5/14/2019. Granite State Half Marathon






It took nearly 8 hours of difficult driving to New Hampshire to get to this race on a Tuesday. There was continuous heavy traffic on interstate highways, where the lane we were in either merged unexpectedly with another, or kicked me off at an exit! To top it off, a rock hit the windshield and ultimately we had to replace the windshield. So why New Hampshire? Well, I couldn't find another half marathon in May that looked interesting. Also the state was on Boyd's bucket list. He has now visited 49 states, and has only North Dakota remaining.

The race was held at Nashua, NH at Mine Falls Park. It was in a series with races in Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. It is geared to "Fifty Staters" whose goal is to do a half or full marathon in all 50 states. Runners can check off 6 states in 6 days of running! There were only around 20-30 half and full marathoners. This park was very scenic, through the woods and along the Nashua river. The surface was mostly gravel with a lot of roots and puddles.

The temperature was cold, around 38 degrees, but that didn't bother me as much as a poorly marked course. There were lots of intersections with trails and roads and I don't have a good sense of direction. I got lost and figure I only did around 11 miles in 2 hrs 20 min. Still, they gave me a medal. There was nothing in the "goody bag" except the bib and there were no age group awards anyway.

To make up for all that, I did a half marathon at home today. completing 13.24 miles in 2:58:48, for an average pace of 13.5 min/mile. YAY!

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