If you have been in New England at all over the past few weeks you can surely attest to the fact that running conditions up here have nothing short of sucked. There, I said it. With snow that did not stop for most of February coupled with frigid temperatures, runners have likely spent more time with a shovel in their hand tackling the driveway than actually being able to hit the pavement and go for a run. So this morning it was a welcome treat to have a 5K to tackle in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

The 2015 Ireland 5K is put on by the dynamic duo of Charles Breagy and Boston Marathon winner Geoff Smith. The race is hosted at Slainte Irish Bar in New Bedford and the starting line was complete with Irish tunes greeting the runners prior to setting off on the course. Today was still a bone-chilling sort of morning and being right on the Atlantic Ocean added an extra little crispness to the air.

The race was described at the starting line as being pancake thin which was a rather fair assessment. The course is a sort of quintessential New Bedford run taking runners through the fish processing industrial park where the smell of the catch could be noticed through the cold air. The course was well staffed with both New Bedford Police officers and volunteers and most of the course was on roads with little to no traffic on them.

Race participants were given both a long sleeve shirt and a beautiful Guinness glass as part of the registration fee. Post-race, runners were invited back to Slainte for live Irish music and good ole’ fashioned Irish libations, as well.

Even having been knocked off running plans over the past few weeks, I still was able to turn in a rather decent performance with an overall time of 23:10, good for 7:28/miles. Let’s hope the month of March has some more good running days in the forecast; that’s something we all can toast a pint of Guinness to!