Here we are, another year has passed by on life's oldometer. For me it serves as a time of reflection as well as a time to think about what may lie ahead while the Beatles tune "When I'm 64" rolls around in my head.
In this post I'll stick to the topic at had of my one of a kind quest to run a continuous route that connects the town halls of all 234 incorporated towns in New Hampshire county by county. That's over 1800 miles when all is said and done with the course continuously plotted and adjusted as we scout it. So far I've traversed all of the towns in Cheshire and Sullivan counties and am nearly 2/3 of the way through Merrimack county with 417 miles run connecting 56 towns. I started the run in our home town of Dublin back on Nov 14, 2021 and finished the latest run at City Hall in New Hampshire's capital city of Concord.
Nancy has graciously and generously supported this effort and I could never have gotten to this point without her being "all in" enthusiastically supporting this crazy undertaking. We have enjoyed exploring new places and seeing the back roads of New Hampshire. The further we get into trekking through the state the more we appreciate and enjoy all it has to offer, and look forward to what lies ahead.
All in all I'd estimate that only about 10% of the time on this project is spent actually running. Far more time is spent plotting the course, scouting the routes in the car and by far the most time is driving to and from locations. We've spent a lot of time in the car and most recently a lot of time on Route 202. Currently it's taking about 1 1/2 hours each way to get to locations and that time is going to climb as we head north into Grafton county which we're on target to reach later this fall.
Progress to this point has been choppy. There are times where we'll get out 3 or 4 weekends in a row, and then there are times when I need to take extended breaks due to injury, illness, weather or other commitments. March and April have been tough for me the past two years on the injury front, the latest being a torn hamstring that kept me off the roads for 6 weeks. All in all, however, I'm pleased with the pace of progress which is coming in at just over 30 RUNNH234 leg completions per year.
Any of you that are runners can relate to setting race goals. When entering a race we often have multiple times in our heads (usually stay in our heads0: Stretch, Happy With, Likely and ... Oh no. With my birthday in mind I'm going to announce my "Happy With" goal .... Completing the 234 running leg of RUNNH234 from Peterborough to Dublin on or before my 70th birthday - June 1, 2029. Most importantly - Nancy is on board. I wouldn't even whisper this if she wasn't up for it.
Over the past 1 1/2 years we've settled into a pace of over 30 runs a year and with 179 to go and a big enough sample size that's included injuries, weather, road closures and other obstacles staying at 30/year seems (emphasize "seems") feasible. Of course we haven't seen the northern towns yet, but having lived in Rockingham County for 30 years and knowing all the towns there I expect that there's opportunity to make up lost ground if need be.
BUT ... this isn't a race - it's a goal. And I will repeat the saying that guides me, inspired by our son Ryan: "The quality of a journey is not only measured by the time spent and the distance travelled, but also by the effort and spirit put forth". The desire still burns and we are enjoying the adventure together. I won't be unsatisfied at all if it takes longer as long as I'm able to run and put one foot in front of the other - and as long as Nancy (thank you!!) is there with me. I hope you will check in from time to time to see how it's going and get glimpses from throughout this beautiful state of New Hampshire.
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