Packed up the car and headed south to Marion, Massachusetts this morning for the 21st Annual Marion Village 5K Road Race. The race kicked off in the heart of idyllic Marion just off the campus of the prestigious Tabor Academy.

Heading to the race, the skies started to look a little ominous and just before the race the skies opened up a bit and a muggy, summer rain fell upon runners making their way to the starting line. The humidity was made a bit worse by the rain but thankfully the rain wasn’t as strong during the race as it was on the ride home when the skies turned black and the rain was coming down in sheets.

I have run this course in the past at the 2016 Guard Oil 5K Turkey Trot and the course takes runners through the residential roads around Tabor Academy. The course has a couple gradual inclines mixed in and runners have some nice straight roads throughout the race. Runners catch a glimpse of the ocean as they make their way past the Sippican Tennis Club. While running through downtown Marion, a woman playing a bagpipe as runners made their way through the town was a great touch today!

I finished the Marion Village 5K Road Race with a time of 24:27, good for 7:54/miles. The last time I ran this course I finished with a time of 26:52 so taking more than 2 minutes off my finishing time is no small victory.

Hope you have a good weekend! Have you done a race or are you doing one tomorrow?

Registration is now open for the 7th Annual Hussdog Jog 5K Run and 2 Mile Walk and The Running Griffin encourages you to join me in Pembroke, Massachusetts on July 15th for what is annually a great run!

The 7th Annual Hussdog Jog will commemorate the passing of Steven R. Hussey by bringing family, friends, and the town of Pembroke together in a celebratory 5K and 2 mile walk! Join the Hussey family as they raise awareness and provide support to individuals and their families who have suffered from a stroke.

Proceeds from the Hussdog Jog benefit the nonprofit Stroke Rehabilitation and Healing (SRH). SRH’s mission is to raise awareness regarding the challenges met by stroke patients and their families. SRH works to increase the support and services that are offered to stroke patients and their families, and provide necessary equipment for in-home recovery/rehabilitation. SRH hopes to increase the quality of life and longevity of those who suffer from a stroke. For more information about Stroke Rehabilitation and Healing, please click here to “Like” them on Facebook.

I have run this race a few times in the past and the course is a great run through mostly residential roads. A couple nice little hills mixed in for good measure but an early summer start time helps ensure you will be running your best before the hot summer midday heat kicks in.

To register for the 7th Annual Hussdog Jog, please click here. I’ll see you in Pembroke for the Hussdog Jog on July 15th!

This weekend it was up north to Portsmouth, New Hampshire for the Market Square Day 10K. This race is a component to a great downtown festival in the heart of Portsmouth, New Hampshire called Market Square Day and is sponsored by Pro-Portsmouth, a non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating and sustaining the vitality of Portsmouth’s arts, culture and history through events and community collaboration.

If you’ve never been to Portsmouth, you have to go. A New England town along the water, Portsmouth features an idyllic downtown area with some amazing restaurants, breweries, pubs, shops and more. The downtown area is a spot visitors could spend a day, relax and take in some great culture. Market Square Day capitalizes on that New England charm with streets closed down and vendors selling their wares, food vendors offering their food and drink and a 10K road race taking runners throughout the streets of Portsmouth.

The 10K kicks off right in the heart of Market Square and takes runners out of the central downtown area and into some Portsmouth neighborhoods throughout the course. The race has some really excellent fan support along the way and it seems as though mimosa helped make a hot morning a bit cooler for spectators watching the race. Parts of the course reminded me of the fan support along the Covered Bridges Half-Marathon course.

A decent hill around the 4 mile mark added a little challenge to the course and a shaded section in the fifth mile added a little reprieve from the warm temperatures and sunny race time conditions. Heading into the finish line there was a sharp and steep uphill sprint which once crested led to a nice, fast downhill 100 yards or so into the finish line.

The race course was perfectly prepared with water along the way though it could have been a touch cooler as particularly in the later miles the water was warm. Also, mile markers were missing from the course which made for a little added challenge to the race trying to determine where you were along the way.

Overall, a great run at the Market Square Day 10K and I finished the race with a time of 53:33, good for 8:38/miles. This was my first time ever running the Market Square Day 10K but it certainly will not be my last. An amazing course, great support and an awesome New England city welcoming runners; it doesn’t get much better than that!