Ran the Twin Lights Half Marathon on Saturday morning, and while it was hillier than I expected, and I missed my per-mile-pace goal (6:30), I was pretty happy with a 54 second PR and 7th place overall finish, 1st in division.

First note? Free pictures! All the pics the race photogs take are available for free download after the race. Awesome! And the reason there’s a big, goofy vanity shot at top of this post.

Kris, the kids and my sister Ana came down to the race with me and had a wonderful time of sun and sand on Good Harbor Beach while I ran, poured out some huge cheering and support at the finish, and then back to the beach again. That is one beautiful beach, which rocky steeps on both ends and a view of both lighthouses to the north.

It was a fun race – a little warm (high 60s? maybe low 70s?) and sunny, but with a nice breeze. The course was scenic, although to be honest, not quite as scenic view-for-view as either Cape Cod Marathon or Smuttynose in New Hampshire. On the other hand, the run through Rockport center was pretty and the crowds were great! The staff was friendly and the course volunteers were enthusiastic.

I started with the lead pack, forced myself to put the brakes on over the first half mile and let myself fall back to about 10th, aiming for a 6:25 split (got 6:27).

We started climbing shortly thereafter and it seemed like we never really stopped until after mile 7, then there was another beastly one around 9-10. I eventually passed four or five people, mostly on the uphills or at the tops of the hills (I can’t run fast downhill to save my life) and was passed twice, around mile 9.

Great sportsmanship and courtesy by all the guys who finished right around my time, especially Andrew Young, who finished next ahead of me (followed his purple shirt for last three miles and never did manage to catch him!). Winning time was 1:13:50, David Swanson from Cambridge. Fun to run into Manchester’s Matt B. and his wife at the start and again at the finish.

A  few  constructive criticisms: 1. they don’t close any part of the course to traffic or have a huge amount of traffic control, and on some of the narrow roads winding through neighborhoods at the turning point, I felt like cars were whipping around corners and right at us.   2. They used plastic cups at the stations instead of paper. Man these are so much harder to squeeze into the perfect drinking crevasse, I don’t know why any races use them. 3. The traffic to get in and out of the parking lot at the beach was horrendous. We didn’t mind because we got there early, but don’t cut it close getting here or you’re likely to still be waiting to park when the race goes off! 4. No awards ceremony. I probably notice this only because it’s the first time I won my age group, and basically you wait around an hour and then go to a table (same as number pickup) say your name and get your medal. I wanted a podium, like at AppleFest! I know, more vanity.Overall, great day with family in a fun race on a challenging, interesting course.

And that’s the spring season. Started with me deciding to forgo a spring marathon while I finished letting a bad case of runner’s knee heal up. I backed the mileage down from the marathon 50s to the non-marathon 40s and ran some decent speed workouts and then beat my 5K PR (was 18:56, now 18:39) on Saint Patrick’s Day at the Shamrock  Shuffle in Lebanon (21st overall, 8th in age group). Followed that up with a non-PR run at Soup Kitchen 10K in Nashua, hot day, hilly course (40:10, 10th overall, 5th in age group).

Now it’s on to the fall – Reach the Beach and the fall marathon, which will be Baystate. Training remains both my greatest source of therapy and my greatest challenge – especially as my family life and work and work travel schedules all seem to be accelerating like mad. But it’s all good – and if I’ve got to get up extra early to squeeze in some miles in some foreign city before a long day of work, well, who would complain about that? It’s a treat.

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It’s powerful because it reminds us, sometimes the toughest challenges we face are the very reason we’re here to begin with.

This resonates with leadership roles. Anybody in a leadership role – and I think most of us find ourselves with the opportunity and obligation to lead in our lives – will eventually face a tough decision, a moment of crisis, a painful dilemma. This passage can help remind you, on those toughest of days, that crises provide you the opportunity to exercise your purpose.

I love it when things are running smoothly – who needs to go begging for trouble? – but I know soon enough something won’t be smooth. And it will be my obligation and duty to face that trouble and help find a way to a solution. And whether you lead in business, in government, in your community,the military, or your family, you have the duty as well. But remember, it’s more than obligation; it’s an honor to be called upon to serve in difficult times. And a fulfillment of the purpose for which we are made.

I committed this passage to memory this morning to have readily at hand when I need to remind myself of this. But the last line may well limn the whole as you plunge “once more into the breach”: “Father, glorify your name.”