New England Running: Harold Parker State Forest (kind of) and Mary French Reservation

So, every month, Runner's World Magazine does a highlight of a running location called the "Rave Run." The places they highlight are all over the world, so when I saw one pop up in Andover, MA in last month's issue, I decided that I needed to check it out. After all, how often are these places in any kind of driving distance? (This month's Rave Run is out in Idaho though, which is an odd coincidence..) In the nasty weather that we've been having this week, my ever-gracious brother agreed to make the trip out to Andover and seek out the place depicted in the article.

To see the full RW write up of the run, click here. Under the heading, the brief description reads as follows: "Roughly 25 miles north of Boston, Harold Parker State Forest in Andover, Mass. has a 1,000-foot boardwalk that cuts through the Mary French Reservation." The description continues with a brief history, a bit about the park, and directions. Now, the problem that we encountered is that the Mary French Reservation (and it's 1,000 foot boardwalk) is NOT a part of the Harold Parker State Forest. It is pretty much right across the street, but is a different system of trails. Consequently, when Dave and I got to the main office and asked the woman at the desk about the location of the boardwalk, she was thoroughly confused. She had just started back with the park for the summer and hadn't heard anything about the article. We got some suggestions on where the boardwalk might be and headed off.


While the magazine told us the run was in Harold Parker, we actually didn't do anything more than drive through the park. Dave and I ran on the trails through the Skug River Reservation, and finding no boardwalk (that really was the focal point for us), crossed the street to the Mary French Reservation. After running a little ways into the woods, WE FOUND IT... but it was across the swamp. Some more navigating and extra jogging, and we made it there, and it was just as fun as we had hoped. The boards are a bit more decayed than the picture in the article shows, and the mosquitoes certainly were not mentioned, but it was pretty neat to run over the swamp.

Overall, the place was great for a trail run. While we didn't actually go through the Harold Parker trails, there is an extensive and well-mapped system that we would have continued onto if we weren't being eaten alive. After reassessing the article, I did find the information for both trail systems, but the directions to the location described were indeed confusing.

I'd like to give a general mention of love for the state parks in Massachusetts, we really have some pretty fantastic places to go explore for little to no dollars. There is this awesome program I discovered a few years ago that is run by the DCR- it's a park passport program designed to motivate kids to get outside and see the parks. Each state park has a box with a combination lock and an individual stamp inside. There are little blue booklets that you can get with spaces for stamps, and the point is to collect them all. It's a really fantastic idea, and I will admit to being twenty-two and being in possession of one of these passports myself. And don't worry, I got my stamp from Harold Parker State Forest today.








Harold Parker State Forest

Andover Trails Committee- Mary French Reservation



Here's to some sunshine tomorrow-
R. 

New England Running: The Great Urban Race

Before the race!

Last Saturday, my mom and I drove into Boston to check out the Great Urban Race. This was a very interesting event- more of a scavenger hunt than a race. Beginning at City Hall Plaza, the race started at noon when all the teams were given their envelope of clues. Rather than everyone sprinting away, all the participants grabbed a step or piece of ground and started pouring over the sheets and pulling out smartphones to figure out the destinations.

Assignment: honk a stranger's horn.

There were twelve clues, and from those clues, we had to derive addresses, then determine how to make it to those spots. If you were REALLY efficient, you charted out all the addresses at the beginning and had a really good game plan. This is what we tried to do, but due to a transcription error (me writing down Mass Ave for two addresses that should have been Comm Ave), we wound up going a few miles out of the way and missing a few of the challenges, which just afforded us a time penalty.

Assignment: Go to the Garment District, receive false mustache, take a picture wearing it with a stranger with an actual mustache.

All of our stops had to be documented and shown to an official at the end, so I am including some of the gems of the day here. We have quite a collection.

Assignment: Take picture in front of sculpture at MIT. Both participants must be jumping in front of it, all feet must be off the ground. (This is my favorite picture)

Assignment: Find this running store in the South End and take a picture of both teammates in front of the autographed shoe.

This race would have been impossible without having a phone or computer, which is made clear on the website. It was definitely very goofy and a lot of fun, and while it definitely would have been easier if we were more familiar with the city, I think we had a really good time. I did a MapMyRun of our course afterwards, and determined that we covered about eleven miles over the course of the day.

