Last Week – With surprisingly warm temperatures, quite a few runners ran the half, and even opted to add a mile or so to their route. A handful continued on to run the full route. Dan Slattery and Jeff Rushton even decided to throw in a loop of Breakheart into the mix, something we haven’t been able to do almost all winter. Lois, Audrey, and Tom served the water stop snacks like pros while collecting abandoned clothes as it got warmer and warmer through the run.
This Week – We’ll be hitting the roads for the final official run of the SLR this spring. Much like last week the weather should start out in the high 40s and climb to the beautiful running weather point. Dress so you’ll be a bit chilly at the start so you’ll get comfortable once you start running. The route is generally the same route as we did in Week 2, meant to show you how much you’ve progressed since then, except we loop Spot Pond in the opposite direction.
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Start – We’ll head up Main Street towards Ell Pond. As you pass the pond look for the monument to Clarence DeMar. Clarence lived in Melrose for some time before moving to Keene, New Hampshire. He ran the same paths we run but 100 years earlier. Clarence DeMar is the man that has won the most Boston Marathons to his name, winning 7 times over a 30 year span. The monument to him also mentions another Melrose resident that won the Boston Marathon multiple times, Bill Rodgers. As you finish up your training know we’ve been running the training routes of champions. Keep that in your head as you turn left on Melrose Street and left again onto the Lynn Fells Parkway heading towards our hills. Run past Grimsby’s, through the Fellsway East hills, and turn right on Highland Ave, making your way to the water stop.
Half Finish – The half runners will go through the Highland Ave rotary onto Woodland Rd, up to the right on to Pond Street. Run down to Grimsby’s and continue straight on to West Wyoming to finish up with a left on Main and a trip to Brueggers.
Full 2 – The full distance runners will also continue straight through the rotary onto Woodland Rd. Continue straight at Pond St, past the Stone Zoo, and veer left into the Straw Point parking lot. You should find Hank there for a little water before continuing left onto the Fellsway West, over I-93, past the Sheepfold, under I-93, and down to Elm Street. Elm will take you up, up, and up back to the Highland Ave rotary. (I never liked Elm Street this way, that’s why we only circle Spot Pond this way once per season). Turn right on Highland for the next water stop.
Full Finish – From Highland, turn left on East Border, left at the lights on to the Fellsway East, and up to Grimsby’s. Turn right on West Wyoming and a left on Main to finish up at Brueggers.
Water Stops – Lois, Tom, and Audrey should all be there to keep you hydrated so I plan to be IFTF. Wish Tom a happy birthday and a happy National Beer Day (coincidence, I think not!) as you pass by.
Next Week – No more SLR, but Dan will post on Facebook his plans to continue the runs going while he trains for Sugarloaf. I’ll hand off supplies so if you have a race in May keep the momentum going by joining in the Dan runs.
Roll Call – Who’s in?!