After a bout of COVID, quarantine and recovery it was great to head back to the starting line of a road race and what better way to kick off the Christmas season than the 10th Annual Winter Lights 5K! This race took place Friday night and takes runners through the heart of America’s Hometown of Plymouth, Massachusetts.

The race is part of a Christmas packed evening complete with a small parade with Santa making his way to a Christmas tree lighting followed by the nighttime 5K race. Runners and walkers of all speeds don lights, reindeer ears, Santa hats and more as they race on the 5K loop course that runs past sites like the Mayflower, Plymouth Rock and all the downtown businesses that make Plymouth an awesome location. There was a certain energy along the race course on Friday night (and it wasn’t just the energy powering the Christmas lights) but with 1500 runners running through downtown and with people out cheering, heading in and out of restaurants and stores clapping and a nice, healthy finish line contingent present the race energy was great.

I felt good out on the race course for my first post-recovery run and throughout the course felt strong and was able to pace myself well. The race is a crowded field and I was in the second corral of runners to head out and was able to make up both time and pick off other runners as I made my way through the route; always a good mental boost!

I finished up the 10th Annual Winter Lights 5K with a time of 26:09 good for 8:25/miles. A good result on a nice night for running.

Post-run we checked out the outdoor and heated area at Second Wind Brewing for a pint before making our way home. Highly recommend checking out this awesome local brewery pumping out some great brews right around the corner from the finish line!