“Here we, in our impatience of the steps,
Get back to the beginning of beginnings,
The stream of everything that runs away.”
-Robert Frost, “West Running Brook”
One of Robert Frost’s most complicated poems (and title of his 5th anthology of poetry) is West Running Brook. It is a poem inspired by West Running Brook in Derry, NH near where Frost lived for a little over 11 years in a very productive time of his post-college days with his young family (he later moved back to NH in Franconia but he moved around a lot). The “running” in the title is about the movement of water but you know it is poetry so I am going to take some poetic license and think about its connection to the Derry Boston Prep 16 miler.
The Boston Prep 16 miler is a road race created by Greater Derry Track Club runners Jeff Litchfield and Mike Beeman back in the mid 1990s. Those two were runners who liked to run the Boston Marathon, were serious about training, and were strong advocates of a good long run. They also knew that a good marathon pace long run (but not too long) was a good training run 12-13 weeks out from the marathon. Further they to wanted to mimic the hilly flow of Boston to get you prepared for pacing the Boston Marathon so the hilly course (where mile 11 to 12.5 is nearly all uphill to mimic the Newton hills) of the Derry 16 miler was scientifically crafted to help those preparing for Boston. It also serves as a great course for a race or a great prep for any spring marathon.
“‘No, to-day will be the day
You said the brook was called West-running Brook.’
‘To-day will be the day of what we both said.'”
-Robert Frost, “West Running Brook”
Sean Meissner and I met at the New London Park and Ride in order to go down to the race together. It was nice to chat with Sean before the race and always good to listen to his experience and focus before a race. I had run the race twice before–once in 2022 after it was cancelled due to snow and held on a rainy Valentine’s Day and then again on a very cold and windy day last year. There are risks for signing up for a race in January. They will cancel it if snow prevents people from getting there but it goes on if it is just cold (or really cold). Sean and I met a runner who had run the Boston prep 28 times (out of the 29 times it has been held!) and mentioned the various snowy, icy, and cold conditions it has been held (once below freezing at the start and several times with ice on the course).
Apropos the quotes from Robert Frost, the race starts at West Running Brook Intermediate School. It is a great place to start and finish a winter run from. Registration is in the gym and you can spend all the time before the race relaxing in the warmth of the school (and using the indoor bathrooms) and after the race a great post race spread is offered with a variety of snacks as well as Pork and Kale soup and Vegan Chili. These are the touches of a well thought out race put on by runners and a running club.
The temperature for the race on Sunday January 26th was thankfully fairly moderate. The forecast had promised to get us above freezing for sure during the race but initially promised to get us above freezing by the time we were at the starting line. No such luck though so we started the race in the high 20’s. Comfortable weather but tricky for figuring out if you should go for shorts or some light legwear. I opted for shorts and Sean went for knicker length running tights.
One thing great about this race is there are some high quality runners that race it but there is also a very large pack of slower runners that get to start an hour early (I know in earlier years the UVRC has had runners opt for this early start). This race only has a few hundred runners but there are lots of solid runners running at a similar pace to me each time I have done it. This makes a long run like this much easier.
This year I started too fast as usual and Sean started at his solid negative splitting pace. I did see Sean 5-30 yards ahead of me for the first 2 miles but by the time we got to the back of Robert Frost’s farm he was long gone. Talking to him about his run later it seems he ran a really smart race and even keyed off the hill that peaked at 12.5 miles. While lots of runners like me gassed themselves on this hill Sean was able to sustain a solid effort and pick up his pace for the last 3.5 miles. Sean had already passed his age group competition before the hill and accelerated to an easy age group victory.
I ran pretty well for the first 10 miles as I had done in the past. This course is a big circle around mostly exurban roads in East Derry. It isn’t rural but it is generally nice and scenic with a few slightly built up neighborhoods. I intentionally tried to be slow and steady in the hills near the end but was still a little gassed as I got to mile 12.5. One thing very unique about this race is that they offer you a chip timed half marathon time as well. You can (and some do as a really fast woman ran a 1:23 half and then jogged in the last 3 miles) run a half marathon and then do what you want for the last 3 miles. I did tire a bit but I was somewhat steady for the last few miles that mimic Boston in being slightly downhill near the end. I finished with a 16 mile time I was happy with and won my age group as well.
Sean and I both got our maple syrup bottles for prizes, ate at the excellent post-race spread offered by Greater Derry Track Club in the school cafeteria (and prepared by West Running Brook cafeteria staff), and finally went to Rockingham Brewery where all runners were offered a free beer if they wanted to attend. At the brewery Sean and I got to talk to several other runners and you got to choose from a variety of pig themed beers.
I know other UVRC runners have done this race over the years and if you are in shape during the winter it is a great race for spring marathon prep (Sean is mostly prepping for some later Ultra Marathons and it is a good prep for that no doubt as well). I know that my legs got a good workout and while mentally I got fatigued–I still kept going so I know I got some great Boston Marathon prep as well (this year will be my 3rd time running Boston).
The only negative I will say about the Boston Prep 16 miler is it did not have any general photographers along the course (so I am just going to include the non-winter picture of the Robert Frost Farm museum site).
