The sun shone brilliantly at today’s Northern Nipmuck Trail Race in Union, Connecticut. The opening race in the 2012 New England Grand Tree Trail Running Series went off in fine style. More than 100 runners finished the 16+ mile out and back course on the Nipmuck Trail. The Nipmuck is part of the Blue-Blazed Hiking Trail system that is maintained by the wonderful volunteer members of the Connecticut Forest & Park Association.
Debbie ran and I spent time with our kids and took photographs. The Yale Forest is a great place to spend a spring morning. After seeing her at the start, we saw her at the 4 mile, 8 mile, and 12 mile aid stations. Then, we saw her at the finish. She was second woman, but she had a tough day. The legs just didn’t respond. She has been training hard and has a big race two weeks from today, but there are no excuses. She was disappointed with her time, but that is how it goes. She has run well on this course in the past, and she will run well on it again.
Kristina Folcik had a breakthrough run and was first woman in 2:31:58. She was absolutely flying on the flats and she was powering up the climbs (or at least the one I saw her power up!). She had a fantastic day. The first man was Greg Hammett in 2:05:11. He was followed by Ross Krause. They battled early, but Greg kept his gap from the 4 mile mark, and extended it to the finish. Those two were running very strong.
I saw a lot of smiles on the trail today. Northern has been run in crazy wet weather in the past. It was cold at the start, but the sun really warmed things up. The dry winter was tough on the snowshoers, but it has made the early season trail runners very happy. People have lost their shoes in the mud on the Nipmuck in past April editions of this race. That wasn’t a problem today. The runners had to deal with dust and pollen, as if it was summer already.
The kids and I had fun following Debbie and cheering for all of our friends.
Life Adventures 
Deb has definitely been training hard, and since it wasn’t a higher priority event, we didn’t taper like we might have otherwise. No athlete can be 100% for every race they do, unless they only do a very few. Prioritizing is the name of the game, as you know Scott. That being said, pretty nice when you can show up tired and achy and have “no legs,” and still be 2nd overall. 🙂 On ward and upward…