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!

This morning it was off to Wareham, Massachusetts for Grumpy’s Cranberry Harvest 5K Run. Cool, fall temperatures were certainly present and frost was on the grass which meant it was time to bundle up a bit more for the run.

The race takes place on the grounds of cranberry grower A.D. Makepeace. All proceeds from the race benefit the Cranberry Educational Foundation and the race is held in memory of Robert “Grumpy” Conway, a longtime A.D. Makepeace Company employee and nature-lover who passed away in 2010.

The course is an absolute gem and one of the more beautiful runs that I have run in a while. The race takes runners around the A.D. Makepeace grounds and is a cross-country style run where runners run on compact dirt, grass and right alongside the cranberry bogs. The frost was present on a couple shady parts but the morning was absolutely brilliant. While running past one of the cranberry bogs workers were out on the bogs harvesting the cranberries and throughout the course there were signs with interesting facts about cranberries, cranberry consumption and more. A nice, challenging uphill finish caused you to want to empty the tank at the end of the run to make it up the hill.

Post-run there was fruit, water, dried cranberries and cranberry juice available and winners took home trophies and crates of cranberries. The race swag included a great tee-shirt with the Grumpy logo above on it, a whole bag of cranberries, cranberry juice and a few other items. A cranberry themed race through and through!

I felt good on the run this morning and despite it being a trail run which can tend to slow me down I ran pretty strong throughout the run. Finished Grumpy’s Cranberry Harvest 5K with a time of 24:24, good for 7:51/miles.

It’s that time of year! The fall brings some of my favorite running conditions but the mornings are definitely darker and night runs start earlier and earlier into the afternoon as we inch closer to wintertime. With the roads that much darker, it’s important to ensure we are staying safe out on our runs and our friends at Knuckle Lights have released the new “One” model of their light which is a must have accessory to keep safe while running in the dark.

One is light and compact and fits nicely into the palm of your hand and shines the path ahead and alerts oncoming motorists to you being out on a run. The light has a few different options with a high and low option available along with a blinking option, as well. One comes complete with a USB charger making it easy to charge right after your run so you are ready to go the next time you head out for a run. The unit is waterproof and comes with a five year warranty, as well.

Having used other products from Knuckle Lights, I have come to appreciate the quality that they bring to running accessories and One is no exception to that rule. The light stays bright for about three hours on the high setting, about 8 hours on the lower or blinking setting. Perfect option for both a short or long run!

To learn more about Knuckle Lights or to purchase your own One, please click here!

It was another double race weekend as I am trying to make up for the pandemic-induced hiatus from live road races. Yes, virtual runs were a good way to keep active and keep relatively motivated during the pandemic but nothing beats actually being at a live race and running with friends and the running community once again.

On Saturday morning I tackled Liam Maguire’s Almost Five Miler in Falmouth, Massachusetts. This was one of the Grand Prix races for my running club Thirsty Irish Runners and this course is an absolute gem and seeing so many TIRs out running was great. The course is 4.9167 miles long and the race directors and volunteers love every minute of the “Almost Five Miler” and take every advantage of cracking a joke here and there. Volunteers at a couple of the early turns on the course note, “You’re almost there” and there is even a mile marker at pi (3.14) miles into the course.

One of the best stretches of the race is heading toward the mile 4 marker when after running through a couple residential neighborhoods you then take a quick left and are running right alongside the ocean. A volunteer at that turn noted, “Enjoy the view” and it was impossible not to. A beautiful stretch of oceanfront running on an absolutely gorgeous morning for running.

I finished Liam Maguire’s Almost Five Miler with a time of 39:42, good for 8:05/miles. Not too shabby! Sadly, this is year’s race will be the final Liam Maguire’s Almost Five Miler but kudos to all involved who have helped put on a great run for so many years.

On Sunday morning it was off to Plymouth, Massachusetts for the Mayflower Brewing Oktoberfest 5K. Mayflower Brewing is a great craft brewer and traces it’s lineage to John Alden, one of the pilgrims that landed in Plymouth and the brewer on the actual Mayflower. Mayflower Brewing hosts four seasonal 5K courses over the course of the year and over the summer I ran the Suns Out Runs Out 5K, as well.

This 5K course is a real test with a major hill in need of being tackled but a good, general sense that you are climbing uphill for most of the run. It is a tough course to tackle but knowing there is a fresh beer from Mayflower Brewing awaiting you at the finish line makes plodding up the hills just a touch easier.

During the summer race, I ran the course with an 8:02/mile pace and for the Oktoberfest 5K I picked up the pace nicely and finished with a time of 24:38, good for 7:55/miles. Particularly after running “Almost 5 Miles” the day before, that’s a result I can be happy with!

Hope you had a great weekend of running, too. See you out on the roads soon!