On a day that is supposed to be full of relaxation and pampering for mothers, I decided to bring Mrs. Running Griffin out to Western Massachusetts and have her run a half-marathon with me!
The WMass Mother’s Day Half-Marathon takes place in Whately, Massachusetts which is a small, rural farm community situated in beautiful Western Massachusetts. The race kicked off in the Yankee Candle factory parking lot so the scent of candles wafted through the race air and made me really want a piece of apple pie; subliminal candle scents must work!
The race day weather was rainy and the temperatures were sort of all over the place throughout the time out on the race course. The rain was misting at times and coming down more steadily at other times and the variation in temps ranged a bit adding an interesting component to the race that needed to be considered.
The first half of the race had a couple of decent hills mixed into the race and in the very first mile there was a nice incline that made me initially worry the race was going to be terribly hilly. But after hitting the Mile 7 water station the terrain really flattened out. The hills were rolling for the most part in the first half of the race and overall the elevation changes were quite fair but offered a nice challenge.
There were some absolutely beautiful stretches of this race as runners made their way past brooks and streams and alongside country roads full of farms, farm stands, small businesses and supporters greeting runners along the way. Some houses alongside the course had nice porches where locals read their papers and had a morning cup of coffee and cheered on the runners. The race had a feel reminiscent of the Covered Bridges Half-Marathon in Vermont and I highly recommend the race.
I finished the WMass Mother’s Day Half-Marathon with a time of 1:56:36 good for 8:55/miles. Overall not a bad a result for a moderately challenging race and some bad weather. I’ll take it!
Be sure to check out the WMass Mother’s Day Half-Marathon’s Facebook page to keep up to speed relative to next year’s run.
