Bear Brook Trail Marathon

I’ll be honest, the first time I heard about the BearBrook Marathon & Ultra at Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, NH I thought to myself, “A 26.7 mile race, on those brutal trails in the middle of the summer and height of the deerfly season?! No F’n way! Who’d be crazy enough to sign up for that?!”  Well, as it turns out – me!

In my never-ending pursuit to become a stronger runner (or injure myself beyond repair) I put my name in the BBM hat just three days before the race. Hmmm. Deciding to run a marathon at the last-minute with no specific training, build-up or taper. Where have I heard that one before? Anyway, at $26.70 the price was certainly right and I figured it would be a good way to get a long trail run in (with support) as I work my way up to the 50-Miler in the Fall.

The Ultra-met Challenge

I’m not sure why, but lately I’ve been much more interested in running long than running fast. Maybe it’s because, as I age, I’m finding it near impossible to come close to my previous race PR’s - despite the fact that it feels like I’m training harder than ever! Maybe it’s because I seem to keep breaking down when I try to run too fast. Or, maybe it’s because there’s just something inside me that likes to see just how far I can go!