Covered Bridges Half Marathon June 3, 2018

Back in December Jenny and I were hovering over the registration button waiting for the Covered Bridges Half Marathon to become active.  Once it became active we registered as quickly as possible. The race sold out in about 14 minutes so we were lucky to get in.
Fast Forward to June 3rd and we were ready to run the race.  Since this is a point to point race we parked the car and took a bus to the start line.  Unfortunately, it was a school bus so I barely fit in the seat!
Once we were at the start line at the Suicide Six Ski Area we waited for the start.  It was a nice cool morning in the 50s so it was going to be great running weather.
We queued into the starting area and then we were off.  I had intended to take it slower than normal, but I felt really well so I decided to push quite a bit harder.

Feeling good at the start

 I rolled off the first couple of miles pretty solidly and felt really well.  I then made the decision to try to keep the pace I was running and see how it turned out.
Since the course was a net downhill I knew that there would be some areas where I could make up some time on the downhills.  There were a few slight inclines for the first several miles and we went through a little residential area of Woodstock.  Around mile 4 we went through the Middle Covered Bridge in Woodstock, Vermont which was actually the only covered bridge that the race actually goes through.

Going through the Covered Bridge

Once clear of the bridge we went into downtown Woodstock and then headed off by the Billings Farm and Museum.
We were then heading into some of the most rural areas of the course.  We went onto dirt roads and ran along the Ottauquechee River.  This part of the course took us by the Taftsville Covered Bridge.

We then continued on until Mile 8.  This was the biggest incline in the race.  The hill was only about an 80 foot incline, but it was extremely steep.  This was the one place I was dreading on the course.  I walked most of the hill and then once I created it we went back downhill even more and I was able to make up the extra time it took to walk up the hill.

I continued on through the small town of Quechee and ran bu the Quechee Lakes Resort.  I was calculating I should be able to finish in about 2:30 which would be my fastest time since 2014.  This part of the course was a series of rolling hills, but since I'm not used to hills I started crashing.  Around mile 10 with only a 5k left my pace started slipping.  I bombed out at my 11 and had to push hard to get the last couple miles finished.  I crossed the finish line in 2:34:03, whic was my second fastest Half of the year.

Cruising to the finish

Once I crossed the finish line and picked up my medal and shirt I went to the beer tent to enjoy some Harpoon Brewery beer.  The race also had some decent food including fruit, yogurt and cookies.
Once Jenny finished we went to find our car only to realize that the finish line wasn't actually where we parked before the race!  After about 5 minutes of looking we realized we had to take a bus to the parking area to get our car.
All in all the race was well organized and I would definitely do it again.

Lifetime Half #58 and State #10 completed!