Marj and I wanted to do a race on the fourth, so we looked at the smorgasbord of races this area has to offer. We've done a number of them in the past, so we decided on one that was in a part of the state that was scenic (and where we could possibly bike and/or swim afterwards). We picked the 38th annual Mattapoisett Road Race in the southeast corner of the state on the ocean. Of course, that required 70 miles of driving (using up that valuable expensive fuel). For a 9 a.m. start we left the house at 6:30a.m. on a rainy, cool morning. By the time we got there the rain had stopped but it remained cool and humid. We saw some Rhode Island friends and the town was was picturesque and right on the ocean. The start was on time and Marj, as usual, took off ahead of me. I felt good and ran between 10 to 11 minute miles all the way. At abut the 2nd mile I spotted someone my age (a 'ringer' from Vermont) and we ran together until about mile 3.5. He then surged ahead and I said to him, 'take the lead' which he did and finished about 30 seconds ahead of me. The course followed the coast mostly and was mostly flat. Marj had a good race finishing in 49:36 and I finished in 54:38 (the difference between us keeps growing longer). But we both finished 4/11 in our age groups. The weather was not conducive for swimming and we didn't bring our bikes. However, after we got home and rested, we biked down to the Charles to see the preparations for the Pops Concert (11 mile round trip) and topped off the day by going to a neighboring town to watch the fireworks. An exhausting but fun fourth.

Well done both of you. You always seem to find fun things to do. Sounds like a great time, and two fourth place finishes isn't bad either. Spareribs

hi Henrun and Marj! Thanks for sharing your wonderful time on July 4th. Congrats on your AG finishes (very respectable!). Marj you are getting faster and better all the time To paraphrase evanflein, I also wish Lew and I could be like you two.

Sounds like a great day. How long have you been running together?

It's so great you have these running and biking excursions together! It sounded like a tiring day, but congrats on the 4th place finishes on the 4th!