With Hanna passing through overnight with heavy rains and howling winds it seemed our string of pleasant weather was going to change. Surprise! Heading to Brueggers the sky was blue, the humidity was low, the temperature was comfortable and the winds had died down to gentle breezes. Perfect morning for a Sunday Run. With good weather and people getting a little more serious about their marathon training a record number of runners showed up for the 20 mile marathon training run and 10 mile half marathon training run. Twenty-five people mingled in the corner of Brueggers while six more met at Friendly’s 2 miles into the run to join us there. Including Nancy, Sue and Joanne, all three testing out their various injuries with a lap around Spot Pond during the run, we had 34 runners today! It was nice to see new faces in the crowd along with so many of the familiar faces.
The first leg of the run headed out West Wyoming where we were greeted by a passing minivan with my daughter Lizzie frantically waving behind tinted glass. Later she would tell me “you were so fast you were next to Judiâ€. I was running faster than planned, and I was next to Judi for the first mile of the twenty. Along the way we spotted a key and assumed one of the runners ahead of had dropped it, so we stashed it off to the side so if they did nobody would take it. Later we found out it wasn’t one of our runner’s key so essentially whoever did lose that key will have a harder time finding it now that we moved it. Oops! Up at Grimsby’s we saw Jennifer Rapaport jump in with the lead pack as she was content to complete 18 miles today instead. Along Spot Pond Judi pulled ahead and passed Friendly’s, where our half marathon training group started their run. I caught up to a pair of runners who had just looped the pond and were heading home, briefly chatted, and then went our separate ways at the intersection of Park St and Marble St. Dave McCaldon (English Dave) caught up and the two of us headed into water stop 1.
Rick had everything set up for a quick and efficient stop, although most of us lingered to watch a bit of the electrical work being done on Forest St. A tree went down in the storm and took a bunch of power lines with it. The road was closed and a detour sent us up an extra hill and around the work crew. English Dave and I ran together down to Highland Ave at a good pace. He turned right onto Eaton to finish up the planned 10 mile route and as he left I pulled up behind Jen, Denyce, Donna, and Jo-Ann who were running the start-at-Friendly’s 10 mile route. As I approached they turned to follow Kevin, Jocelyn and Leah in the wrong direction. I yelled ahead to Jen, they yelled ahead to Jocelyn and everyone got back on the right track, over the hills of Highland Ave. The revised route took us right on Main St in Winchester, left on Grove St and over to Canterbury Rd, a pretty little street in Winchester where the Donahues live. Christine, the kids, and the dog greeted us all at the second water stop 7 miles into the run, while Paul joined in with the lead pack for a few quick miles. With water, Gatorade, Gel, and Snickers spread out on a table, they put out quite the runners’ brunch for us as two dozen runners mingled in their driveway. Their dog is either very friendly or likes the taste of salt because it kept licking my ankles. When I shooed the dog away it moved on to licking the sweat off of Eve’s ankle. From what I hear we were only two of many that got that unusual waterstop treat.
From there we worked our way back to Grove under the suspicious eyes of neighborhood kids in their pajamas wondering where all these runners were coming from. Grove took us out to route 60 in Medford where we spotted Erin, Peter, and Ann. Unfortunately the “revised route†didn’t make its way into their hands and they missed the second water stop (sorry guys). Our group, now me, Kevin, Dave Hayes (tall Dave), Ginny, Eve, Erin, Peter, and Ann headed over to the Mystic Valley Parkway. Running along the roadside trail gave nice views of the choppy lakes with a gusty headwind that cooled us down while only slightly hindering our forward progress. This beautiful section of the run brought us over to Nancy, lounging roadside comfortably in her beach chair offering us refreshments, a welcome sight 11 miles into the run.
Heading past Winchester Center runners strung along Washington St on their way back to Rick’s car for the next water stop. Eve and I went on a hunt for a bathroom at that point. A church I’ve visited for this purpose in the past was locked. I then tried a laundromat and a convenience store with no luck. While others headed to Forest St, I cut up a side steep side street to the Winchester Hospital Emergency Room… yes at this point it was becoming an emergency. I found the restroom, which was occupied, and waited… and waited… and waited. Finally the restroom freed up and I was quickly back to the task of finishing my run. Heading back downhill on Highland Ave… yes this side trip made me run yet more hills than originally planned… I hit Forest St as Jen and Leah made their way up. Leah wasn’t happy to see me, I think she just started a walking break and I caught her, waved her along and got her started running again. The potty break allowed me to have a short conversation with many people, all working hard to climb Forest St, most not happy to have me push them along. You all made it up one way or another and most of you even did the extra hill around the electrical work again… although Kelly sweet-talked the police into letting her avoid the detour.
After a brief visit with Rick I headed out with Ginny, determined to catch up to the pack I had left earlier. Up to Park St and over to Friendly’s I knew I wouldn’t catch Kevin as his run was done there. Turning on to Main St behind Spot Pond I caught Peter and Ann, then tall Dave, then Kaj. I pushed ahead looking for Eve but instead found Nancy, Sue and Joanne coming the other way. Sue, known for her wardrobe malfunctions, was wearing her shirt inside out. Here’s a tip Sue, when you do that pretend you did it on purpose to avoid chaffing from seams since the seams are on the outside now. That’s what I did when I ran the Vermont City Marathon with my shirt inside out and backwards… I couldn’t think of an excuse for the backwards though. As I tackled the hills along the backside of the pond I quickly realized Eve wasn’t there, and I’ve just now learned she accidentally headed along the front side of Spot Pond. Alone I made my way to Nancy’s car for the final water stop of the day.
While making sure I had enough nutrition and rehydration in me for the last three hilly miles of the run, Dave came in as I was heading out. He looked a little dazed from the distance and the heat while I fed him directions from there to the finish. My gut feel was right as I later learned he too got a little lost and wandered for a bit before making his way back. I climbed South Border Rd and hit the hills of the Fellsway East back to West Wyoming Ave. Giving it all I had I rode some momentum towards the finish… and then the train gates came down stopping me dead in my tracks. A long wait there and I made it to Main St and as I started to pass Grove the lights changed and I had to stop for traffic. Giving my last spurt of energy up Main St I could see Barry, Rick, and Carol sitting outside Brueggers… when the light changed and traffic spilled out from West Foster. I just wanted to be done with my 20 miles, out of the heat and off of my feet, but there were still these final road blocks of the day to get through.
As runners continued to stream in it was evident the toll this run took on them by the different expressions that adorned their tired faces. Despite how you got back to Brueggers, or Friendly’s as the case may be, each and every one of the 30+ runners that hit the road today should be proud of the effort they gave today. There was some adversity sprinkled all through this run. Although we were spared the adversity of hurricane winds and tropical rains, this run is one of the toughest training runs we have and is a key part in preparing us for whatever may come on race day. Be proud of what you did, you’re better prepared for what you will do.
Special thanks to Rick, Nancy, the Donahues, and especially the Donahues dog for spending their Sunday morning making sure we completed are runs hydrated, fed, and salt-free from the knees down.
