On Father’s Day morning it was off for a nice morning run through Dorchester and Quincy, Massachusetts as I took part in the McKeon Post Road Race. The race is billed as a 5k race but even the race organizers note on the course map at the starting line that the race is really a 5k+ (though the official mileage is a bit of a secret). The race was part of the Grand Prix Series for the Thirsty Irish Runners therefore the sea of green was in full effect at the race.

The race starts in front of the Florian Hall, just next to the McKeon Post and finishes after runners complete an out-and-back loop right in front of the McKeon Post. The course has a rather smashing uphill start and finish as the course takes you onto the appropriately named Hilltop Street. Runners make their way under the I-93 highway and into Quincy and run through a residential neighborhood for a brief stretch before hitting a main road heading back toward the Post. The course is hilly, no doubt about it and runners need to conserve some energy to plan appropriately for the hill leading into the finish line. At race time, the sun was beaming down and summer was fully in the air therefore the water stops on the course came in handy even to just take the water and dump it on your head.

Needless to say, the timing of this race is a little hard to determine. I finished the race with a time of 25:27 which for a pure 5k would equate to 8:13/miles. However, the consensus amongst running friends at the race was that the course was 3.43 miles which would then mean I ran a much more realistic pace of 7:25/miles. Knowing those around me who finished around the same time that I did, this is far more likely or we all had off days.

The McKeon Post Road Race was a fun race with a challenging course but for next year, hopefully the timing falls in line with what the actual distance of the race is.