Every Race has a Story Part IVb: July: New Milford (CT) Village Fair Days 5K

After running the Bellin, my husband and I talked about how great it was to run in a new and different town. We had a 2 ½ week road trip planned for the end of July to visit our families back East. We agreed it would be great if we could find a race near one of our parents’ houses. I quickly discovered New Milford Village Fair Days 5K (and 8-mile, but we weren’t doing that!). I never ran when I lived in CT and this race was in a town I was familiar which excited me. I loved the idea of running in CT, my childhood state. I also began wishing we had started this “tradition” of running while visiting family earlier in life. We had someone to stay and cheer with the kids and running is a great release for stress that inevitably builds up during family visits.

I registered for the race and it quickly became part of the cover plan for my Dad’s surprise party for later that day as well. It was how I would keep track of him for the morning and make sure he was where he was suppose to be at noon. This minor detail may have in fact help me run a little faster.

There was no informative website surrounding this race, I had no clue what the course was like. I only knew that Connecticut is hilly, so I began mentally preparing myself for something worse than the American Cancer Society race I had run in 2010. During the race someone asked me, “Do we turn on blah blah street” I didn’t know the answer but a fellow runner answered, “Yes.” As soon as I turned on blah blah street I knew the missing detail of the answer. This street was not just a hill, but a looong, gradual hill. Thankfully when I think of Connecticut I also think of trees and there was shade on the uphill.

Some races have misters, not like mistresses, but like water, that you run through. This race had runners finishing under a hose power shower, it was great. Along with the typical bananas and oranges there were also popsicles…amazingly perfect!

After the race I was talking with a man who shared with me that the 5K was harder than the first 6 miles of the 8 mile! Something to think about in the future. I did also learn that the 8 mile is the third oldest running race in CT.