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"Hello runners, thanks for checking out my 4th annual \"Best In NH Running\" from the year gone by.\u00A0 Keep in mind these are my personal opinions from the races I was at.\u00A0 I ran 30 races this year, with 21 of them in New Hampshire.Click to view a slideshow of running photos from the year.BEST RACE:\u00A0 Cigna-Elliot Corporate 5k. They set the NH record for largest race (timed finishers) with 5,475. They broke their own record from 1998 by 10 runners.\u00A0 For me, it was extra special because 12 of my family members were there to run and cheer (see above photo).TOUGHEST RACE:\u00A0 Boston Prep. Cold January weather, and 16 long, hilly miles.\u00A0\u00A0 Really long and really hilly.\u00A0 But if you have run Half marathons, this is the next step for you. Good luck!\u00A0 I am signed up again for 2014.\u00A0 Runner-up: Auburn 10 miler (I wasn\u2019t at the Mount Washington road race!).BEST RACE SHIRT:\u00A0 Concord Ten Miler. They were the runner-up last year, and elevated their game by going to red shirts with a silver logo, really sharp.\u00A0 One of my best running moments of the year was when a runner passed me on a hill (not the passing part) and said it was his first race in over a decade, and he was running because he heard the shirt was nice.\u00A0 Runner-up, Redhook 5K (also a red shirt).MOST INTIMIDATING:\u00A0 The Hollis Fast 5K. This was a Grand Prix event this year, so it brought outstanding runners from all over New England to this Thursday night race.\u00A0 There were long-legged, zero body fat types all over town, warming up before the race.\u00A0 They looked fast, and they were!\u00A0 This is becoming a big-time race that maintains its small-town feel. I had to track down the organizers at Martha\u2019s Exchange later that night to find out who the winners were!BEST PRIZE:\u00A0 The Millennium Winter 5k in Bedford gave out new skis to the winners.\u00A0 So cool!HOTTEST RACE:\u00A0 The Rye Duathlon. It was brutal! A 5K run, 17-mile bike ride, then another 5K. It had to be 95 degrees out. I want to give this one another try, hopefully in cooler weather.SO LONG, OLD FRIEND:\u00A0 So sorry to see the Black Fly Triathlon discontinued this year. It's so much fun to race around the mountains at Waterville Valley.BEST RELAY:\u00A0 Manchester Marathon.\u00A0 It is really cool to navigate around the Queen City with 3 of your running buddies, completing the 26.2 miles as a team.BIGGEST DAY:\u00A0 Turkey Day. Well over 20,000 people ran about 17 races in NH on Thanksgiving morning. Well done Granite Staters!RUNNER OF THE YEAR:\u00A0 Dartmouth great Abbey D\u2019Agostino. She followed a spectacular outdoor season by winning the NCAA Cross Country Championship (the first Ivy league runner to win the title).\u00A0 She just missed making the USA Olympic team two summers ago (less then one second in the 1500 Meters) so expect to hear from her for a long time to come.\u00A0 Runner-up:\u00A0 Manchester\u2019s Larisa Dannis, who won multiple 50 and 100 mile endurance races all over the country.\u00A0 Good luck to Larisa as she competes in the USA Ultra Trail Running Championships in January, and look for her in the next Olympic Marathon trials (in her first-ever marathon, Dannis won the Hyannis Marathon in February).GOOD ONE IN MASS:\u00A0\u00A0 The Plymouth (Mass) Light Up The Night 5k.\u00A0 The race starts (more or less) when the big Christmas tree in the center of town lights up. \u00A0Headlamps are required, which makes for quite a sight running past Plymouth Rock.\u00A0 It is a great way to catch the holiday spirit.BEST OUT OF STATE RACE:\u00A0 On the morning before the Red Sox played Game 4 at the Cardinals, I ran in the St. Louis Rock N Roll Half, and that is my new PR.\u00A0 Great race by the Arch, and the Sox won that night!WISH I COULD RUN IT:\u00A0 Reach The Beach Relay, which is a September relay race from Cannon Mountain to Hampton Beach.\u00A0 It starts on a Friday, and we are busy with Friday Night HS Football here at work.\u00A0 I\u2019m getting tired of watching my friends do it and not being there. Maybe someday!\u00A0 Runner-up:\u00A0 NH Half Marathon in Bristol. Maybe this year!NH runners, Happy New Year to you!\u00A0 Please share some of your 2013 running superlatives with all of us!Thanks, Jamie"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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