dr_wu002
Well-known member
One week after running my first 50 mile race (VT50) I decided to run the Nipmuck Trail Marathon in Connecticut. I knew I wouldn’t have fully recovered yet – my body can’t recover that fast yet as a lot of seasoned ultra runners bodies can – but I figured it would be a challenge and I heard that it’s a fun race. Actually, I had done a few runs during the week and I felt ok but my hips were still stiff and bothering me from the VT50 so I just figured I’d run the race slow and enjoy myself. Also, this would be the first time that I ever ran the 26.2 mile length for a race -- I had run a 50k and a 50 mi but never a marathon length race so, but after the 50 mile the week before this seemed a lot more manageable. Also, it was nice that Ryan Framer and Kristiner (Dangergirl) were running it as well as a few dudes that I met at the VT 50 who were pretty cool.
The race follows the Nipmuck Trail in North-Central CT (not too far off I-84, near the MA border). You start in the middle, go south on the trail for 6.2 miles, come back. Then go on the north end for 6.9 miles and then come back. Most of the trail is on really nice single track! Only a short section of gravel road and pavement (which you obviously have to do twice). There were essentially 9 aid stations (plus food at the finish) on the course so about every 3 miles you can stop, get some water or gatorade and some simple foods (pretzels, other things) and maybe some energy shots or electrolyte tablets. For geeks out there, I ran in my New Balance Minimus Trail Shoes, and had a Nathan race belt thing with 2 nutrition flasks (which I filled with Hammer Gel and water), plus some electrolyte tablets and honey stinger waffle things. I also carried my Amphipod hand-held water bottle. And I wore Dirty Girl Gaiters. Hell yeah.
The course is nice. There are no vistas at all. It’s 100% forested. But it (the whole Nipmuck Trail it seems) was beautiful single track trails. Real nice. Not too rocky but pretty muddy due to all the recent rains. The mud made it a lot of fun. There were lots of little stream crossings, lots of small ups and downs (I ran most of the up hills, unlike the VT 50 where I didn’t run many of the ups). And a few parts of the trail you ran alongside a really pretty small river – actually, since it’s an out-and-back you got to run past the river twice. You also got to run through a beaver bog, twice… it’s reminiscent of the Kilkenny Ridge Trail where beavers must have modified the area and flooded a wet area into a bonefide pond complete with floating bog bridges and thigh deep water to muck through. The funny thing is some people changed shoes at the mid-way point only to encounter this pond less than a mile from there.
It also poured during part of the race and that made it more awesome. We had gotten tons of rain the that weekend and there was plenty of it to go around and make mud during the race. It certainly didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits, however, and most people on the trail that day really seemed to be having a blast. I took my time and jogged because I know there was only so much I was going to get out of my legs that day. I talked to one guy who was in his 60’s and a pretty good runner still, working on running a marathon in every state. He had run the Nipmuck Marathon now 18 years in a row. Another nice feature was since it was out-and-back you got to see the front runners… on the last section, Farmer came through in 8th place and looked strong while Kristiner (Dangergirl) looked very strong on the woman’s side, only a few places back from the leader. Both those yahoos had run the Virgil Crest 50 mile the previous weekend so there strong performances had some significance.
I felt decent for the first ½ of the race. During the second half I still felt good until about the last 4 miles of the race my hips really started to seize up and my running turned more into hobbling. I actually got passed by some people in the last few miles which kind of disappointed me. Eventually, I finished, and although they finished like several hours before I did, Ryan and Kristiner hung around and cheered me on as I crossed the finish line. I got some chili and hung out there eating and talking to them for a while after the race was over. Ryan ended up in 5th place and if he was just a little bit more of a man he coulda gotten 4th. But he broke 4 hours which was great for a tough day. Kristiner smoked the woman’s race too and ended up like in 3rd or 4th place and got something like 4:40. I managed to break 6 hours. When I run 20 miles on the road I generally run about an 8 minute pace so a 13 minute pace or so seems pretty slow but I was happy just to finish and I had a blast anyway so I didn’t care.
