It's official - one year ago, on November 14, 2021 I took my first steps towards connecting all 234 incorporated towns in New Hampshire via running a continuous route one county at a time. What started as a pie in the sky pipedream has morphed into a regular activity within our lives. With 39 legs now complete and much of the course logistics in place it now seems a true possibility that this can be done. I take nothing for granted - I've written this blog entry to relate where my mind and body are right now:
One Year Later …
Here we are in November of 2022 and what began as a pipedream has now become a part of the fabric of my life. Since the first town to town run from Dublin to Jaffrey on November 14th, 2021 I have successfully run 300 miles connecting 40 towns and am “all in” with the quest to connect all 234 incorporated town halls in New Hampshire on foot. My car now has the license plate “RUN-234” which serves as a constant reminder of what I’ve signed up for. May I add that Nancy has graciously signed up as well to be my companion on this adventure, joining me on every car ride to every town and supporting me on each run. I could not be doing this without her, and am so grateful.
Am I surprised to have made it to this point? Well, no. The actual running part of this quest has taken 50 hours. The planning, research, logistics, scouting and preparation I’d estimate has taken 10 times that amount of time. So the actual running, while still often challenging, is something to enjoy and build memories from leveraging all the preparation that’s gone into being ready to go. Just like a marathon. More of a factor is carving out the time to take the road trips for each leg, as they are getting further and further from home base. Right now we’re averaging running legs 3 out of every 4 weeks. The trips are currently at 60 miles each way and they will eventually stretch to over 400 miles round trip when running up in Coos county. It’s likely that the pace will slow as we get further north, and then pick up when we are further south where towns are closer together and the opportunity to run multiple towns in one trip is an option.
When I first started I estimated this was a 5+ year endeavor. Now that we’ve made it through the first year I’d say it’s more likely going to take 7 years. The running part is 1800+ miles, but the driving and time needed to make the trips is a much bigger part of the scheduling logistics. This first year the legs were closer to home, so 40 in a year was a great start. It’s not going to be easy to keep that pace, especially with our crowded house of dogs and not wanting to leave them alone for long periods of time too often. We're not able to just take off for a couple of days at a time.
Weather, health and work schedules are also big considerations. Weather speaks for itself. I made an agreement to not run legs during inclement weather where it was not good to be out on the roads for driving - primarily snow, sleet, heavy rain. Nancy sometimes works on Saturdays, so that leaves Sunday as the only option day and if weather and health don’t line up then that’s a weekend to skip - though rain doesn't scare me off.
On the health front, while I feel I’m very healthy right now as I write this in November of 2022, as with most people north of 60 years old I need to qualify it with “for my age”. I have to be smart about how often I run, the length and terrain of the runs and how far away they are. Driving over 100 miles round trip, plus the run is now a common occurrence. Over the past year I’ve had some leg injuries I worked though, and “at this age” sometimes the only way to recover is rest … and more rest. I also found over the course of the past year that my aFib episodes are becoming more frequent. While aFib doesn’t prevent me from running, it does often cause me to be extra tired and I have to pay extra close attention to my body as to whether I have it in me to run. My first rule is that this is supposed to be a fun adventure and if I’m not going to enjoy the run …. Then don’t run!
Are you doing this for charity? Here’s the short answer - for right now: no. It’s not that the idea hasn’t crossed my mind as that is often the first question I get when I tell people what I’m doing. It’s a natural question and connection. For right now, my primary motivation is to share this adventure with Nancy while enjoying (emphasis on “joy”) running and exploring all of New Hampshire. We love New Hampshire and want to see it all. Nancy made a great comment when we were talking about this - let’s call this a New Hampshire love story. We grew up in New York in the 70’s and I remember the I love NY campaigns and stickers. We’ve lived here in New Hampshire since 1990 and absolutely love the state.
Now back to the charity angle. There is a part of me that would like to affiliate with a charity as it would strengthen the sense of purpose behind this quest. If you were to ask me if there are charities I’d be interested in fundraising for there are a few close to my heart, so it wouldn’t be hard to pick one. The bigger issue, however, is that I want this running adventure to be a joyful one that isn’t weighed down by expectations and obligations of others. What do I mean by that?
This is a tangent, but I believe a helpful one. Let me say that I don’t write this to pull on heart strings or garner admiration. I include this as a frame of reference to help you understand my perspective. Back in the mid 1990s I started a fundraising event “The Hampstead Race for Make-a-Wish NH” where we raised enough money over the course of seven years to help grant the wishes for 13 New Hampshire children battling life threatening illnesses. It was a way to give back after the charity had given us a wonderful experience with our son, Ryan, during a very difficult time in our lives when he was 8 years old. After Ryan passed away I had an overwhelming desire to give back and it was very fulfilling and through the event I experienced a tremendous feeling of purpose and making a difference. It was part of my grieving process and very cathartic.
The first few years there were a number of people who enthusiastically supported and encouraged the event, which required a tremendous amount of time and energy. I wanted the event to have a family festive atmosphere and made it more than just a running race. By the time we got to the fourth year, while still fulfilling, the event began to weigh me down and I started to dread all the work I needed to do to pull it off. By the seventh year I was burned out and doing everything on my own. It had literally run its course and I didn’t have anything left in me to give.
I’ve listed out previously my motivators for this run through New Hampshire. If as we progress through this running adventure there is interest or opportunity to affiliate with charities and I feel it will enhance the “joy” in this experience, that I’ll certainly consider it. For now, however, charity is not the motivator … but we shall see.
The second most asked question I get when I describe what I'm doing is if I'm running for office? My response is simple - nope, I'm just running. I expect I'm repeating myself on this reference, but I hark back to Forest Gump who just started running ... and kept running ... until he stopped running. Towns are the underlying fabric of New Hampshire and what better way to connect New Hampshire together than via the Town Halls themselves.
What has surprised you the most so far with RUNNH234 experience to this point? I’d say that when the words first came out of my mouth I didn’t really think through all the planning and logistics required to pull this off. Once I got the initial research done and the master spreadsheet set up and discovered a viable course that wound through New Hampshire I quickly realized that this was going to be an all consuming time project. The viability is good through Merrimack - once we get further up north there are still plenty of unknowns .... but I was able to plot what look to be achievable runs throughout. I was looking for something to do with my free time as I transition into retirement, well I certainly bit off a big mouthful, but here one year in I’m very encouraged by the progress and have the desire to press on!
There’s no limit on where I can spend my time. I’ve set up a web site and it is giving me the opportunity to chronicle the experience. I’ve always wanted to write, but struggled with what I could write about that people would want to read. What do I have to say that could be of interest? I sort of stumbled into this and am enjoying the time I spend working on the website, writing entries and planning out the road ahead.
Where do we go from here? Just keep on running and see where the road leads. I try not to get caught up in rigidly controlling events. Instead I do the best I can to plan, prepare and then show up to enjoy the run. Each run is indeed a unique opportunity to enjoy New Hampshire first hand. I enjoy sharing the runs with Haley and others that are able to join in. It is truly a wonderful adventure that Nancy and I are sharing and I look forward to experiencing and sharing the New Hampshire road (dirt, paved, rock, whatever) ahead and hope you'll come along for the ride!
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