I Run

The Sawmill River Run in Montague Center, MA is the perfect way to start the new year. This is a no frills, small town race that I'd thought about running in past years but never had the motivation to get up in the morning after a night of staying up way too late. This year, I willed myself to get out of bed with the thought, "If not now, when?" Indeed. It's usually not so easy for me to talk myself into getting up for a winter morning race. But I did also want to check out the Montague Bookmill, which I'd never visited but have heard much about. So I had another reason to go. And after I made coffee, Elly said she'd like to come along as well. So great! We'd have a morning date.

On the way to Montague we missed a turn and wound up on the west side of Greenfield. I knew something wasn't quite right because we had crossed the Connecticut River from the east. So we backtracked and discovered that we needed to turn left in Turners Falls as soon as we crossed the bridge from Route 2. No problem, we still got to Montague with time to spare. After a few miles we passed the Bookmill on the right and then we were at the small village center, where cars were parked along the sides of the road.

Registration was in the Grange building. After I paid and got my bib, I realized that it was probably warm enough for me to run in shorts, which is pretty unusual for January 1. So I went into the back of the van and stripped off my two layers of pants and tights and put on my shorts instead. The roads were still a bit messy from a snow squall we'd had the day before, but that just made it more fun for me.

The first part of the race is pretty flat, and there's a long, straight stretch where you can just settle into a good pace across gorgeous farmland. I wasn't looking for mile markers (if there were any), so I really had no idea how fast or slow I was running unless someone else near me announced their pace. I just knew that I was running hard enough to breath hard, but slow enough to not puke. The last couple of miles feature some hill climbing, but nothing too extreme. There were volunteers out on the course to guide you at the turns, but there were no water stops. Not that you'd need any for a 10K in January (I didn't), but it's something to note if you're used to sucking on water every couple of miles.

The final section of the course is downhill into Montague, so you can really pick up your pace if you have anything left over after the hills. I came in at 44:24, 21st out of 108, which is decent for me. After the race, water, juice, cookies, and baked potatoes with all the fixings are available downstairs in the Grange. After changing into dry clothes, Elly and I then visited the book shop and had a great lunch at the Lady Killigrew cafe.

Results are here.

# posted by jm @ 5:04 PM