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As members of the Essex County Greenbelt, a local conservation organization, we received their email announcement about the Run for the Hills Trail Race at the Pingree Reservation. It sounded like a pretty fun way to spend a Saturday morning so we signed up.

This was a fun race for us, no pace calculations or target times, just go out and enjoy ourselves, along with a couple friends. The course was a figure 8 5k, and we opted to do the 10K version (2 loops).

In this image, you’ll see markers for 5 laps (a lap = 1km), so 1 loop = 5k.

We picked up BHone and got to the start plenty early, enough time to enjoy stretching by the pond where a turtle sunned himself on a rock, and a large stork or heron was circling overhead. Our friend Bill arrived shortly thereafter, opting to run with a game-time decision whether to do 5K or 10K. We noticed some local high school runners, representation from the Gloucester Running Club, and an overall mix of ages assembling at the start line. With a “ready, set, Go!” on the bullhorn, we were off!

The course, as BHone had mentioned when he previewed it last week, was full of rolling hills. Beej went out at a calm pace and manged negative splits, coming in just under 1 hour. Bill was just behind him for the first loop, and decided to nurse a sore ankle and stop at 5K. BHone of course took off faster than his pacer (me) but held a strong pace throughout. I went out just under 9min pace, which turned out to be a little bit spunky – probably due to so many runners to run with and pass. I felt a little sluggish the second time around when the 5K runners had finished, and it was also getting very humid and hot in the woods with no breeze, so I dialed it back a bit on the second loop, other than bombing down the hills – even more fun without having to navigate through other runners. I also knew how far it was to the finish so I picked it up coming around the pond. Just as I finished, I saw Beej sprinting in behind me, passing a couple other runners in the last few hundred meters. The results are here.

We were thankful for plenty of gatorade and water at the finish line, along with oranges, bananas and bagels. After relaxing on the lawn and cooling down, we hopped back in the car to head home, agreeing that it was a fantastic way to spend a summer Saturday morning.