Coming off a week where snow was the main story (exhibit 1: long runners running the Derry Boston Prep last Sunday)…
(Photos from Greater Derry Track Club)
… this week was as close to perfect weatherwise for a winter long run as you can get. Temperatures in the mid-30s and overcast to start, low-40s and sunny by the end. Puxatawney Phil, our regional groundhog/weather prognosticator has called for 6 more weeks of winter, but by the looks of today his forecast is a little off. A belated happy Groundhog’s Day to all of you, by the way. To get a more local version of the long range forecast I turned to our local weather expert, Winthrop Walt, who predicts, based on some models, that probabilistically we’ll have predominantly springtime weather with scattered winter weather.
Today we had 25 runners out on the roads tracing the old Melrose Half Marathon route. Kelley, aided by her handy map and accompanied by her friend Erin, led the group over to the knoll on the LynnFells Parkway where the old half started. Those running the full long route looped around Ell pond before taking the LynnFells out to the Fellsway East. Runners opting for less miles skipped that loop and rode the hills over to Highland Ave, the location of our first water stop. With the shorter runners (by distance not height) hitting the water stop first, Mike MacNeil doled out the refreshments (Thanks Mike). As the headed out the near side of Spot Pond to Pond St the longer runners flowed through the water stop and around to the backside of the pond.
I started my run with Brian, Walt, Ed, and Andy Pate. Despite repeated comments about starting out too fast, I realized “too fast” would be their pace all day and I let them set out from the water stop without me. Mike York was right behind us and his “I started out too fast” was more serious so I tagged along with him around the Pond. The time passed quickly as getting lost in thoughts inside my head chewed up minutes, only interrupted by exchanging hellos with strangers running in the opposite direction, who remain strangers despite saying hello to them dozens of times on these routes. I took a quick sip of water at the simple but sweet Straw Point water stop set up by Rick Collette (thanks to you too) and headed out by the zoo. I thought I heard the growls of wolves at the zoo but realized that was just my stomach yearning for a Snickers, which accidentally spent the morning in the trunk of my car. I convinced Mike York, who was turning down Pond St to shorten his run, to get some treats and some Gatorade to go find Walt and then provide an extra stop at Grimsby’s to help us through the run. Walt was stretching his run out to 18 miles after giving blood the day before so if I needed something to eat I’m sure he needed it more.
Our second trip to Mike MacNeil’s water stop was about 10.5 miles into the run. I pulled in to find Liz, Nick, and Ed Morris hanging out with Mike. Liz was making her return to running with us!!!! Broken hand on the mend, she did the last 4 miles with Lois and Pam. Welcome back Liz! Nick and Ed were part of some car shuffle I guess but I used this as an excuse to loiter until Tracy and Ginny came in to the stop. The three of us headed out as the course took us up the steep hill of North Border Road and back to the hills of the Fellsway East. Trust me, all these hills will help you get through Boston! Ginny turned down Wyoming to head home while Tracy and I pulled into Mike York’s stop. That Gatorade and Snickers were just the thing to get us through the last few miles. The sugar kicked in and the sun broke out from behind the clouds while we shuffled down Main St to finish 14.6 miles. Great job to all those that ran today. Seems like we’re all coming all well towards whatever goal sits out ahead of us.
We had quite a group stick around to socialize after the run. Be good to Brueggers, they seem to be having a lot of patience with us using their facility and we’re paying them back with a bunch of post run business.
While the Patriots have made this a super Sunday with their great run to the Super Bowl tonight, and a great run of our own in perfect weather with a good group of people made for a super Sunday long run!