Legends Were Born Here!!

Exciting to see these signs when I was out walking Phred the week before the race!

This weekend, I was really proud of my adopted hometown.

First off, I have to say, that I LOVE the little town I live in. We’ve actually been voted to have the most romantic Main Street in America. I can’t attest to that but I can say that it’s a really great Main Street!

The race – the Hartford Marathon Foundation, Harvard Pilgrim Middletown Half Marathon and Legends 4-Miler (phew!)0 was a late starter (11:30 I think!) and when I got to the end of Main Street where packet pickup was taking place there was a really festive atmosphere. I learned late last week that runDisney coach Jeff Galloway would be joining his old college roommate Amby Burfoot and Bill Rodgers in the half marathon so I was kind of excited to say hi!

Running Legends and Wesleyan alums

Picked up my bib, found Meg and eventually Kim, and we went over to the tent to see the Legends! Now, lately I’ve just been tossing my race bibs (if they aren’t from Disney) but I had Jeff and Bill sign this one, so it’s a keeper!

And, I committed to #Dopey15 out loud to Coach Galloway so…I’m committed!!

On to the actual race. There was a 4-Miler and a Half Marathon. I live here, so I knew about the hills. And the half had lots of extra hills! So I picked the 4-miler!! Oh…there were hills in this one too. In fact, within the first quarter mile we hit one of the biggies!

Big crowds, big hills!

It was really a pretty course (but I knew it would be!) and there were some folks out watching and cheering. Once we left “downtown” we hit roads that I use for training so it was all familiar terrain. There were a few more pretty significant (to me) hills and I admit that I was was thrilled to get back into town and hit the final downhill. The finish line on Main Street was a welcome sight! Once I crossed and got my medal, I grabbed some snacks (and said hi to Kim who was serving snacks!) I hurried back to the car. My plan was to head home, grab Phred and go cheer on Meg and Sara who were running the half – and the 8 mile mark was right up from my house! Traffic was kind of not great but once I got close to home things opened up and I actually had plenty of time before I saw them heading up the street! Then it was back to the house, hop in the car and back to the finish line!!

Meg and Sara in the distance!!

And ya’ll know I’m all about the post-race goodies, right?! Well, they did it right this time! NoRa Cupcakes, Eli Cannon pulled pork, Mondo pizza, tasty little baguettes!  In addition to the actual race provided snacks for runners, there were also food trucks lining the street next to the park (we didn’t hit any of those but they all looked really good!!)

Eventually it was time to say good bye to my running pals after another really great weekend! But we’d definitely be doing this again. And again!!

Another Kim Markey original photo!!

Overall, I think this was a great event and I do hope it comes back year after year! There was really a sense of excitement along Main Street, it is a beautiful (but hilly!) course, and the post-race snacks were amazing. PLUS having the Wesleyan Legends there was amazing!! The only thing I think I would change is making sure that someone is monitoring the street closures – LOTS of cars were going around barricades and ignoring speed limits which put runners in danger. I know that the Hartford Marathon Foundation was looking for volunteers as late as Saturday afternoon so hopefully there will be more excitement around this next year and the volunteers will flock to help out!!

Tags: Burfoot, Galloway, Hometown, Rodgers, Running Legends