Colchester ½ Marathon

Runners: Rick and Dave F. (1:52) Jill (1:54:19)

The race started at 10:00, it was around 32 degrees with a light snow. Road conditions varied from dry to slush to dirt to slick snow/ice. But overall I was pretty pleased with the amount of traction considering the weather. This is a super hilly course and somewhat challenging for our first ½. This is the farthest I’ve ever run and I think it was for Rick too. Michael, Vicky, Lauren and Allyssa were there at the start to cheer us on and get us psyched up for the race. I’m guessing between 100 to 150 brave souls showed up at the start line. The gun went off and I lost Rick and Dave for a moment but reconnected with them after a few minutes. We saw Asher, Jay, and Carole who we run with on Saturdays out of MCC. Rick set a blistering pace and I wondered whether I would be able to maintain it but the three of us settled into a good pace and ran together for the first few miles. Michael met us at the first water stop to cheer and hand me a gel. I fell a little behind Rick and Dave at this point trying to choke the gel down. After this I never was able to catch up with those 2 but made sure I kept a visual on them and used this to motivate myself to stay on track. In the middle of the race there were two killer hills, I thought the first one did me in. It was pretty rough, I could feel myself stooping over and wasn’t sure I was ever going to get to the top. Recovery came quicker than I thought, I think the 2nd water station and the 2nd gel (espresso love!!) Michael gave me helped quite a bit. Shortly after Vicky, Allyssa, and Lauren drove by cheering and that sped me up too. The next stretch was pretty treacherous but it was also the section I enjoyed the most. We turned onto a narrow snow covered back road with trees hanging over both sides and fields and farms on either side. It was so quiet and peaceful with the snow gently falling. Toward the end our cheering section became the cows and although they looked sweet, they definitely did not smell sweet. At the end of this road we took a right onto a clear paved road and it was a 2 mile stretch to the finish line. All uphill. This was without doubt the toughest part of the race, so close but by then you are just tired and trying to put a little extra kick in is really challenging. Then the finish shoot, yay!!!! For a $2 entry fee this race was well supported with 3 water/Gatorade stations, tons of volunteers with a great attitude, bathrooms, showers, and a feast after. So much fun – loved being out there running while it was snowing. And we rocked our pace getting in under 2 hours!!! – Jill

Results: http://www.greystoneracing.net/pages/Race%20Results%202008/Colchester%202.23.08.txt

Pictures from the race

Arcadia

Riders: Andy M., Jim, Glenn, Rick, Jill, Mickey (for a minute!)

Got to the parking lot way too early and started to get depressed. The entire parking lot was a deep frozen pond that I had to park on the outskirts of, not the best omen for trail conditions. Sat brooding in the parking lot until the rest of the crew showed up. Headed out and quickly realized the trails were absolutely fine. Andy promised no road ride to the trailhead but somehow we did a road ride to the trailhead . Here is my positive spin – What a great warmup! But really it was just great to be riding when it was above 30 degrees, not windy, with the sun trying to come out. No sooner had I congratulated Mickey on the new addition to his family then Jim rode up and said Mickey had ripped off his derailleur and was headed back. Next time Mickey… This was truly a wonderful ride, only 2 minor mechanicals that were fixed pretty quickly, the weather warmed up by the minute, and lot’s of chatter about DDR (ha!), our next dream bikes (ha, ha!), components (sram vs. shimano), youth basketball (go Alyssa!), and martini’s. 14.3 miles and all is good. – Jill