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Welcome to the Norfolk Pub 10-Mile Road Race Page. This page offers a description of the course along with scenic photos and race commentary. These photos were taken on Friday, December 12, 2014. There was a dusting of snow the night before...

Registration and number pick-up take place in the Norfolk Town Hall located on Maple Ave.

The Start and Finish line are the same. Parking is limited. The town asks that parking for the race take place up by the Town Hall.

From the start, the runners begin a 700 meter straight with a gradual incline.

The road becomes Lover's Lane after the gradual climb and the course takes a sharp drop.

The sharp drop dumps out onto a long flat with marsh land on the northen side and a small meadow on the southernside. The pavement turns to gravel for a the next 1.25 miles.

The mile mark is the start of the first significant ascent; a 1-mile gravel hill where any significant surge could prove costly for the later stages of the race.

Footing can be tricky. A few years back, we were lucky to have the town truck sanding the road ahead us, as we picked a clean line up the hill.

One/Nine-Mile Mark.In past years, the mile long hill up Lovers Lane has proved a difficult challenge with snow, ice, ruts, and mud. It's even more of a challenge on the way back down; as THE FASTEST ninth mile! The gravel ends just before the 2-mile mark and pavement takes over for the next 6+ miles until you return to the Lovers Lane intersection and head back to the finish. There will be an unmanned water station here at the Two/eight mile mark. Be prepared to break through the ice covered cup of water...

The hill up Lover's Lane is a solid mile with a few reductions in the angle of ascent. It's a steady climb and for the competitive racer, this is typically the 2nd slowest split.

There are 3 water tables on the course. The first water table is located at the top of Lover's Lane, just before the 2-Mile mark. Catch your breath and take in some of the views.

A brief recovery with a short downhill to 2.3 miles.Enjoy the country views as you climb a short, sharp, hill to 2.5 miles. The photos without snow were taken in 2004.

The third mile is a welcome split. Much faster than the second mile and you're back on pavement.

Be on the lookout for deer, turkey, sand, water, and patches of ice.

The turn at 2.8 miles starts a very fast 4th mile.

Would you like to see more of the course? See More.

The start is a gradual climb with a 600 meter straight. The finish is fantastic with a fast gradual 600 meter drop over a wide open straight.

and the registration is located in front of the Norfolk Town Hall on Maple Street.

2003 results...2002 results

11/13/04

From a distance it looks harmless enough. The hills of Norfolk surround Doolittle Lake and the Norfolk Pub 10-Mile Road Race conquers each and every last hill. This is the 6th Annual Norfolk Pub 10-Miler and each year has offered a different challenge with the weather. I've run the course every single month. The fall in its brilliant foliage, the spring with newborn flora and fauna, the summer with unrelenting heat and humidity, and the winter. I guess technically December 18th isn't really winter. Tell that to the people who live in Norfolk. The winter course offers the most challenge because of cold , raw winds, that cut to the bone, and slick black ice patches that would just as soon have you foot placed elsewhere.

Over the next few weeks I will be placing photos of the course along with mile-by-mile descriptions for your review. This page will be turning over on a regular basis so check it as such.

The course is an overall test of fitness. This is not a personal record-type of course. The 10-Mile distance is a classic road race distance. Long before there were 5K's and 10K's, there was the 10-Mile. Many have come and gone. The Framingham Terrible 10 is no longer in existence and that was the traditional test for runners preparing for the Boston Marathon; including , Bill Rogers. The Simsbury 10-Miler has faded in and out. The Amherst 10-Miler is still going strong, along with the Yankee Homecoming in Newburyport and the Blessing of the Fleet in Narraganset, but the Pack Monadnock 10 has recently sputtered, in large part because of the challenge that such a distance and such a course has to offer to the 5K and 10K runners. Has today's runner gotten soft? Are flat and fast courses the choice of the common runner? The statistics put up by the Road Runners of America and the United States Track and Field suggest that the answers are yes.

This course offers a little bit of everything. To race the course requires strategy and tactics. To race and finish in the top of your division requires strength, stamina, intelligence, and courage. You don't need to be fast, you do need to be tuff.