Deja Vu!! 2023 Hill Billy Relays

Deja Vu all over again.  This Friday had us back on Route 119 winding our way like the mighty Ashuelot to Hammett’s hamlet of Hinsdale, for our second contest on the flat and fast one mile circuit around their school facility.  Different than our time a week earlier, we were rolling relay style, with our fastest and least fast pairings racing as teammates in an effort to even out the playing field.

For us, this tradition is seven years old I’m guessing.  Based on the friendly rivalry we’ve had with Kearsarge, one year we found ourselves scheduled for a meet with them at their place three days after the Sanborn Invitational.  Not wanting to go all out three days apart, we jointly decided we relay style a 1.5 mile segment of their course and the Hill Billy relays was born.  The next season we hosted, using the corn on the cob as batons that have become the signature hallmark of the relays.

This year saw us racing Hinsdale and Monadnock again like last week (Wilton couldn’t get a bus unfortunately) hence the deja vu reference.  As I mentioned last week, I enjoy racing these two teams as we have a healthy competitive streak with each other but recognize that to become good at racing you need good competition.  Both camps even have runners that compete on our Valhalla Junior Olympic teams. 

Upon arrival, both the Hinsdale and Monadnock crews were decked out in the requisite Hill Billy gear, cut off flannels and jean shorts were pretty popular, while my crew had elected to team up with colors so they could be easily identified.  We had teams of red, blue, green, orange, pink and grey, again matching our faster runners with the less faster.  We did have one team of three, that instead of running the four laps required (two a piece) were slated to run six laps (still two a piece) so we paired the three fastest together so they could finish as close to the rest of the field as possible.

The weather was phenomenal, mid seventies but with a touch of September chill to the air, keeping things in balance.  After final instructions the teams sped off, with Dylan Buttrick of the six man pink team, keeping it close with Monadnock’s Jace Joslyn.

Things would eventually stretch out a bit, making it easy for the spectating crew to see the action, and for the coaches to get a glimpse of how their kids are running.  While performances can get lost in a traditional race, it’s much easier to see what’s going on as you’re able to focus on each kid’s individual leg.  While I wasn’t seeing individual splits, I could see how they were moving, one lap versus their other.

And for us, what I was seeing was good.  My kids were working hard, while still running very balanced runs.  They were charged with going hard each mile lap, with the hope they would run similar splits; however. they weren’t supposed to “save” up for it.  Needless to say, if you send the first lap, when you toe the start of lap two between five and seven minutes later, it’s going to be hard to match the first lap pace and most of my kids didn’t.  But the fall off was minimal, and watching their finishes showed they were in it for the fight, which is really what I was looking for.  I even had a kid “fill” the trash can by the finish line with his fueling for the race.

It will be another year before we make the trip back to the most Southwest corner of the state, to herald the beginning of cross country and the migration of the nighthawks, but I will be waiting.

See you out there.