I am not a runner but while watching family and friends racing in the Li’l Rhody Runaround I will admit that I wished I were. Rather quickly, however, I came to my senses and realized that I am happy taking photos of the race, congratulating the runners, and then going for a nice long walk. As my grandson says, running is “Hammett business” because my daughter and her husband, his father, his two brothers, and several of their friends run and they participated in the race on this absolutely gorgeous autumn day. The eight mile race follows the Vin Gormley Trail in Burlingame State Park circling Watchaug Pond. Because most of the course was in the woods during hunting season all runners had to wear bright orange.
As they ran, Mr O and I settled in at the halfway mark and waited for them to reach us.
The first to run by us was Mr H’s brother Greg, who went on to win…
I wasn’t happy with any of the photos I took when Mr H himself ran by…
His other brother Glenn was not far behind…
..and his father flew by us too.
Ms O was able to smile when she passed us even though running uphill at this point.
Many friends ran too…we may have embarrassed them with our picture taking and cheering…
There was a cheering section at the finish line too.
On his blog, South County Trails, Mr H describes exactly how he felt during the race as he listened to the sounds of runners not seen, planned a course through puddles and over bridges, and felt like flying at the finish line. It’s a beautiful description. With the race followed by food and drinks at my daughter’s house the day had the feel of a celebratory holiday. Mr O and I did leave for home early enough to go for that nice long walk…
Congratulations to all the runners!