This, as I mentioned several times already, was a real fun race. It was pretty low key but organized really well. It was actually less crowded than the VT50 and there were a lot of sections that it was just me running on my own. The aid stations were well run and plentiful (you went by most of them 2x). The people were really nice on the course and there was a lot of good conversation. Plus it was nice and challenging with the pond to run through, copious mud, rocks to avoid and the part along the river was pretty gorgeous. Definitely a good race to run and a good trail to check out if you want some nice walking or running in Connecticut.
-Dr. Wu
The race follows the Nipmuck Trail in North-Central CT (not too far off I-84, near the MA border). You start in the middle, go south on the trail for 6.2 miles, come back. Then go on the north end for 6.9 miles and then come back. Most of the trail is on really nice single track! Only a short section of gravel road and pavement (which you obviously have to do twice). There were essentially 9 aid stations (plus food at the finish) on the course so about every 3 miles you can stop, get some water or gatorade and some simple foods (pretzels, other things) and maybe some energy shots or electrolyte tablets. For geeks out there, I ran in my New Balance Minimus Trail Shoes, and had a Nathan race belt thing with 2 nutrition flasks (which I filled with Hammer Gel and water), plus some electrolyte tablets and honey stinger waffle things. I also carried my Amphipod hand-held water bottle. And I wore Dirty Girl Gaiters. Hell yeah.
The course is nice. There are no vistas at all. It’s 100% forested. But it (the whole Nipmuck Trail it seems) was beautiful single track trails. Real nice. Not too rocky but pretty muddy due to all the recent rains. The mud made it a lot of fun. There were lots of little stream crossings, lots of small ups and downs (I ran most of the up hills, unlike the VT 50 where I didn’t run many of the ups). And a few parts of the trail you ran alongside a really pretty small river – actually, since it’s an out-and-back you got to run past the river twice. You also got to run through a beaver bog, twice… it’s reminiscent of the Kilkenny Ridge Trail where beavers must have modified the area and flooded a wet area into a bonefide pond complete with floating bog bridges and thigh deep water to muck through. The funny thing is some people changed shoes at the mid-way point only to encounter this pond less than a mile from there.
It also poured during part of the race and that made it more awesome. We had gotten tons of rain the that weekend and there was plenty of it to go around and make mud during the race. It certainly didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits, however, and most people on the trail that day really seemed to be having a blast. I took my time and jogged because I know there was only so much I was going to get out of my legs that day. I talked to one guy who was in his 60’s and a pretty good runner still, working on running a marathon in every state. He had run the Nipmuck Marathon now 18 years in a row. Another nice feature was since it was out-and-back you got to see the front runners… on the last section, Farmer came through in 8th place and looked strong while Kristiner (Dangergirl) looked very strong on the woman’s side, only a few places back from the leader. Both those yahoos had run the Virgil Crest 50 mile the previous weekend so there strong performances had some significance.
I felt decent for the first ½ of the race. During the second half I still felt good until about the last 4 miles of the race my hips really started to seize up and my running turned more into hobbling. I actually got passed by some people in the last few miles which kind of disappointed me. Eventually, I finished, and although they finished like several hours before I did, Ryan and Kristiner hung around and cheered me on as I crossed the finish line. I got some chili and hung out there eating and talking to them for a while after the race was over. Ryan ended up in 5th place and if he was just a little bit more of a man he coulda gotten 4th. But he broke 4 hours which was great for a tough day. Kristiner smoked the woman’s race too and ended up like in 3rd or 4th place and got something like 4:40. I managed to break 6 hours. When I run 20 miles on the road I generally run about an 8 minute pace so a 13 minute pace or so seems pretty slow but I was happy just to finish and I had a blast anyway so I didn’t care.
This, as I mentioned several times already, was a real fun race. It was pretty low key but organized really well. It was actually less crowded than the VT50 and there were a lot of sections that it was just me running on my own. The aid stations were well run and plentiful (you went by most of them 2x). The people were really nice on the course and there was a lot of good conversation. Plus it was nice and challenging with the pond to run through, copious mud, rocks to avoid and the part along the river was pretty gorgeous. Definitely a good race to run and a good trail to check out if you want some nice walking or running in Connecticut.
-Dr. Wu
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