Applefest Half Marathon Recap

My prize: a basket of apples

This weekend I ran the 31st and final Applefest Half Marathon in Hollis, NH. The race is in southern New Hampshire and only an hour drive, so the 10 a.m. starting time allowed us to sleep to a reasonable time before driving up.

The race is really well organized even though it isn't huge and the volunteers did a great job of keeping the roads clear and safe for runners. I was also impressed at how loud spectators were, everyone I ran by (none of whom knew me) cheered, which doesn't always happen, but was really nice.

The course itself is stunning. It goes along beautiful country roads during the perfect time of year to see the foliage. I ran by forest, farms and even apple orchards, one of which provided a wonderfully strong smell of apple cider. There are rolling hills throughout, but when there's a downhill I really had the opportunity to get some speed going, resulting in a balanced time overall (I ran the exact same time in the very flat Surftown Half a few weeks ago).

After the race there's a wide selection of snacks including apple crisp, plus the awards for age group winners are giant baskets of apples, which I was lucky enough to take home.

Overall this was an awesome race that I wish I had discovered earlier. Unfortunately, this is the last Applefest Half Marathon that will be run, though the organizers will be creating another race in the future.