If your looking for a small New England Race this is for you! Classic New England town, great scenery. You run through not one but 4 covered bridges and some beautiful trail along the route. The rolling hills are not steep but there are quite a few on the course so be prepared for them. The kids from the local high school man the water stops in costume and were entertaining and encouraging.

The good: 1) the 4 covered bridges are beautiful. 2) small race, there were less than 200 runners. 3) beautiful country views. Lots of trees, some horses, donkeys and cows too 4) about a mile or so of some lovely trails. 5) The race is extremely easy to get to, packet pick up is day of the race and is at the local high school. 6) Great water stops manned by the local high school and scouts. They dressed up as characters and were very encouraging. 7) Free photos 8) BBQ after the race. Hamburgers, watermelon, corn. Since it rained the entire morning the burgers were rather cold and blah. I'm pretty sure they did the best they could and if the weather was better we would have enjoyed it more. 9) Cute cotton t-shirt

The Not-So-Good: 1) NO port-o-poties on the course, none. Make sure you go before you get to the start line. I do fine with that but I know some people don't so beware. 2) The town DOES NOT close ANY of the course to traffic. Its not an extremely busy town BUT since its small race you do have to keep an eye out for cars since there is a chance you may not be running with a group. There are some cones along some of the busier sections. 3) The course has a lot of bends it makes it hard to see oncoming traffic and for cars to see you. If found myself switching from side to side depending on how far ahead I could see. Also since it rained, the entire race, I had to give myself a bigger safety buffer. 4) If your in it for the bling....this probably isn't the race for you. You do get a medal but this years was a stock medal with a sticker on the front. Its cute but its nothing to fancy if that's your thing. 5) No expo if that's also a deal breaker for you.

Would I recommend it? Yes, Swanzey is a beautiful New England town and the views don't disappoint. Just be sure to check the Not-So-Good section to see if its right for you :)