Stoddard to Washington

A 3 part leg with plenty of character and challenge.  Was lucky to have it work out that Haley was able to join me for this one - really enjoyed her company and sharing the time.

​

Like life - this one had some unknowns.  I wasn't able to scout the middle section because it is unpassable by car.  Nancy and I had driven the first third and last third, but what lay in the middle ... a mystery.

​

Section 1 -- Cat 5 starts right away when leaving town hall.  No chance to settle into any kind of rhythm, which I have to say is very common for the legs I've run.  It seems towns are either in lower sections near streams or up in elevated sections.  Quite different from coastal towns.  Plenty of shade with trees, and peaks of sunshine.  At about the three mile mark .....

 

Section 2 -- Kings Highway begins.  It's a rocky road originally travelled by horse drawn wagons.  Now it looks to have plenty of ATV use.  There was rain the day before so quite plenty of puddles, but fortunately also plenty of options to avoid them.  After about 1 1/2 miles the road eases up and becomes more of a dirt road with nice gradual downhill (named King St), at which point the second hill climb section begins.

 

Section  3 -- Kings Street starts the second climb section and T's into into Faxon Hill Rd.  The road become paved and civilization returns - our first car sighting.  At about mile 7 there's a nice down hill before the last uphill (let's call it a rise) to Washington Center.

​

This one makes it into the top 5 in difficulty - at least as far as trying to run any kind of pace.  My legs were tired from the start.  It was fantastic to share the run with Haley and it'll be one of my more memorable legs.

​

I'm now at the highest elevation level for all the runs.  At one point while on King's Highway the elevation was over 2000 ft.  I repeat myself - but no such thing as a flat run.  I'm now up over 10,000 ft of climt.

​

Next up - Washington to Lempster - 1 mile up and the rest down hill - yay!