30 years later, it's comforting to know you can go home again

Last Saturday, just a half-mile into a 5K race, I came to a small hill that looked very familiar.

I realized the last time I had raced up Bridge Lane was 30 years ago during my final home cross country race in high school.

But this time, I was three decades older and a lot slower than I was on that day back in November of 1979 as my Enfield Raider teammates and I raced against our crosstown rivals, the Fermi Falcons.

A few weeks ago, as I looked around for a few races to end my season, I spotted one that was being held at my old elementary school. I thought it would be a fun way to wrap up the season. So I signed up.

Having run the roads around the school countless times over the years, I was trying to envision the course. But there was nothing about the route on the race Web site so I had to wait until race morning to find out.

Adding to the nostalgia was that my parents, who had not seen me race in many years, announced they were coming to watch as they live just a mile from the school.

I tried to talk them out of it.

I warned them that those days when they watched me run among the leaders were long over. I warned them the weather could be bad. But they insisted on coming. That's what's great about parents. No matter how old you are, they still, in some ways, think of you as a kid.

The first thing I did when I got to the school was look for a map. The route was along some roads I knew but ducked into a neighborhood I couldn't recall ever running through.

The school looked like it hadn't changed much since I was a student there more than 35 years ago. Being in familiar surroundings, it was strange not to know any of the other runners. But it's been 25 years since I had lived for any real time in Enfield and the town has grown a lot since then.

After running most of the course as a warm-up, I took my place two rows behind the fast people. In front of me was a high school runner wearing the uniform of my old high school. I was going to tell him that I once ran for his team but I figured he'd think I was some weird old guy. Kind of like those alumni who used to knock on the door of our college dorm room and tell us they lived there 25 years earlier. I never wanted to be one of those guys.

Though I had been sick earlier in the week and my stomach didn't feel good over the first mile, I was happy as I passed the two-mile mark in 12:00. It just felt comfortable to be running some of the roads that I had spent so much time on training during high school and college. It was also nice, although slightly embarrassing, to hear my mom and dad cheering for me as I passed them on the course. I am, after all, just three years from turning 50.

As I cooled down after the race, I realized there is one thing you can always count on no matter where you live or what you do in life.

You can always go home.

On the schedule

• The 18th annual Lil' Rhody Runaround, an 8-mile trail race in Charlestown, R.I. will be held Sunday at 11 a.m. in Burlingame State Park. This is a real trail race through the woods with mud, streams and narrow, rutted trails. Because it is hunting season, all runners have to wear orange. For more information, go to westerlytrackclub.org or contact Nick Bottone Jr. at 401-377-2306 or nbotjr@cox.net.

• The Ocean Community YMCA Turkey Trot and Dip will be held Thanksgiving morning at the Mystic branch of the YMCA beginning at 8:30 a.m. This event includes your choice of a one- or three-mile run followed by a jump in the Mystic River. For more information, go to www.oceancommunityymca.org.

• The annual Tommy Toy Fund Fun Run will be held Friday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. at Billy Wilson's Ageing Still on Broadway in Norwich. This is not a race. Everyone in this 1.5-mile run through downtown Norwich jogs behind Santa Claus and sings carols.

Entry is a new, unwrapped toy that will be donated to the Tommy Toy Fund. There is a raffle and party afterward at Billy Wilson's. For more information, go to www.moheganstriders.org.

Joe Wojtas is The Day's running columnist