While up in New England for a vacation, I decided to get in a half marathon on my way through Massachusetts. Good call. I picked the right race too. This race was easy to reach, well organized with a moderately decent course and well stocked aid stations.

I arrived in plenty of time for the 7:30 race, a little afraid because the forecast was for humidity and I had taken a couple of tumbles while running a 10 mile trail race the Sunday before. The parking situation was really good, no problems reaching parking, there was plenty of it and it was close to check in, which was easy and quick moving. My only beef with the setup was that they needed more port a potties - the lines moved slowly, I'm not sure if there were not enough or people were just taking forever, but I unwisely elected to not make a second stop pre-race because of the lines.

The course itself was pretty nice. It was a little tight in the early going because the race goes through a narrow meadow lane before the course spreads out - that means you are almost directly on someone's heels. I really liked running through the local neighborhoods since I am not from New England. I thought the parts of the course around the pond were very pretty. I also really appreciated the fact that not only did the race have a bunch of water tables, but also local families also set up tables of their own and some very nice people even set up their sprinklers.

The course was not tree lined and when it started warming up, it got pretty darned hot. There were about two miles of the course that had tree cover (which coincided with where some minor hills were) and the rest of it was out in the open. I had been apprehensive of this race for a while since I don't run well in the heat, but I gutted it out. There were some very friendly people running the race and I had a few nice conversations during the race which I always enjoy. I also really appreciated that they had GU at two different tables which helped when the heat was sapping my strength.

The course was not as great when it re-entered the college grounds, there was not a tree to be found and by that time it was really hot, so the last couple of miles were a gut check. My second beef was also port a potty related - there were not any at the finish line and nobody could tell me where a bathroom was which got a little dicey but once that situation was resolved I got to enjoy the post race festival with some delicious beers - I am normally not a finish line drinker, but I downed my two beers with gusto. The swag was great - I loved the medal and the t-shirt is one of my favorites. I can't see myself running this race again since I live about eight hours away, but I recommend this strongly.