The Hills Were Alive, the Runners, Not So Much

So this morning was the Boston Prep 16 mile road race in Derry, N.H., and a bunch of us headed north to give it a try. For years, we've been hearing about how tough the course is, how many hills are in it, how bad the hills are around miles 9-13.

Turns out nobody was lying to us.

Don't they hold races on flat courses anymore?

Bad enough the weathermen were all wrong. It WASN'T warm, though we were able to get away with shorts. But apparently when you run on isolated back roads of New Hampshire, surrounded by snow-covered trees, fields, and meadows, the temperature tends to reflect the landscape. Brrr!

In the end, Tommy didn't need to protest Barry's designation as a Clydesdale runner, because apparently there are some Clydesdales who are pretty damn fast and took all of us out of the running for any hardware (which in this case was maple syrup).

Fun race, well organized, nice post-race event, great tee-shirt. But I'm still not convinced we'll be making a return trip in 2011.