Harvard Pilgrim Middletown Half & Legends 4-Mile

What an amazing weekend!  First I had my Providence 23 mile training run on Friday with pizza with my family that night.

Saturday I went to the Jeff Galloway seminar in Middletown and went out for a quick bite to eat with Kim and Nicole at Tuscany Grill as the UCONN men were playing!  The Waldorf salad was DELICIOUS!  And the beer wasn’t too bad either!  It was fun to hang out with the girls for a little bit.

 

Sunday, I had the great experience of visiting with Jeff Galloway again ALONG with Amby Burfoot and Bill Rodgers.  The Hartford Marathon Foundation hosted the Inaugural Harvard Pilgrim Middletown Half & Legends 4-Mile in Middletown, CT.  What a fantastic event!

The day was beautiful, couldn’t ask for a better race morning.  The race didn’t start until 11:30 which is also nice for a Sunday morning!  The “legends” were at their tent at 10:15 so I went to visit Jeff and got autographs and pictures.

I was a little star struck.  Yea the are maybe considered “just runners”, but to me they are stars!  They are awesome.  They are also down to earth, chill, cool guys!

I also love these events because it gives me a chance to hook up with more Team runDisney friends!  I saw Diana Boucher again and met Anne and Meg for the first time!  I love making new friends at the races so we can hook up at future races.

This was my first race that I ran with the Hartford Marathon Foundation, but it won’t be my last.  They put on a great event!  From the seminar the day before, to the medals and food at the end.

I appreciate getting a medal at a race, even if I only did the 4 mile race.  They also had massage therapists which I took advantage of since I did want to work out some sore spots from my 23 mile run Friday.  They give out TONS of food post race for the 4-mile runners and the half-marathoners.  I just hoped they had enough food for the half-marathoners.  In fact, I felt that they gave out too much food for the 4-mile runners.  While it was nice, I don’t think they needed to give out bread, banana, water, pizza, rolls, pulled port and a cupcake to everyone.  But you do get your money’s worth!

When an organization puts on an event and has that many nice things after it, it makes me want to register for another event they sponsor. They also had nice tech shirts and bags at packet pick up, too!  I want to volunteer at a future even they hold to give back for such a great event they organize.

To top off a great day, the family and I went for a hike in our favorite place, Tyler’s Mill.  It was a perfect day, racing, seeing friends, meeting legends, spending time with my family outdoors!