Well, that’s done. And so are my feet. The stones! The stones! My biannual visit to New Rochelle for this race is always special. From the 200-year-old musket firing to start each wave to the immediate hill you climb to get to the trailhead to the constantly changing terrain. Five beautiful parks await you as you slice away mile after mile. Outside of those delightful challenges (yep, the full shebang: tree roots, branches, leaves, grass, little mud, a couple of stream crossings, wooden catwalks and tons of stones), this was a great day for running. Sunny day with temps in the 50°F range and very little wind. Knowing I wasn’t fully prepared for it, I opted for ‘just do your best today’. I handled the hills in a decent fashion, but my left hip was primed to give me a setback. Tripped and fell twice. First was due to the sun blinding me and the second from an exhausted hip that didn’t lift high enough. No damage done. The first fall was actually executed nicely. I dropped into the push-up position and pushed back up. That was new LOL With a few walking breaks, I grinded through it all and made it to the high school track for the finish line. I’m awaiting the finish line photo because no matter how tired I may be, I always charge the finish line. I really cut the heck out of those curves because my watch didn’t reach the thirteen miles. Kudos to race director, Eric Turkewitz for another successful race. Great to see you again, as always.

Next up: Detroit Free Press/TCF Marathon.

The medal is a carton of eggs. This is the 12th year of the race and there are twelve Thomas Paines’ in the carton. The piece on the left side is the top of the carton. Turn it to the right and the carton is closed lol