This morning it was down to Marshfield, Massachusetts to run the Frozen Pilgrim 5 Miler. With January races you never can really know how the weather is going to shake out but all things considered this morning was not too bad when it came to the weather conditions with temperatures in the high 20s. There was a bit of a wind present on certain parts of the run and one stretch of the race was quite icy on the roads as you made your way through a shaded residential area. Definitely needed to take it easy on this stretch!

The first mile of the race was a pretty boring loop around school grounds but once you made your way out onto the streets the race became much nicer. In the second mile, there was a nice amount of climbing present but those hills were not the most interesting part of the stretch. Rather, it was a large horse who had gotten loose from its fencing and was running up and down one of the hilly streets while the horse’s owner was trying to wrangle it back. Fortunately, I think the horse was safely captured but definitely didn’t have that on the running bingo card today!

Volunteers had water out on the course which is always appreciated and even though it was cold out there came in handy given the five miles being run. As mentioned, only one neighborhood stretch was quite dangerous due to some ice from a storm last weekend so you needed to take your time on this section of the course.

The early uphills of the race gave way to a nice, gradual downhill finishing mile and a half and it felt good to let gravity help you down some of those hills. A quick turn back into the high school grounds and into the finish line to wrap up the race.

I’ve been battling some sort of cold for the past few days (thanks, air travel) and didn’t feel 100% out there but am glad I still tackled the race today. The race was the first race of the Thirsty Irish Runners 2025 Grand Prix Series and it’s always nice to see so many friendly TIRs this morning; and then execute our signature Irish Farewell when leaving.

Finished up the Frozen Pilgrim 5 Miler with a time of 47:06, good for 9:25/miles. Not my best running but today was more about banging out five miles, feeling better by clearing out the lungs and head and crossing that finish line. I’ll take it!

The race is a fundraiser for the Kurt Giessler Foundation for Youth Achievement. To learn more about this organization, please click here.

Even in the winter months, running outdoors and in the morning is a must in my book. I like getting a good, early morning run completed before the day kicks off but with the roads and sidewalks often quite dark this time of year it is important to think about proper illumination to stay safe while out on those early morning runs.

The Noxgear Tracer2 is a great options that provides both comfort and brightness while out on the run. The pack is bright and features several different solid and blended color options that you can toggle through to mix up your look on a daily basis. The battery life for this vest is remarkable and charges easily with a USB cord.

There’s a great discount on the Noxgear site right now where you can get the Tracer2 for $59.95.

Don’t delay and click here to order your Noxgear Tracer2 and keep safe while out on your runs!

Join me at the Narragansett Summer Nights 5K! Great evening run in Bristol, Rhode Island with a beautiful course and great post-run party!

Register by clicking here.

As runners, we all know the importance of ensuring your feet are taken care of. I recently had the opportunity to try insoles from Soul Insoles and would highly recommend you checking out these great insoles to help both your running form and to leverage for everyday walking use, as well.

Soul Insoles has a great lineup of products aimed at providing relief for arch pain, plantar fasciitis, flat feet and more. Some insoles that I have used before tend to become very clunky in the sneaker but the Soul Insoles offering provides cushion and support but leaves the sneaker not feeling weighed down by the insoles.

The customizable soft orthotic can be cut to fit your sneakers and provide remarkable cushion and support to the feet. I have used these both while running and while out walking and definitely would recommend checking them out for both purposes.

To shop the Soul Insoles products, click here to check out their website and purchase your set of insoles today!

When you head to Disney World for the Thanksgiving holiday, that doesn’t mean you get to skirt your responsibility to run a turkey trot on Thanksgiving morning. When looking for a race, the Ritz-Carlton Gobbler 5K was about a 20 minute Lyft from our hotel so we registered for the race and bright and early Thanksgiving morning made our way to the Ritz-Carlton for the run.

The race started right at the perfect Thanksgiving morning time of 7:30 AM and took runners on the cart paths of the back 9 of the golf course located at the hotel. There was nice scenery along the entire run as you would expect when running on a golf course.

The first stretch of the race was a bit crowded as runners made their way out onto the course as running over a cart bridge and narrow cart paths doesn’t allow a lot of wiggle room to get out from the crowd. About a half-mile in the race started to separate a bit and allowed for a bit more space on the course.

The race was a nice run on Thanksgiving morning but the $75 race registration fee per person was almost criminal. A long sleeve shirt that had the Ritz-Carlton logo on it but no mention of the race was given out and though medals were awarded to all runners the price just didn’t justify itself. Sure, small mimosas for those who drank were available and the post-run chair massage for five minutes was a nice treat but even simple things like water being in closed coolers on the course didn’t exactly live up to the expectations of what you would expect from a 5K race costing $75 per person. Plus, the course was about 3.3 miles long; not anything that I can’t tackle, of course, but another nit you would expect not to be the case for such an expensive 5K race. If proceeds were noted to go to a charity, maybe I’d feel differently about the cost of the race versus the experience but aside from that, no reason this race shouldn’t have been your standard $30 5K cost.

Mrs. Running Griffin and I ran the race together and cruised to a finishing time of 31:46, good for 10:14/miles against the advertised 5K distance.

If we end up back in Orlando for Thanksgiving, not sure we’d make this race the one we’d head unless they really rethink the cost structure of the race.