A little delayed getting this posting done but last weekend it was off to Hanson, Massachusetts for Damien’s Freaky 5K. Hosted at a local, neighborhood haunt known for having some amazing South Shore bar pizza, this race was the October Grand Prix Series run for the Thirsty Irish Runners so a number of TIR teammates packed the starting line along with a nice crowd of other runners making this the largest field of runners to ever run the Freaky 5K.

Runners can dress up and don Halloween costumes for this race and there are some real gems of costumes out on the course. Kudos to two guys who decided to wear jeans and jean shorts as part of their costumes which had to have caused a significant chafing situation to be dealt with post-run. Vikings, football players, police officers and maybe even someone dressed up as a convict running for president were seen out on the course but for the less adventurous runners like myself the day made for some nice running conditions to rock shorts and a long-sleeve out on the course.

The course has a nice upward climb in the first mile and though it is nothing too signficant, you are climbing for most of the first mile. After a quick left into a neighborhood you then flatten out for a bit in the second mile and there is a water stop you can hit as you make your way both in and out of the neighborhood. Because it is an out-and-back course, the climbing of the first mile provides you with a nice downhill finish in the final mile and as you make your way back to Damien’s you begin to be greeted by a relatively nice crowd of folks cheering runners into the finish line.

Finished up Damien’s Freaky 5K with a time of 25:42, good for 8:17/miles. Post-run, runners could stick around the parking lot for burgers, hot dogs and beer but we ended up hitting up one of our favorite coffee shops, Slacktide Coffee Roasters, which was about 10 minutes down the road instead.