well organized, with good water breaks, nice goodies, and beer and food afterward at the brewery with a cool Corsair logo.

Resolution Run 5K | 5K | 1/12/20 | 28:57 | 88/169

At a certain point in an already very busy travel year, when the opportunity came along to tack on another trip to Europe, it felt like one more trip didn’t make much difference. I was glad to be able to accept the invitation of the Budapest Classics Marathon, a festival of preserved and classic film, to deliver a talk and take part in the festival.

I hadn’t been to Budapest since a brief visit in 2001, so it was a joy to be able to get to know the city better and enjoy some screenings in great venues on both sides of the Danube. Movies, beer, architecture, a funicular…what more do you need?

After months of daily Duolingo practice, making a wish-list of things to see and do, and generally getting really excited about it, we finally set off for our long-awaited family trip to Germany. Everyone had a great time, and aside from having my wallet stolen on day one, everything else worked out, from our wonderful hotels (and great Berlin apartment) to catching the Schwebebahn in Wuppertal just days after it reopened. We visited München, Heidleberg, Köln, Wuppertal, and Berlin over two-plus weeks, and the girls got a taste for sausages, schnitzel, and pretzels, while I happily abandoned New England IPAs in favor of pilsners and kölsches.

The trip was a whirlwind of museums, playgrounds, photobooths, river cruises, and beer gardens, and was better than we could have imagined.

And thanks to a delayed flight, we topped it off with an unexpected bonus evening in Dublin!

Chester, not far from Essex and from Gillette Castle, which we visited a few years back, one the eastern side of that great empty spot in the middle of Connecticut, and both northern (15) and southern (95) routes seem to get you there just as quickly.

With my typical lack of advance planning, I was low on cash and couldn’t find the checkbook, so I grabbed 24 ones on my way out the door, which was all we had. I found two more in my wallet and was already to promise to pay later, being unable to find the fees on their website, but it turned out they had a credit card reader at the registration tent, a sure sign of a big race. And indeed it was, with nearly a thousand finishers.

It was a great race, on a really hot day, with townspeople out with their hoses to cool us off as we ran by. Chester is a beautiful town, and I felt pretty good, especially when I was able to grab a complimentary beer on the doorstep of the local brewery at the end of the race.

Chester Rotary Four on the Fourth | 4M | 7/4/19 | 32:11 | 87/169

We returned, two years after our first time, to Solid Sound at MASS MoCA this weekend. The girls had a great time again, and had even more to do this time than in 2017. It’s the perfect mix of music, art, crafts, and food, and with so much going on that there’s something for everyone. Highlights this time around were an impromptu concert from Courtney Barnett in one of the huge galleries, with us sitting cross-legged on the floor in the front row; another show by the Story Pirates; comedy with John Hodgman; the girls getting to help screen print some posters; and a couple of great shows from the Minus 5 and Wilco. On the way home, we made our way through New York state and caught Yesterday in a small-town cinema.

It’s been a pretty slow year for races so far; I’ve only run two and it’s already the middle of June. With the girls away for the weekend, I snuck this one in, in Essex, where I’d been before for the Santa train when we first moved here. It was a nice, small town race, well marked and with great weather for a run. Plus, it was a little shorter than regulation, which meant that my time felt even better, for a 5K. Fourth in my age group, yet again, so it was a typical race.

Run for Chris | 5K | 6/22/19 | 22:17 | 86/169

2019 has been a busy year, to say the least. Beginning in March, I was traveling every few weeks, which left precious little time for weekend races. If I wasn’t out of town, I was making sure I was actually present at home, rather than taking half a weekend day out to run. I didn’t want to let the whole summer slip by without race, though, and wanted to give Grace a chance to run again, so we picked off one of the last nearby towns, Ansonia, for an evening 5K this week. She’s gotten quicker (and less in need of breaks) with every race, and still seems to be enjoying herself. Aimee and Lucy did the 2 mile walk, and Lucy ran along with us for the last quarter mile or so, staking her claim to run a race with me soon.

Valley YMCA Sunset 5K | 5K | 6/12/19 | 31:20 | 85/169

A planned trip to Vienna for a conference in early June made me wonder if this would be an opportune time for a long-awaited visit to the beaches of Normandy. The timing—on the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion—seemed right, and my dad accepted my invitation to come along. We had a great time touring Normandy, with stops in Giverny, Mont-Saint-Michel, Le Mans, Chartres, and Paris, as well. After a week in France, I headed to Vienna for a short conference, and then back home to remind the kids that I exist.

And Vienna, more film and, of course, photobooths:

My first international trip in a year that promises to have more than a few brought me to Switzerland for the annual FIAF Congress. I landed in Zürich and then made my way down through Lucerne, where I’d never been before, and finally to Lausanne. Funiculars, cinemas, photobooths, and chocolate; not a bad way to spend a week or so.

This was a really massive race. Only the first…850 registered runners got the tech tee, while the rest got a cotton shirt, if that’s an indication of the scale. Inside the middle school where registration took place, sponsors had their tables set up, and hundreds of runners were stretching and socializing, to avoid the deep chill outside. The race was really well organized, and managed the one thing that almost no other race seems capable of: a race official who was well-miked and amplified, so everyone could hear what he was saying. It’s the little things… I managed third in my age group, which felt pretty good for a race of this scale. One of the last of the very local races to check off the list.

Rotary and YMCA 5K | 5K | 11/22/18 | 23:56 | 84/169