You ever have one of those mornings as you are making your way to a race and you know rain is on the way so you think to yourself (or perhaps even say out loud), “How about we just go out for breakfast instead?” Well, today was one of those mornings but with the race being the Little Compton Road Race there was no turning back and we made our way to the starting line.

The Little Compton Road Race is one of my favorite races around. The course is an absolute gem and kicks off next to an idyllic, New England town green in Little Compton, Rhode Island and takes runners on a closed down course complete with some generous hills, some sweeping coastal farm views and more. There is a summer festival at the finsih line complete with local vendors, live music, some food options, a yard sale at a church and more. The race simply screams New England and I love everything about it.

The race kicked off right on time at 9AM and the heat and humidity of July was ever so present. It wasn’t raining at the start of the race but right as I made my way past the 5K mark of the race, the skies opened up with some biblical rain absolutely pouring down. The faucet was on for the rest of the race and by the time I crossed the finsih line my clothes and sneakers were downright soaked.

The most challenging part of the race is in the 4th mile as you climb, climb, climb! With the rain pelting runners heading up the hill you would have though some folks would be miserable but this race has a way of making you feel good regardless of conditions and the hill this year melted away for me each step of the way. Felt pretty strong cresting the hill section before turning right and heading back toward the downtown finish line area. There is a sneaky, quick uphill stretch in the final two-tenths of the race just to keep things fun.

I finished up the 4.8 mile Little Compton Road Race with a time of 41:38, good for 8:40/miles. With he hills, heat, humidity and rain not a bad result at all and glad we kept on driving to get there instead of going out for breakfast. But don’t worry, we checked out a great little coffee shop Coastal Roasters on our way back home!