I really love this course. It has all of the best of Orange County with rolling hills, farms, forests and streams. Plus it goes under the Moodna Viaduct, which is the highest and longest train trestle east of the Mississippi, twice, and I always like checking out bridges. The part in George Clooney's movie "Michael Clayton" where he parks his car by the bridge and it blows up was filmed here. Here's a picture of the area in summertime:


I felt very good right from the start of this race and I ran well. I PR'ed this course by about 15 seconds; not much, but is always good to improve, plus I finally made it into the top half of my age group. About halfway through the course there is a pretty good hill with about 150 feet of climbing in half a mile, and I felt very strong, and even passed a few people going up it. I finished well, but I felt like I had a little left in the tank at the end, so I probably could have ran it in harder.




Push it harder on the last mile. One of these years I should ditch the reindeer antlers, and dress up as Hermie the Elf from Rudolph.

About a third of a mile of easy running. There is always a nice buffet for this last race of the year, but somehow I never have time to stay. This year we had a wedding to go to, so I missed a nice meal and fun socializing again.


About 5 extra pounds, not enough training, and genetics.


A great local race. Small, low key, beautiful scenery, "Toys for Tots" collection, and a nice buffet. One of my favorite events of the year.