Last Sunday morning it was over to Weymouth, Massachusetts to run the Barrel House Z 5K. This race served as the August Grand Prix race for my running club, Thirsty Irish Runners and it is always nice to see some running friends before, during and after the race.

This 5K course I have run a number of times before having done both this race and the Pre-Game 5K which is held the morning of the Super Bowl before. It is a tough, challenging 5K course with a nice climb mixed in just as you hit the one mile marker and then an uphill stretch in the final half-mile that is far more noticeably uphill coming in than it is downhill when you are heading out.

The course this year was very crowded at the start and for the first half-mile of the run it didn’t thin out much. There wasn’t much space to maneuver through the crowds so the first half-mile went a bit slower than I would have liked. Out on the course the morning heat and humidity certainly were a force to be reckoned with and thankfully there was a water stop about half-way through the run that was certainly needed given the conditions.

I finished up the Barrel House Z 5K with gun-time of 27:01, good for 8:42/miles. If there was chip timing it would have been a touch better but still not a bad overall time given the crowds, heat and hills.

After the race, I checked out Slow Coffee in Weymouth and the peanut butter iced latte with oat milk was the perfect post-run treat. Be sure to check them out if in the area!