I haven't raced in Vermont since April of 2018 (Sleepy Hollow Mountain race). I found a 15km race that ran on the Colchester Causeway and signed up right away. Eric Morse and I had run on the Causeway trail back in August of 2019 and it was unique. The trail is very scenic as it cuts across Lake Champlain.
A few pics from online sources.
I headed up to Eric's house on Friday and we got a run in Calais/Woodbury before feasting on pizza and calling it a night pretty early. We had to be up early since the race started at 8am. We arrived at 7am and checked out the first 2km loop around airport park and a bit of the way to the actual Causeway as a warm-up. It was already pretty warm but wouldn't get too bad during the race. The big issue was going to be the wind. The first couple of miles would be sheltered but from 2.5 to 7.5 we'd be out on the open lake and the wind was 20-30 mph. The 85 entrants were put in four starting waves based on when you entered the race and we'd be starting 20 or so at a time with 2 minutes in between. I was in the final wave so there would be 60 people to catch. I bumped into Vermonter Alex McHenry right before the start and convinced him to move to my wave as we were looking to run about the same time. We watched the first three groups head out and then it was "game on"
In the early going
It was actually a little crowded on the very narrow opening loop with people in the group ahead of us staying 2 or 3 abreast so we had to run in the grass for a lot of the first 2km (1.2 miles). The mile was a bit slower than I had hoped (6:23), I probably should have figured it wouldn't be as fast as roads with the loose gravel surface. Alex and I stuck together through 2 miles (6:20) and then I slowly pulled away as we hit the open water and a cross to tail wind for the next three miles. After 2 miles there were very few people to see but just enough to keep chugging along to catch them. I had 3 miles that were all right around 6:15 and knew I'd be paying it back when we turned after 5 miles. I saw the leader and checked my watch and when I checked it at the turn I figured he was nearly 10 minutes ahead (really about 4 minutes as he'd started 6 minutes before me). I'd also counted four others that I'd try to track down on the way back. The great thing about out & back courses is you can see the competition, but of course that means they can see you. I noted that Alex was about 1:30 behind me so I felt I had a pretty good shot at second place if I could hold it together. I slowly reeled in three of the folks ahead of me despite miles of 6:48 and 6:59. The wind was just brutal. The final guy I caught stuck with me pretty well and had a strong finish. I did not feel that great but kept it together. I ended up third to cross the line but one of the guys had started 4 minutes ahead of me so I'd actually beaten him. The course was a bit short of 15km (9.3 miles). I got 9.15 miles and I saw a couple right at 9.2 on Strava. The 6:30 pace was a bit disappointing but I did make it through and hopefully didn't get my groin/glute much worse than it was heading in. 
After the race Eric and I did a few laps around the park as a warm-down. I found a very interesting tree that I just had to "visit". Funny end to a short weekend in VT.
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