I left the actual clue sheet at home, but I will post the actual clues to the blog when I get back so that y'all can get a feel for what it was like! For now, enjoy the pictures. 

Assignment: Take a picture of both teammates high-fiving someone in uniform.

Sidenote: Before the race, we stopped at Faneuil Hall for some food, and got some amazing mac and cheese from a place called Mmmac and Cheese. This dish is one of my weaknesses, and this is some of the best I've ever had.
Sidenote to the Sidenote: While googling the name of the restaurant, I discovered that there is an entire blog about mac and cheese. Silly, and also amazing.

New England Running: The Seven Sisters Trail Race

This post is a few weeks belated at this point, but I have been wanting to blog about a few things that are going to be coming down in a storm now as I catch up...

So here goes!

The race was on May 1st, the same day as the Boston Walk for Hunger. I was torn between the two events, since I have done Walk for Hunger for five or six years. I wound up deciding to go with the trail race because it is something new, lacking the 2.5 hours of driving, and sort of a tribute to this being my last year in Amherst.

Dave is always so good about stretching.

Now, this was my first trail race, and it was a completely different experience from most of the other races I have run. A similar feel to the Stew Chase, the race is organized by local clubs and started with a "Ready, set, go!" Dave and I started towards the back of the pack, not wanting to get in the way of everyone racing up the first hill. We had tried to run it a few weeks prior and knew already that the initial climb was going to be a walk for us.

And there was a lot of walking. This was one of those races that we definitely required more hills in the training. I think that due to the nature of the race (12 miles, climbing, etc.), a lot of the runners were really extreme trail runners, so we finished closer to the back of the pack than the front. I discovered that in trail running, you are very limited by the pace of the person in front of you. Particularly since this race was an out-and-back, the passing space was limited throughout most of the race. If the person in front of you starts walking, you are walking too. (And I'm not complaining.)

Other details about the race: The entry fee was only $20, and proceeds go to preservation of the range. (Tee shirts were available for an extra $15.) Water stations were every two miles, and they consisted of piles of gallon jugs that were shared by everyone. If anyone is aware of my aversion to sharing drinks, you understand how appalled I was by this. However, it was a toasty run and the water was necessary. at the 6-mile turnaround point, volunteers had tables set up with water, sports drink, powerbars, cookies, and candy. The was also food at the end, and everyone was really friendly. We didn't finish fast, and we were sore for a few days, but I'd say that overall, I really enjoyed the race!

New England Running: The Boston Marathon!

Disclaimer right at the start: I was spectating, not running.

Patriot's Day parade that we found in our meandering

But gosh, it was great to be there today. Knowing how much the spectators' cheers have pushed me along in the races that I have run, I enjoyed being able to yell for the runners today. My mom and I took the commuter rail into South Station and meandered around for a little bit before we headed down to the finish line. We were there before the wheelchairs passed, and even then, there was not much space on the fence at all. We found a spot on the corner of Commonwealth Ave and Hereford that wasn't too crowded and camped out for a few hours to watch the race.

As far as the elite runners go, the Americans missed it again. But just barely in the women's race! I was getting updates on my phone throughout the morning, and it was exciting to see how closely packed everyone was leading up to the last few miles. It was more exciting to see everyone pound by pushing for the finish.

view from our corner

Now, in all of my years in Massachusetts, this has only been the second time that I have watched the Boston. And the first time hardly counts, because I was in 8th grade and not at all appreciative of what a marathon is. I don't think that it was until I was older that I realized that the Boston Marathon is The Marathon. It was always just the marathon in our good ol' capital city, and I didn't comprehend that this was the race for which people spent years training, traveling from all over the world to compete in the most elite marathon.

Thinking about this on the train today, I found myself wondering why I haven't made more of an effort over the past few years to be present at the Boston Marathon. Why doesn't anyone? If you live in Massachusetts, you have a fantastic world event right in your backyard, available for your viewing pleasure at absolutely no cost. You can stand alongside the road, mere feet away from some of the fastest runners in the world. (The winner of the men's race was averaging about a 4:42 mile- I couldn't run that fast if I was running from my death.) Being in Massachusetts and having the ability to go into Boston for this race is something really special, and I'm so glad I did it this year before moving away.

It was also some inspiration to try a little harder, push myself a little more, and take my running a little more seriously. I would love to run the Boston someday, just once. If I find it too hard to qualify, I fully intend to run for charity. But it'd be sweet to get a qualifier. I'd have to shave quuuuite some time off my runs, but perhaps if I actually stuck to a training schedule, it could be possible.

