I Run

This race in Brattleboro consists of both a 5K and 10K, and you can choose to walk or run. It starts and ends on the campus of the School for International Training (SIT) off Black Mountain Rd. Each year the reason to run is different: this year it was for taking action against atrocities in Darfur, Sudan. The course is absolutely stunning as it winds along dirt roads passing farms, mountain meadows, and apple orchards. Yes, it's about as rural as you can get so there's about zero spectator support along the way. But there was one woman with a sign near the end who cheered every runner, so that was a good bit of motivation to push a bit harder. I'd say it's a challenging course, with a pretty good hill at mile 3. Even so, I managed to place for the first time ever in a race. In fact, I won my age group with a time of 46:28! So that was a nice surprise even though it wasn't my best 10K time. The day was absolutely perfect, sunny and in the 60s. And there were great drinks and food at the end, plus live music.