Newtown Runners Reach The Beach
Newtown Runners Reach The Beach
By Nancy K. Crevier
âOver hill, over dale, we will hit the dusty trailâ¦.â
Karen Macknight is fired up. She and 11 of her Newtown running cohorts successfully tackled the Reach the Beach Relay in New Hampshire the weekend of September 16â18. Reach the Beach Relay benefits New Hampshire state parks, and is a 200-mile course that teams of 6 to 12 runners traverse over a 24-hour period.
âWe all did phenomenal!â she exclaims. âWe placed 130 out of 285 teams, and did it in 29 hours.â
 Twenty-nine rather wet hours, that is. Rain poured down on the runners from 9 Friday night until early Saturday morning. Says Ms Macknight, âIt wasnât so bad. We had the messy van. We had the âwet seat,â the first seat of the van. When you got in you had to sit there until you were dry and quit sweating. The whole time there were two or three pair each of wet sneakers lining the floor; very fragrantâ¦.â
 The Long Way Home team did as well as they had expected, particularly since none of the team members had run together before. Says Ms Macknight, âThe hardest thing is having your team and maintaining it. People drop out, new ones join. We actually picked up another runner for our team just the Tuesday before the run.â
 Fellow Newtowners Greg Ritzinger and Dan Germain also had a successful outing at the relay. Their team, The Road Warriors, placed 33rd, finishing in just over 27 hours, reports Ms Macknight.
 Will the Long Way Home runners hit the trail next year? âWeâve already decided weâre doing it next year,â Ms Macknight claims. âIt was so much fun. We had 12 people in a van for 30 hours and everyone was so nice and supportive. Once you do it once and have a positive time of it, I think thatâs itâ¦.â