The timing couldn’t have been better to run a 5K in support of a food pantry given the current state of affairs in our nation. The Randolph Pack the Pantry 5K took place last weekend in Randolph, Massachusetts and a nice crowd of runners toed the starting line to raise funds for the local food pantry. In addition to the dollars raised from the registration fees, a huge collection of non-perishable food goods were dropped at the starting line by race participants to then be delivered to the food pantry in Randolph.

I have run this race years ago and though the course was the same as it was in the past it was in the reverse order. The 5K route is an interestingly challenging course through residential roads with some pretty tricky hills mixed in for just about the whole race. The race course was expertly marked at each turn with volunteers and local police helping shepherd runners along the way at the busier intersections.

I love that my running club the Thirsty Irish Runners chose this race as our November Grand Prix race and it was great to see so many familiar faces at the race. Though we couldn’t have know the even more dire need that food pantries would have when selecting this race as our Grand Prix race the fact that our club gets out there each year to support some truly noble causes makes me proud to be a member. If you’re looking for a club to join, be sure to check us out!

Some days you have it while you’re running and other days you don’t. My calves simply couldn’t loosen up on the route and I felt tight just about the entire way. Though I generally love climbing hills while out on a run, the tightness that I felt out on the course was tough. Not exactly my worst running ever but certainly not my best and I finished up the race with a time of 29:22, good for 9:28/miles.

Big shoutout to Mrs. Running Griffin who cruised into the finish line and ended up second in her age division for the race!