Oh, it's good to have dreams.

-R.

New England Running: The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail

So, yesterday Dave and I decided to go check out the portion of the Metacomet-Monadnock trail that traverses the peaks of the Seven Sisters. If you park at the Notch Visitor's Center, the trail begins across the street with a sharp incline, and extends across ridge line towards the Mt. Holyoke Summit House (which happens to be one of my favorite places ever). I had done some hiking in the area, but never with the intention of running. However, I recently heard of the Seven Sisters Trail Race that will be held on May 1st, and I wanted to scope out the terrain.

Photo from Wikipedia (And yes, the views are this good.)

We were out on the trail for about an hour, which we figure was probably somewhere between 3-4 miles. The running was.. interesting. There was just as much climbing as there was flat terrain that was runnable, possibly more climbing. There are lots of roots and rocks and steep uphills, but we found that it made for a pretty enjoyable experience. Normally in a long run or a race, the running becomes the most exhausting part, but on this trail, it seemed that we were best able to relax and catch our breath when we were running. It meant that we weren't trying to navigate steep downhills or climb straight up.

The trail race in May will run the entire out-and-back course of the Seven Sisters Trail, a total of twelve miles. Judging by how hard we worked in running only four, we decided that the race itself will be pretty treacherous. There will probably be quite a few falls, some serious scrapes, and some sooooore muscles by the end. However, I am not at all discouraged. It'll be hard, but I'm pretty excited for the race, and I encourage my Western Mass running friends to check out the race page! (Also, it benefits the Friends of Mt. Holyoke Range, which works on preservation to keep the area free of development!)

Pics Up!

From the Great Stew Chase:

Look at that stride!

The wind blew my hat off in the last mile.. but my shoes look fantastic.

 

I'm allowing for some narcissism and only posting pictures of the brother and myself, but if anyone is interested in seeing more, go here.

New England Running: The Great Stew Chase!

This weekend, my mom, my brother, and I drove out to Lynn, MA so that Dave and I could run The Great Stew Chase, a 15K road race that is held every year. Usually, it takes place in February, but due to the amount of snow that we got this year, it had to be rescheduled to March. The field was very small, and it was not the most beautiful course, but overall the experience was great! Especially after running the Hyannis Marathon last month (which was organized horribly), I really appreciated how much support there was for the runners.

For an entry fee of only $12 (or $25 if you wanted a sweatshirt), runners gathered at the starting line and waited for the signal to start- the blare of someone's car horn. Lynn police officers were stationed along the way to ensure that traffic was stopped, and there were volunteers along the way to point corners. At the end of the race, stew, rolls, and cookies were provided for all of the runners as part of the entry fee, courtesy of the Lynn Athletic Club. Especially with small events like this (I think there were only around 150 runners), it is often difficult to find vegetarian options, and if they are available there often is only a small amount. There was no such problem with this race- and the stew was goooood. Especially after nine miles in the cold.

I've never really run a race this small before, but the feel of it was really nice. People don't take it so seriously, everyone is friendly, and it was much more laid back. One woman ran with her dog, which is something that is usually prohibited. Of course, I instantly fell in love with her and was covered in dog hair by the time she and her owner left. (Ah, I can't wait to get my own dog.. someday.) Running with Dave for his first road race was nice as well. He runs quite a bit, but hasn't entered a race since high school track. I have to say that it was a little frustrating trying to keep with his fast-slow-fast-slow pace, but I wanted to stay with him. Towards the last few miles, we were both really pushing, and he eventually pulled ahead of me. I was pretty annoyed when we got to the finish and didn't bring it in together, the way that we ran the race. It wasn't until after I went through and got my water at the car that I looked at him and realized that it was stupid of me to feel that way; this was his first race, and if he could have pushed it for a better time and left me in the dust, then it was silly of me to be irritated by that. I don't know how he feels about running more races, but if we do another one, I'd bet that we don't stay together for the duration.

So congrats to the little brother on his first race, kudos to the Lynn Athletic Club for putting on such an enjoyable run, and as always, a thanks to my mom, who so patiently drives us out to sit and wait at the finish line.

Already Tuesday. Countdown to graduation: 45.

We're gettin' there.

R.