This week the world of NASCAR invades New Hampshire with its big racing weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. What does that have to do with the Granite State's running scene? If you are involved with one sport and a fan of the other, a lot. Therein lies a tale.

Runners have bucket lists of places they want to run. Most of those lists include specific races — but not my list. Over the years, I have been obsessed with running in particular places.

At the top of my list? A NASCAR track.

My fascination with running on a NASCAR track has to do with the size of the facilities. It amazes me that such large sports venues can be built, venues that seat hundreds of thousands while hosting a sports event that allows automobiles to race well over 100 mph.

For years, watching NASCAR from my living room years has left me in a state of wonderment about how large the tracks are. In my head, I figured the only way I could get a real feel for that size would be to show up and run at one of them.

Sidebar, your honor.

New Hampshire runners know that every year there is a 5K at NHMS. A reasonable person might ask, “Why not run the race to get a feel for the track?”

No, thank you. Too many distractions during a race. Nope, my quest to circle a NASCAR track on foot could only be satisfied if it was just me and the solitude of running solo around the track.

I am happy to report that recently the good folks at NHMS were very gracious in allowing me to fulfill my fantasy. With the promise that I would share the experience with the world, I got to run a couple of laps around the oval known to NASCAR nation as the “Magic Mile.” It was everything I imagined ... and then some.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a 1-mile oval with a seating capacity of about 100,000. It is not NASCAR's biggest track, but, for those of us who live in New Hampshire, it's ours.

Located about 15 minutes north of Concord, on Route 106, it appears out of nowhere, New England's largest sports venue. When you consider the size of the Granite State, and the size of the town of Loudon, it has to be at top any list of New Hamspshire's greatest wonders. I have been to NHMS for a number of NASCAR events, but there is something even more amazing when you arrive on a day when nothing is scheduled. Then, and only then, can you truly appreciate its enormity. That was certainly the case on this particular day.

My appreciation of the size of NHMS grew as I drove through the tunnel that takes you to the infield. Once inside, I could see the empty seats that enevelop the front stretch and the corners. I am always left speechless at this sight, and the day of my run was no exception.

Then, a few minutes later, I was met by Kristen Costa, whose official title is Director of Communications for NHMS. Costa unlocked the gate that led to the track, told me to call her when I was done, and left. Moments later, I stood at the start/finish line, looked around once more, and then I was off and running. The only green flag that flew was the one I conjured up in my head.

Because I was going to run two laps. I mapped out a strategy for each lap. Lap 1 would be the low line, the shortest distance around the track, and I would save the high line for last. As I took off at a slow trot, I imagined the cars racing by me and thought to myself, “How do they do it? How to they drive automobiles on this pavement at such high speeds?” By the end of the run, I had no answer.

As I suspected, the run around the track quenched my curious thirst for understanding the size of a NASCAR track. Twenty years ago, it would have taken me about eight minutes to run one lap during a training run, seven minutes during a race. Now I knew I was in the 11- to 12-minute range. So, when I reached six minutes, I was only halfway around the track. “Amazing” was all I could think. “This place really is that big.”

My second epiphany came as I rounded Turn 4 and came upon the front stretch. Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt Jr. would finish the lap in mere seconds, but I still had a good two to three minues ahead of me. Another “amazing” dashed through my mind as I headed for the start/finish line and Lap 2.

As stated, my Lap 2 strategy was to see what life is like at the high side of the track. The turns are banked, and, folks, the banks would make one heck of a hill in a race. Fortunately, it is only about 20 to 30 yards to get to the top of the track, but I could definitely feel the incline.

Lap 2 did nothing to diminish my appreciation for the size of NHMS. For the second time, I shook my head in wonderment when I was on the back stretch and realized I was still half a lap from the finish.

It took 25 minutes to complete my two laps. I thought about squeezing in another lap, but I had promised Ms. Costa I would take no longer than 30 minutes. As I walked off the track, it occurred to me that a NASCAR driver would have completed 25 to 30 laps in the same amount of time. So, one last time I shook my head in amazement. Before driving off, I looked at the track, at the seats, and made one final comment.

“WOW!”

Andy Schachat's column appears every other week in the New Hampshire Sunday News. Email him at schachat44@gmail.com.