Mumpus finishes a Half-Marathon! (And Alpacas)

Mumpus sprints past the man in green and towards the finish line.

Yesterday -- believe it or not--we completed the Big Lake Half-Marathon in Alton, New Hampshire along the banks of Lake Winnipesaukee!! We decided to do the race about two weeks ago after JR got an e-mail about it from someone at Fletcher. It looked like a lot of fun and a good training run, so he decided to sign-up.

The more that Allie looked at the race course and all of the perks of running -- people cheering you on dressed up at 9 aid stations, free massages, ice cream and beer after finishing, etc. -- she decided to be a tough and sign up for the race. When she signed up, she had never run more than four miles. We only had 10 days to train.


We took one training run -- a six mile trip to Winchester and back -- but that was all. Allie was pretty nervous about the race, so we kept the whole experience a secret -- until now.

The weather was perfect for the race -- sunny, lower 60s with a nice breeze. I (JR) decided to run 7:30 miles until I got too tired, but was able to finish right on target, although the last two miles hurt a lot. A guy in his 60s and a 13 year old punked me, which was rather upsetting.

Allie had a plan. She was going to run slow and steady until mile 8, at which point she would start to run hard. Unfortunately, the biggest hill on the course was on mile 8, and the second she hit the mile marker something in her brain kicked in and she sprinted up the hill. She passed a lot of people, but it made her tired, so she had to slow down again.

JR and Allie, and their medals, after 13.1 miles.

The last mile she was hurting, but near the end she started to run so fast! The picture above shows her passing the guy in green and being a true tough! And she finished right on target!

After the race we ate some free ice cream and bananas, stretched and then headed back to the Super 8 hotel to shower and get on the road.

We headed to one of the most bizzarre -- and amazing - places: Camelot Alpaca Farm and Gilmanten Winery! One of the maps we got during our recent adventure in Haverhill was of all of the farms in New Hampshire. After spending hours looking at the map, Allie decided that we should go to the Alpaca farm after the race. And we loved it.

First, we learned all about how to make wine from a high school science teacher-cum-wine-maker. He was busy doing titrations when we arrived, but he was kind enough to walk us through the wine making process. We tasted the fresh juice from the Malbecs and Cabernets, then tried some of their finished wines and decided to buy a bottle of the Malbec.

Grumpus and Alex, with the bucket of just-crushed chardonay grapes ready for pressing

Next, the co-owner Sunny took us to meet her Alpacas. Alpacas have big eyes, long lashes and a soft. Very, very, very soft. We fed the baby alpacas, did some petting and learning all about the animals. They are very nice, not much work and too much cute. Allie's sister Carrie has been talking about working on a farm, and we think that she should become an Alpaca farmer so that we can play with them.

Alpacas

After the farm we drove through a big big rain to a recommended lunch spot in Concord, The Common Man, a New Hampshire staple. Although our service was terrible, the place was very cute and there was a huge group of ladies who lunch drinking martinis and wearing funny hats in preparation for the Kentucky Derby. Amazing.

Following more driving and another big big rain, we made it home and crashed. It was a great day and a true adventure!