I had heard so much about New Bedford. The half marathon that is run there is one of the storied New England races or so it seems, right up there with the races with a long history and sometime presence on the Grand Prix schedule. Not to mention that the half marathon world record (Ed. Notes: women's half-marathon WR - 68:32 by Ingrid Kristiansen in 1983) was set on the course.

Notorious for its headwind ('yep there's gonna be wind...doesn't matter which way it's blowing, it's always blowin at you!'), and the famed hill at mile 12 my understanding going in was that this race was bound to be a challenge.

Well I don't know WHAT happened but this year's New Bedford half seems to have failed to live up to the advance press. The wind was present, but light to moderate (OK, so it WAS in our faces for a few miles), the temp was cool, but not cold...actually perfect, and damn if the hill at mile 12 didn't even seem that big....maybe it shrunk that day?

The course IS bracketed by hills....mile 2.5-3.5 contain 3 distinct uphills and mile 12 contains a fairly substantial rise but the middle of this course, described by our own Joao Silva as a 'freeway' is quite inviting. On a truly windy day the invitation might be to intense frustration and ultimate aggravation but not on this day. Miles 4-6 feature a gradual downhill slope leading to a flat stretch along the coast (6-9) where the anticipated headwind really never presented itself. Mile 10 begins the turn into town and the final hill which really kicks in at 12, however it is over by 12.5 and then it's down hill and bring it home.

It was a good day, and the club had an excellent turnout!

And the chowder at the end was among the best post race food I've had......

On to Joyce.