James Joyce Ramble

Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a runner coming down along the road and this runner that was coming down along the road met a nicens little race named The James Joyce Ramble…
Thanks in equal parts to both the organizers and Mother Nature, this was the most beautiful 10K I could imagine: cloudless skies, brilliantly blocked-​off course, historic Dedham (who knew?) whipping by, mulch and fresh-​cut grass breathed deep. The venue was gorgeous, the parking was easy as pie, and the miles were clearly marked, most of which with a pacing timer and/​or the syncopated rhythms of a wide array of actors slogging through passages of Joyce in an Irish brogue of varying degrees of success.
But let’s get to what you came for:
THE TEE-​SHIRT: Short-​sleeved cotton, beautifully illustrated, and promptly relegated to the jammie drawer.
THE POST-​RACE SWAG: Bananas, pasta, and beer to the wee heart’s content.
THE COURSE: Here’s the rub. This course is kind of a jerk. It gently lulls you into complacency with several downhills up front, and then BAM, steep hill. You push through, cuz it’s early yet, then BAM slow grade steep hill just after mile 3. You think you’re out of the woods as you’re gliding down its resolution, until you realize, panting your way to the end, that pretty much the whole of mile 5 – 6 is the slow grade reverse of the very same downhill with which you started the race. You also technically aren’t allowed headphones (although many folks had them anyway), so be sure to make friends with the huffing rhythm of your lungs.
You guys, it was tough. But then, so was Ulysses. And as we remember from college, a beer and a nap is an apt reward for getting through both.