“Pain is temporary, pride is forever.”
(Unknown)
The Walk into the Future blog is always looking for new adventures and places to explore as I live this life.
I have been lucky to leverage my running tourist mindset to this process. My latest adventure was a trip to New Hampshire for the 2025 Smuttynose Half Marathon in Hampton, New Hampshire. My last northeastern race was in Providence, Rhode Island. This race came highly recommended on the racing calendar and promised the flattest course in New Hampshire. Fun fact, I had no idea what that meant but anything with ‘flattest’ in the description is good for me when it comes to races. 😊
New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont are the only New England states I have never traveled to, and my goal was to cross each of them off on this trip. Well, two out of three got crossed off. I didn’t have enough time to make it over to Vermont without sacrificing race preparation and recovery time. No worries, I will look for a Vermont race in 2026 to get me back in the area.
I flew up from the Orlando airport into Manchester, New Hampshire which is about 35 minutes from Hampton. There is a closer airport in Portsmouth, New Hampshire but there were limited airlines and flights into that airport. I was surprised by the amount of people flying from Orlando to Manchester. The flight was completely full and I’m sure this had nothing to do with the Smuttynose Half Marathon. It appears Manchester is the gateway to this portion of New England.
The Manchester airport was easy to navigate, and I made my way to the Enterprise rental counter to begin my adventure. Plugged in my hotel address into the GPS and headed through the countryside towards Hampton. The leaves had some nice colors, but they weren’t the full fall colors we always hear about in New England. I’m sure the warmer than normal temperatures had something to do with color of the leaves at this point of the year.
Hotel check-in was a breeze, and I dropped off my luggage in my room before exploring Hampton. I made my way over to the EXPO which was several tents in a parking lot close to the beach. I didn’t expect anything huge with the EXPO and this one did not disappoint or offer anything more than bib and package pickup. I was expecting to spend some time at the EXPO, but I was done in about 10 minutes. I made sure to get a few pictures at the EXPO but left this location to explore Hampton and get over to the beach.
The beach was only one block away, so I headed over to become a tourist and see the sights. The area was nice and there were folks out walking on the beach and just enjoying the nice weather. I soaked up the sun and atmosphere a bit before finding food. I found Wing-itz Hampton with a quick Google search, so I headed there to get some wings and carbs. There was a small crowd at this location with most folks crowded around the bar inside. The weather was great, so I made my way to the patio and found a spot in the sun to keep warm. They had nice food and beer selection, but I stayed with the tried-and-true wings, fries and beer. Simple is better when traveling for a race. 😊
Saturday was dedicated to exploring and making my way to Maine. Hampton is situated in the northeastern corner of New Hampshire, so I was pleasantly surprised my Maine adventure was only 15 miles away. Plugged Kittery, Maine into my GPS and then made my way up to see the sights. I’m a huge outlet mall shopper so the first place I stopped in Maine was an outlet mall. I never need anything but wanted to see if this Nike outlet had anything different from the outlet malls in Florida. You guessed it, no they have the same stuff. 😊
I wanted to see a lighthouse and saw the Nubble Lighthouse was close by. I plugged in the address into GPS and made my way along the coast to see the Nubble Lighthouse and take in more seaside sights. The drive was short but took me through the countryside and a couple of quaint little Maine towns. Parking at the Nubble Lighthouse was tough—it is a huge tourist attraction, and this was the last weekend before most restaurants closed for the season. Finally found a parking spot and made my way down a path to get some pictures of the lighthouse, coastline and surrounding areas. This was a very peaceful part of the trip even with many tourists in the same area. Everyone was friendly and enjoyed being in the same area enjoying the lighthouse vibes. The temperature felt great, but it was warmer than normal. I found this out because my bartender told me this was the last day her bar would be open for the season. Turns out a lot of northern places close because they don’t have water pipes that are designed to handle extreme cold.
I made my way back down the coast to get a few additional pictures and then headed back to Hampton. My first stop when I got back was Wings-itz to repeat my meal from the day before. Yes, I’m a creature of habit. 😊 The Florida Gators game against the Texas Longhorns was on the big TV, so I posted up to watch with my wings and beer. The patio was crowded during this visit and there was a birthday party on the patio. I grabbed an empty table and got comfortable. Turns out I sat in the birthday party area and got invited to have food and birthday cupcakes. The birthday boy turned 70 and is a graduate of the University of Florida. I can’t make this stuff up.
I got up on race day feeling good and wanted to see how my marathon training would translate to the half marathon distance. I wanted cooler weather but there was no humidity, and the temperature was a lot cooler than what I left in Florida.
The Hampton beach area only has paid parking, so I got as close to the start line as possible and found a parking lot for $20. This was the going rate in all parking lots so there is no need to look for a better price. The race village was one block over, so I followed the crowd to the boardwalk and joined the other runners to stretch and warm up. The sunrise was gorgeous, and I thought this was a good indicator for the day. Again, I didn’t have time in mind for this race but wanted to go as fast and safe as possible.
There was not a time corral for this race so folks just posted up where they were comfortable. There was a 5k component to race day, but those runners started 15 minutes after the half marathoners which allowed for a cleaner start. I grabbed my spot in the middle of the start pack and waited for the start gun to go off.
I wanted to go out at a measured pace and then see what I had towards the middle of the race. The cooler temperatures to start the race were welcomed and the crowds at the start were fantastic. It’s always great to hear random strangers cheering your name like they know you.
Mile #1 was completed in 8:51, Mile #2 in 9:03 and Mile #3 in 9:08. I won’t bore you with each mile split, but these first three miles allowed me to determine how much I could push the pace. These splits felt good and I knew I had the endurance to run 9’s if the weather held.
Fast forward a bit and the 2025 Smuttynose Half Marathon became my personal record (PR) race. 2:04:31 is the fastest half marathon for me since the 2019 OUC Half Marathon in Orlando. Never thought it would take six years to run another half marathon PR, but I will take it. I think I had a faster time in my legs, but the temperature went up towards the middle of the race, and it felt like summer again. I’m proud of my efforts and happy to bring home a half marathon PR back to Florida. I made my way over to ring the PR bell and get a picture to highlight this huge accomplishment for me.
The after-race party was outstanding with beer, food and good old rock and roll. The band was fantastic and had runners dancing to the tunes. I had such a good experience with this race and location that I signed up for the 2026 Smuttynose Half Marathon before I left New Hampshire. This race will be a part of my regular race rotation moving forward.
Next stop, the 2025 Atlantic City Marathon. 😊
Irie!
Calvin Williams
“It’s not the distance you must conquer in running…it’s yourself.”
(Unknown)
Walk Into the Future 
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