It was a perfect afternoon for running on New Year’s Eve in Norwood, Massachusetts and a 2 PM race start was a great way to close out 2021 with the running of the First Night 5K. The race had a very friendly $10 registration fee (more races should take note of this) and the race featured a marked course, professional timing, a long-sleeve tee-shirt and even a post-race pint from Castle Island Brewing!

The race kicked off a New Year’s Eve festival right in downtown Norwood and unseasonably warmer temperatures made for a really nice run. The course of the race was a more-than-challenging 5K with some good climbing mixed into the course for a decent chunk of the race. Though the first mile must have been more downhill than it seemed, the second two miles definitely had a more uphill presence that could be felt. Volunteers staffed a water stop about halfway through the race and Norwood Police did a great job patrolling the course along the way.

My first mile was a strong start to the run clocking in around the 7:25/mile pace. The next two miles I could definitely feel myself dialing it back a bit on the hills and it wasn’t my strongest run but all together not a bad final time of 25:50, good for 8:20/miles on the hilly course.

Definitely would head back to do this race again in future years! Kudos to Winged Foot Running for putting on an excellent run!

The MA Coalition for the Homeless is hosting the 2022 Pajama Run on March 12, 2022. This will be a virtual event for the second year, though they have hopes to hold an in-person event when the timing is right. The Pajama Run is a fun, family-friendly event that generates much needed funds for their program, A Bed for Every Child, which provides beds to children all across MA living in poverty and who otherwise would be sleeping on floors or sofas.

As a small non-profit, and only their second year holding this event, the MA Coalition for the Homeless is hoping to have a great contingent of runners and walkers join for the virtual run and is offering all friends of The Running Griffin a $5 discount off registration valid starting 1/1 and ending on 2/1. When registering, please use the code bedsforkids22 to save $5 off your registration fee.

To register for the race, please click here: https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E329855&id=61

Who’s interested in doing a dry January? Athletic Brewing Company has some of the greatest tasting non-alcoholic craft beer made with high quality, all-natural ingredients.
Click here to receive a 6-pack courtesy of The Running Griffin! Hope you enjoy!

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.