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!

On Saturday it was just down the road to the Bridgewater Police Department for the Bridgewater Police 5K. This is the same course I have used throughout the pandemic to race virtual races and have run the Bridgewater Police 5K before so is a very friendly and familiar course.

It was a pretty nice morning for a run and I definitely headed out onto the course with a fast first mile pace of 7:00/mile. Knowing the course would lead to a bit of an uphill later in the race I knew I had to pace myself some so planned accordingly along the way. Unlike my virtual runs, water was available on the course right around the halfway point which came in handy as the sun started to break through along the route. The course is generally flat until the last mile where a quick uphill on Cottage Street leads to another gradual incline on Fremont Street before turning to head back toward the finish line at the police station.

Ran pretty well overall on the course except for on the Fremont Street incline where the legs certainly started to burn a bit more. That said, turned in a pretty decent time of 23:58 good for 7:42/miles.

The COVID hiatus from live racing spurred me to then sign up for another race on Sunday so headed off to nearby Whitman, Massachusetts for the McGuiggan’s Pub 5K race. The race is hosted by a local Irish pub and features a nice post-race celebration complete with some brews, food and live music outdoors. A very nice local race with a good atmosphere we have all been missing out on thanks to COVID.

The McGuiggan’s 5K course is a much more challenging, hilly course than the previous day’s run but overall felt nice and strong out on the course and kept tackling each hill along the way. The course sort of has the feel that you are climbing most of the way and takes runners out of downtown Whitman and through some surrounding residential neighborhoods before returning back to finishing just in front of McGuiggan’s Pub.

Apparently consistency is key and despite the increased climbing I finished just about on the nose with the previous day’s run with a time of 23:56.

Not a bad weekend of racing! Feels so good to be back out at live road races and looking forward to upcoming races more and more!

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On Sunday morning it was off to Canton, Massachusetts for the Irish Cultural Centre of New England’s 5K road race. This race was the September Grand Prix race for our running club, Thirsty Irish Runners, and it was great to be back at the starting line of a live race with a good amount of familiar faces. Getting to actual races becomes ever more a challenge with soccer back in full swing for our daughters but thankfully an 8AM early morning game nearby allowed us to get to Canton in plenty of time for the 11:30 race starting time.

The race starts and finishes on the grounds of the Irish Cultural Centre, a remarkable place complete with a pub, fields for hurling, soccer and other Irish sports and even an authentic Irish looking cottage on site. The Irish Cultural Centre does an excellent job curating cultural events ranging from sports to music to Irish language and history courses and more. Definitely worth checking out!

The course is relatively flat though there are a couple sneaky, gradual uphill climbs mixed in. Nothing fancy in terms of the course once you get off the grounds of the Irish Cultural Centre as the race takes you through a nearby industrial park for most of the race. A couple water stops came in handy out on the course and there was a good breeze which helped along the way.

I felt pretty good in the first two miles but then in the last mile sort of had nothing left in the tank and my legs were heavy. I dialed back the speed a bit to pace myself a bit more in hopes that my legs would loosen up some but no such luck for the most part. Nonetheless, I still finished with a decent time of 24:58, good for 8:04/miles on the 5K route. Not my best time of late but they can’t all be great!

Upon finishing across the bridge leading runners back into the Irish Cultural Centre grounds, a fresh pint of Guinness certainly was a nice finishing prize for a tough race!

Labor Day was on Monday and who doesn’t love a good day off from work road race?

Mrs. Running Griffin and I made our way to Walpole, Massachusetts for the Walpole Labor Day 5K. This race raises funds for the Walpole Cross-Country and Track teams and this year was the 48th running of the race that offers both a 5K and 10K option along with a kid’s one miler to kick off the morning.

A nice crowd gathered at the starting line and it was good to see some familiar faces out on the race course. The morning started off with a bit of cloud cover but right as the 5K kicked off the sun broke through which heated up the course just a bit. Fortunately, race organizers did a great job on supplying the course with water stops that came in handy at just the right times.

The course was a really nice 5K course but it was no joke when it came to being a challenging course. Some good hills mixed in along the way and the uphill finish was not for the faint of heart but for someone who loves a challenge it was awesome! This is a great 5K course and a race that I would certainly look to tackle again in the future.

I finished the Walpole Labor Day 5K with a time of 24:36, good for 7:53/miles.