I always have trouble with the first hot race of the season and, unfortunately, this one fell into that category. 

 

The first mile was somewhat uphill so I wasn't surprised that it felt a little hard.  However, the planned recovery on the downhill second mile didn't really happen and I was feeling pretty hot and miserable when we hit Western Avenue.  I had been warned that this stretch would be bad ... and it was!  There was no shade so that by the time we hit the long uphill stretch on Wilmington Avenue, I was pretty wiped out.  Just before the turn on Wilmington, I noticed a guy selling chips beside the road and distinctly remember thinking how awful they sounded at that point!  The final stretch was into a pretty stiff headwind which at least helped a little with the heat.

 

The purpose of the race for me was to provide a final tuneup before the Vermont City Marathon and it certainly served that role.  And I now no longer need to worry about the first hot race for this season :)

 

Congratulations to Devin, Jim, Elaine, Jennifer and the other RRO runners who had great races!  And congratulations to Bobby Mack who won it with the phenomenal time of 30:03.