Goodwin Forest 30K

Hampton, CT

Sunday, June 8, 2025

My second year running this trail race.  Somehow I won the race outright last year, so I had to come back to defend my title, right?  While that may have played some small part in me signing up, the bigger motivation was having a moderately hilly (~2,000' elevation) and non-technical trail race of this distance fit very well in my build up plans to Laugavegur 55K just five weeks away now.  Being only an hour drive from home and a bargain price of $20* added to the appeal.  

(*$20 was the discounted price for old folks over age 50, and I did add a small donation to Friends of Goodwin Forest as well as a small donation to offset food costs.)

30K start was 9am, with the larger field in the 10K starting at 10am.  I arrived right about 8am and was greeted by expert parking marshals directing me to back in to a field at an angle for vehicle optimization.  Very quick and easy bib pickup, where I was also greeted by the Race Director, Brendan, who remembered me from last year and was eager to show me pictures on his phone of where he had improved course marking from an issue last year where I went off-course (but quickly corrected) and others went off-course and did not correct.  I could tell he took this stuff seriously (as he should, but not all do) and it all looked good to me, but the proof would be in the pudding, and I took no risk by having the GPX loaded onto my watch and even through my phone into my pack in case any issues.

This year I seemed more efficient, had plenty of time for a 1.25 mile warm-up, back to the car to load my pack (ice, 2L water, 4 gels, 1 Untapped waffle, phone), with 15 minutes to spare to decompress before the race.  Just before race start, Alison came up to me and we chatted for a bit.  She was the only person I knew in the 30K field.

Today's race course
starting and ending at Pine Acres Lake

Race:  After some helpful words from the RD and a representative from the Friends of Goodwin Forest, we were off.  Unlike last year, when the race winner (me) was decided four miles in, today, the race was decided right off the starting line.  43-year old Ben Young took it out from start to finish.  There was the usual shuffling of positions in the first half-mile, including a 44-year old passing me about this position, and me passing a guy that I thought might me in my broad age group of 50-64.

Just prior to start.  I'm in red shirt on far right.

This is the guy I passed early on that that I thought might
be in my age group.  (Race photo)

At about 2 miles in, we exit onto a road.  It's the only paved section of the course, and it's less than 1/10 mile so I don't mind it, and it gives me an opportunity to glance back and see my competitors.  Exiting onto the road, I see the guy that passed me and is in 2nd place, I'm in 3rd, and entering back onto trail, I glance back to see the guy I think might be in my age group continuing to chase me and he is in 4th place now.

There is a switchback about 3 miles in, at this juncture I no longer see anyone ahead of me, nor can I see anyone behind me.  I remind myself not to get into a lull as someone can easily catch me or I might get lucky and catch one of the top two guys, although neither scenario happens as I run the entire rest of the race "as an island".

About 5 miles in, I get to the first of several open sections.  I remember this was a real hot and steamy section last year, but not the case at all this year as it's ensconced in an eerie kind of fog.   Besides the fog, the other interesting facet at this point is some animal runs right across the trail in front of me and disappears into the bog.  My best guess is a mink, but it was so quick I can't be 100% sure.

Seven miles in, we begin the rocky ascent adjacent to the waterfalls.  It's about 120' climb and for some reason much less challenging and much less technical than I had recalled from just one year ago.  I'm not sure if that's because a year ago this course was all brand new to me, and more likely because this year I'm putting in the time on harder trail races (Breakheart and Sunapee in previous month) as part of my ultra build.  But it is scenic and I pause to take my old photo on the course:

One of the few technical sections of the course:
trail is over the rocks on the right side of 
river / waterfall

After another 1/2 mile, we come to the infamous course split where several went off course last year.  The RD has overmarked this course split this year and it is just painfully obvious which way to go.  Top marks on the course marking!  This begins the 5-mile northernmost loop.

The loop went by fairly quickly.  There is a long flat section along the Natchaug River, before a 200' climb up to the General Lyon historical site and aid station.  People later were asking me about the boiled potatoes at this aid station, but if they had them there, I didn't notice.  I took out my disposable cup and asked a volunteer to fill it with Gatorade, and I was on my way, awkwardly drinking while running and then stashing my cup back in my pack.

Back on the 2-way section, I run into a woman approaching me from the opposite direction.  She looks confused to see me coming towards her, so I explain she is going in the right direction as I go past her.  The only remaining person that I see on the course (besides the aid station volunteers) is in a clearing where a man has ridden in and parked his bike to spectate.

The rest of the run is a blur and I soon find myself on the final dirt road approaching the finish line.  I am almost out of water in my pack, so I either planned that well or got lucky by not filling to full capacity at the start and I never had to refill along the way.

Final result:  2:59:05, 3rd overall, 1st in age group.  Full results here

The good:

• Easy registration process.
• Very low priced entry.
• Good pre-race communication.
• This is a fun low-key trail race.
• Fun post-race gathering with good food.
• Neat awards!
• RD does a great job.
• Well marked and good course.
• I got 3rd overall, and 1st in age group.

The not so good:

• The race website could be a lot better.  There is a results page, but it hasn't been updated since 2023.
• Photos:  it's nice that there are free photos at all, but not so great that it took over four weeks for the organizers to post them
• 13 minutes slower than last year, and that's in better weather conditions this year

Finish line

Glad to get out of my now filthy races and socks

Nice post-race food
(there were additional options as well)