Litchfield Hills Road Race

It’s one of the oldest road races in CT & New England. It started “based on the famous race in Falmouth, Mass.” Some call it a sister race to the Boston marathon, but I’m not sure where that came from. Maybe the Litchfield running friends who started this were also Boston marathoners. Bill Rodgers was the first winner in 1977. The 7.1 mile course is about the same distance as Falmouth, but nothing compares to that infamous hill on Gallows Lane. “It's only about a quarter-mile long, but the upgrade -- about 15 degrees -- will sap the strength” of the runners who set out from the Litchfield Green.” It's what makes the race unique and challenging, and nobody would dream of getting rid of it.” This was my first LHRR, & I still need to do the Falmouth race, which takes place around my birthday in August.

I wasn’t sure what pace & finish time to aim for. I’m just now cranking up my marathon Training. I completed a very hilly 16 mile long run the day before (with 4 miles moderate-hard at the end.) It was also very hot. I was thinking that at peak fitness, & with cool weather I could break 50 min. I told my wife to expect me somewhere between 50-55 min. At the end of the 1st mile, the course goes down that steep hill that we face at 6 miles coming back. I found going down to be about as big of a challenge as going up. It’s very difficult to not just fall forward & it’s just about impossible to run it without some breaking in your stride. Just like at the beginning of marathons, I was passing people who were totally out of breath during the first miles. It just amazes me how often this happens. There are so many runners out there that go blazingly too fast for themselves at the start, no matter the distance of the race.

I passed a lot of others throughout the entire race, & only a couple of runners passed me near the end. I passed this one young lady just before the big hill at 6 miles, & then she passed me going up it. After getting over the hill, I passed her, & never saw her again until she came in behind me over the finish line. I believe I paced myself very well,& I had a very strong finish. Since I was coming in sub 50 min, my wife almost missed me, but was able to get a picture after she heard my name called as I came down the home stretch. I’m very pleased with my 49:23 finish. I was 10th out of 201 in my 40-49 age group, & in the top 6% overall of the 1,532 finishers, which included runners from all over the world. In the end, it was a really fun hard-tempo training run. My training cycle is off to a good start.

1	6:20
2	6:57
3	6:44
4	7:12
5	6:44
6	6:56
7	7:58
Ave	6:58

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Nicely done, Dave! That last mile looks like a doozy!

Excellent race Dave!

Congrats! Nice run

Good one!  That's an oddball distance!

great race nice kick at the end Holy hills!

Nice race...a your wife got a great picture of your final kick!

Missed this one Dave, looks like your back on track to top form again, good solid effort!

Great run - man, that last mile is brutality!