(Congratulations to the Sunday Long Runners that ran in the Newburyport 10 Miler last Tuesday. Barry, Jen, Peter, and Catherine were among the 9 MRCers that completed the 10 mile course legally… and I ran as a bandit having shown up after they had run out of chips for runners.)
This morning’s bright skies and cool temperatures brought out 25 runners for the Sunday Run. We had a Barry, a pair of Brians (neither one a Slater although he did make a pre-run cameo appearance) a Catherine, a Dave, an Ed and two Erins. Along with a Ginny, Jen, Jim, Judi, and Julie, as well as a Kaj. We also had a Lois and a Luis, a pair of Mikes, a Nancy, Nick and Nicole. Rounding out the list were Peter, Sue, and last but not least (in fact as far as miles goes he had the most) Walt.
The group gathered outside Brueggers as a hazy sky obscured the rays of the sun, which coupled with a cool breeze kept the temperatures below 70. If it were not for the humidity it would have been the perfect day for a long run, all in all it was still more than we could ask for on an August Sunday. With a review of the maps and the water stop locations, a quick “Does everyone know where they’re going?†sent us off down Main St up to the Fellsway and by the Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School. As we passed the tennis courts the long route runners turned left on Tremont to loop Ell Pond once following the course of the original Law Enforcement Half Marathon. Those training for half marathons followed a shorter route, skipping the loop of Ell Pond. And if you were like Julie and didn’t know how far you wanted to run you took an ambitious left turn followed by a quick reality check induced u-turn back to the LynnFells. A discussion-filled loop around the Pond went quick for the pack I settled into, me, Ginny, and Nicole. A few stories brought us back to the Fellsway and over to the hills. Here’s where we discovered the poster child for the MRC Sunday Long Run program: hill loving Nicole. I’ve preached “love the hills and they’ll love you back†and for the most part all of you have rolled your eyes at me, well Nicole loves hills and charged up each and every one of them leaving me in the dust. I’m not sure if she was letting me catch up with her because I knew where we were going or if her love for the hills stopped at the top because I caught back up to her on the downhills as we rode them over to Grimsby’s and the first water stop of the day.
We caught site of the lead pack leaving as we pulled into the stop. A quick drink and Ginny was off, then Nicole, meanwhile I dilly-dallied like I do conversing with people as they streamed in and out of the stop Nick, Erin, Peter, Catherine, Sue, Lois, and Nancy. Then another quick chat as I made my way past them through the hills along the Fellsway East. Lingering with each for a bit then picking it up to the next one, I made my way to Nick who hung on my shoulder as we gained on Ginny and Nicole, not quite making it to them as we made our way to the second water stop, Walt’s car on Highland Ave.
Some more Gatorade and water and Ginny, Nicole and I made our way around Spot Pond. Along Elm St we ran into David Lane off on his own run over through the woods of the Fells. Heading along Rt 28 we hit “Slackers Hill”, none of slacking but instead trying to keep up with Nicole as she darted up those uphills, then catching up with her on the downhills again. Following the pond we headed past the zoo, no animal sightings for us this morning until we got to the gaggle of geese by Pond St. They were a little less formidable this week, relinquishing a piece of the sidewalk to let us by while giving us a honk to remind us it’s their sidewalk. From there the route brought us along Woodland Rd, past the Flynn Rink and back to Walt’s car for another stop. While Nicole, Ginny and I regrouped Walt came running in from the opposite direction. I’m not sure exactly where he went but he improvised his own 17 mile run today. Then came Luis, also from the opposite direction, also improvising his own route of an unknown distance today. Having started with the faster pack but losing them somewhere along the way, he wandered along the right roads in the wrong order but still got in at least 14.6 miles on the day. Walt finished at the car, Ginny gave herself a head start, partaking in less water stop conversation along the way and keeping to the activity of running her long run.
Leaving the water stop we turned up East Border Rd. Again right when we hit the uphill Nicole took the lead. Again once we crested the top I went storming by. Back through the hills of the Fellsway East we went, stealing a tiny bit of Ginny’s head start with each step, eventually catching her as we headed into the Grimsby’s water stop for our last stop of the day. Putting a stop here really helps get runners through the last few stretches of what is one of the more challenging half marathon courses I know. However putting a stop here also gives each runner just that much more time to consider the short cut down Wyoming to chop off a mile from the route. I know some considered it and some did it, but Ginny, in the interest of not being ratted out as a shortcut taker continued along the full route. Great job Ginny!
Up the final hill we went, Ginny first having forgone any conversation this time and heading straight out of the water stop. Next went Nicole with one last hill charge of the day. Lois, having made up some distance using the water stop to water stop shuttle (a ride with Walt) joined Luis and I climbing the hill. Then down we went, one last “caught you†as I pulled along side Nicole. We made our way past Ginny and out into the sunshine by Ell Pond. It had gotten much warmer than when we took our first few passes along this stretch closer to 8AM, and the sun beat down on us as we made our way to Main St and back to Brueggers. We did it though. 14.6 miles! Another run down!
My apologies to any runner that didn’t get enough water along the way, I under-estimated the hydration needs for the group today. Thanks to Walt for picking up some refreshment for the back of the pack. As the group gets larger I’ll need to anticipate the need for more water and Gatorade. The good news though is the group is growing and I suspect our numbers will exceed 30 runners before the Fall session is over. The more the merrier!
Jim- (and anyone else that volunteers their car as a waterstop)-
Thank you so much for the coordination to make these long runs so successful and providing for the little island oasis’ that we have in the water stop cars! It was just great to see so many runners out today! If our only issue to get more water….we can do that! Thanks again, Jim.
That is definitely the hilliest 14 miles you can find in the area! I’m glad I never ran that 1/2 when it was in Melrose!