Western Mass Mother's Day Half Marathon

Last year, I was looking for a local half marathon, and came across the Western Mass Mother's Day Half in Whately, MA.  This run was so enjoyable, that I wanted to run it again this year (even if it's only been three weeks since Boston).

 The weather today couldn't have been much better... mid 60's and clear blue skies.  Luckily the race starts at 8:00 AM, when the sun isn't at its strongest.

My plan was to treat this as a long training run, and not try to push too hard.  That just wasn't going to happen today.  I ran the first mile (the only significant hill on the course) in 9:06.  The second mile was even worse with it's downhills.  I ran mile two in about 8:35.  Change of plans... keep the good pace for as long as I could.  What that meant was a few walking breaks between the 8 mile mark and the finish.  No problem.

One of the things that I like about this course is that it is completely in Whately and Hatfield.  Two picturesque small towns in Western Mass.  Most of the course is rolling hills.  We run through the Historic section of Whately, and past small horse farms as well as open fields that are being prepared for planting (maybe corn?).

The final mile and a half has two slight uphills.  The first goes by the East Whately Cemetery.  This is symbolic to me, because my 6th Great Grandfather is buried here.  The second "hill" is the overpass to interstate 91.  On the other side of the bridge is a downhill finish for the last tenth of a mile.

All-in-all it was a great day.  Unofficial time was 2:07:42.  Official time was slightly more due to the "chip start" not working, and all finish times were by the "gun time".


Today's totals  -  13.1 miles  /  423.37 total for the year.