Coming off of yesterday’s big victory at the Huss Dog Jog 5k, this morning it was off to Stonehill College for the Narragansett Summer Running Festival 10k. Stonehill College is an absolutely beautiful college located in Easton, Massachusetts and served as host for the second annual Narragansett Summer Running Festival. The festival features a race for all abilities including a 5k, 10k and a half-marathon. Last year, I ran the 5k race but this year instead opted for the 10k race.

The 10k was the final race to kick off and the course was a scenic double loop through the Stonehill College campus. The run took runners past some remarkable buildings, through and onto the track surrounding the football field, across a foot bridge next to a pond and past other sections across the campus. The nice thing about double loops is that you can certainly anticipate what is ahead on the second loop but the down side to them is that for any section that might be in the sun the first time around you can all but guarantee you will be in the sun the second time, as well.

The race time temperature this year was much more manageable than last year but even still the sun was beating down on the course pretty nicely even with an early start time to the 10k at 8:40 AM. Water was available on the course and the shaded parts of the course offered runners a temporary reprieve from the heat. The race takes place on both asphalt, composite track material as well as a section that is a dirt road covered with smaller stones. Though the 10k was fully contained within the grounds of the campus, Stonehill College Police manned sections where vehicles could still pass and did a great job keeping the runners safe.

Post race, runners were invited to enjoy two free Narragansett beers including their summer favorites (Summer Ale and Del’s Shandy) and the traditional Gansett lager. A variety of businesses handed out samples and a band played some tunes to add to the atmosphere.

For a back-to-back race weekend coupled with some lower body pains I was suffering from, I ran the Narragansett Summer Running Festival 10k well and finished with a time of 49:33 or 7:59/miles.

Registration is now open for the Half Way St. Patrick’s Day 5K  which will be held in Holyoke, Massachusetts on September 13 at 1PM. This race marks the half way mark to the famed Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Road Race but takes runners on a different 5k course through the scenic Ashley Reservoir. Ashley Reservoir is home to some of the most picturesque running across Massachusetts and allows runners to run on the packed dirt terrain and take some time off from the paving of the asphalt.

After the race runners will be treated to a Half Way to St. Patty’s Day Celebration that will include food, live Irish bands, and kids activities.

As 2015 will mark the 40th Anniversary of the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Road Race, f you choose to sign up for both the Half Way to St. Patty’s Day 5k and the 10k race in March, you will be able to register for the 40th Holyoke St. Patricks Day Road Race for only $20! You must do this while registering for the September race to get the discount.

To register for the Half Way to St. Patty’s Day 5k, please click here. Be sure to also “Like” the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Road Race on Facebook by clicking here. See you at Ashley Reservoir on September 13th!

 

Last night was the Harvard Pilgrim Finish at the 50, a race that starts at Gillette Stadium and finishes right at the fifty yard line on the field. Gillette, the home to the New England Patriots, is located in Foxboro, Massachusetts and though when the Patriots take the field temperatures have the potential to be in the sub-freezing range, last night was anything but. Partaking in the 5k, starting at 5:30 PM, race time temperatures were above 90 degrees and running through parking lots and open roads for most of the race really allowed the sun to beat down on runners and walkers.

The race takes you through the grounds of Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place before runners make their way into the actual stadium. While in the stadium, runners run up the ramps that head from the lower field section of the stadium all the way up to the highest point of the stadium. Since the stadium seats 65,000, you can only imagine the uphill climbing that takes place while heading up the ramps. Once at the top of the stadium, you make a lap around the upper bowl before you head back down a different ramp and do a lap around a lower section of the stadium. After a brief exit out of the stadium, runners then make their way through the tunnel and onto the field for the final sprint toward the fifty yard line. While making your way toward the finish line you can watch yourself on the big screens at the end of each end zone as an announcer reads of the names of the finishers. Once finished, the key last night was to get to the water bottles immediately to make every effort possible to cool off and try to replenish all that was lost on the course due to the heat.

Even with the added challenge of the nearly unbearable heat coupled with the heavy crowds for this race, I finished the Finish at the 50 with a time of 25:05, good for 8:05/miles. But that wasn’t the best part…

Last night, my mom decided to tackle the 5k challenge and took part in the Finish at the 50 along with me and Mrs. Running Griffin. My mom has never competed in a 5k before and perhaps it was my constant talking about running and racing that made her want to run a 5k or maybe it was, as she noted, something to check off the bucket list. Pre-race, she had that “Why am I doing this look” that so many people have on their face before they run, whether it be their first 5k or a marathon that they have trained a long time for. Even I have been known to think on the drive to a big race, “We could just go out for breakfast and call it quits” but usually there is something that pushes us each to the starting line instead. And last night, my mom pushed herself to the starting line.

When I saw my mom come through the inflatable Patriots helmet and head onto the field and run toward the finish line, the heat of the evening went away for a moment and instead an immense sense of pride came into the picture. She had done it; her picture was on the jumbotron,  she had a medal (which she pledged to wear while walking around the mall for a while) and she can now call herself a 5k finisher. Running isn’t about coming in first, running isn’t about ego and running isn’t meant to be taken so seriously that you lose sight of what is important to you. Running is about crossing the finish line and achieving something that you didn’t think you could ever possibly do. For me,  running last night was about seeing my mom cross the finish line and I couldn’t be more proud of her and happy that we were able to share a race together!