MHM -35/Covered Bridges Half -- Sun. Sept. 5

Up early and away before 7, driving up 202 to stop for coffee, then on to 32 and north all the way to Swanzey. Arrive at high school in time to get chip, etc., and then change to warm up. Loo situation pretty dire: boys locker room has 1 stall, それだけ。 But なんとかして and out for a warm up. Figured I'd need a couple of miles or more to loosen up, so started backwards along the course; quite useful to get a look at the end of the run. Pit stop after a mile, and stretch, then back to check in about the start -- head out there in good time and learn that one of the four bridges is closed, alas, but otherwise course clear. *Perfect* weather for running: gun goes more or less on time and I set off at a brisk pace, but comfortable. First few miles chugging up past a few folks, trading places with a female runner, a good marker for me: she's doing 6:45 ish pace, which I figure as my safe speed, and v. visible as a redhead. Enter a rail trail stretch and start to push a bit, leading the redhead now as we continue to pass a few others. Then out on to roads, and at that point, maybe 5 miles in, I realise I'm doing sub 6:40 and can try and keep it there; maybe one or two guys pass me between there and the end, but basically I'm running solo for the rest of the race. Friendly highschoolers dotted about the course, doing directional and cheering duty; hilarious moment when I passed two girls sitting at the base of a tree, and as I approached they dutifully but *totally* deadpan called out, "Yay, you go, you can do it. Oh yes, you're running great. You love to run." At this point I couldn't help grinning at their take on their role, so they both said, "see you're smiling, you're just loving this" -- all totally deadpan, but smiling. That was just after the halfway point, which had included a couple of short steeper bits of road, so I appreciated the boost. Then I just kept chugging, amazed at how many 6:30 something miles I was getting: it didn't feel like the racing I was doing at the Westfield half, but pace was similar. Managed a small push at the end, and came in under my previous best time, thus (official stats; GPS had same time, but longer distance):

Time: 1:26:06 new PB!
Distance: 13.1 miles
Pace: 6:35s

Comment: Placed 14th, but 7th in class, out of a field of 201. Took a minute before I felt like stopping to take off the chip, and I was thirsty -- the day warmed up a bit, and the sun was bright -- but lots of water, and a banana, then off to do some more miles, gently on nearby roads. Overall stats (w/ the 2+ miles pre- and 3 miles post-) were 18.2 in 2:06:23 @ 6:57s. Solid.
Then back to partake of the BBQ: eats were a bit limited, despite ballyhoo in program (like the loos!) but got a chance to chat to various, mainly Sri and some of his running mates. Headed off pretty rapidly, needing to get back to work, but stopped en route to get coffee and more snacks. A good race, maybe to add to the calendar?