Rob Frost, Laura Hagley and I have been doing regular long runs together this year, and the topic of ultra runs has come up in conversation many times. With the cancellation of competitive events due to the pandemic, including the Vermont 100 that Rob had entered and then the Vermont 50 where I had planned to run the 50k again, we agreed to put together a 50k route to run in October. After batting around quite a few possibilities like a hilly Woodstock-Sharon-Barnard-Woodstock route, we settled on a long point to point on the Northern Rail Trail. This route was attractive due to its much lower elevation gain than most of the other options, forgiving surface and good access to general stores and gas stations for drinks and food.

We met at Eagle Pond, halfway between Andover and Danbury and 50km from the western end of the rail trail at the CCBA in Lebanon. It was a cool, misty morning, perfect conditions for a long run. We took our first steps down the rail trail and stopped for a quick picture at the first granite milepost which showed 36 miles to White River Junction. Our destination was just after milepost 5.

The miles ticked by quickly early on. It is hard not to start runs like this too quickly and we had to make a conscious effort to go at an easy pace. All I had to do was think back to how bad I felt during the last few miles of the Vermont 50k last year after running much too quickly early on in the race. First stop was the store in Danbury, and then we began the long and almost imperceptible climb towards the Northern Railroad summit, climbing about 200ft over 10 miles. 

 The landscape was varied, with lots of beautiful fall color, several ponds where we saw people fishing, swampy wetlands that were thankfully bug free and eventually hillier terrain as we passed through Grafton towards Orange. The rail trail passes through a long cut at the summit, which was partially hand cut and partially blasted when the line was built in the 1840s. The cut marked the halfway point on our run, and the first signs of fatigue for me. I was glad to reach our next stop in Canaan just a few miles further on.

We stopped just long enough for legs to stiffen up and then began what proved to be the hardest section of the run for me. After warming up again and then a brief burst of energy from the snack, it started to feel like a bit of a slog. The long, straight sections of the trail between Canaan and Enfield did not help as at times it felt like we were barely making progress. But we were, and soon enough we were into familiar territory, passing the Baltic Mill and arriving at our last stop in Enfield. 

I've done the run back from Enfield many times, but never with 25 miles already in my legs. We passed the marathon mark at the rock cut above Mascoma Lake and then started the downhill towards downtown Lebanon. Rob and I were both starting to feel the pace and even the gentle downhill didn't help much at this point. Laura was able to pick the pace up for a fast final two miles, while Rob and I just about held it together. But we made it, and rewarded ourselves with ice cream at Dairy Twirl on what by that time was a beautiful sunny afternoon.

 It is great to have a resource like the Northern Rail Trail available to do a run like this on. Of course, its presence is the result of a lot of work by a lot of people. Next year is the 25th anniversary of the trail opening, and that will present opportunities to celebrate the trail and thank people like Dick Mackay and Ken Warren from the Friends of the Northern Rail Trail in Grafton County who have volunteered so much time over the last 25 years. The trail is still a work in progress, with a short extension at the Boscawen end planned, and in Lebanon work is nearing completion on the downtown tunnel to join the rail trail to the Mascoma River Greenway that follows the railroad alignment towards West Lebanon. Perhaps the 25th anniversary would be a good time to run the full route, from Boscawen to West Lebanon? It is only 60 miles