When is a race not really a race? In the time of quarantine.
It might be a long time before we get back to live-action road races but last Sunday, I had the unique opportunity to race a 5k. Through a weird hiccup of circumstance, I actually won the HMEA 5k last year and when COVID forced this year’s fundraising event to go virtual, they invited the men’s (me) and women’s winner to run and be live streamed on Facebook as part of their fundraising day.
Held at the nearby Eagle Brook Saloon this low key, no-frills (other than the great breakfast buffet and raffle) is quickly becoming a personal tradition and a favorite way to kick off the new year. A field that tops 100 would be a big turnout. This is one of the those small races held in the middle of the New England winter where it might be -30 or 60 and you are quite happy if it’s just 30 above zero.
Everyone that comes out is there because they love running or support the race and it’s Lion’s Club charity. That sense of excitement and generosity comes through in both the runners and the volunteers. Even you show up nursing a little hangover from the prior night, I guarantee you’re more than likely to leave smiling. The power of running!
If I was appointed to a position where I could promote and influence running throughout the country (heck, the world!), the Angel Run 5k is the type of race I’d wish for every local community. It’s a family-oriented day built around a great cause and celebrates being active as a family. Yes, there is a competitive portion to the run (more on that in a second) but the vast majority of the race is kids, and moms, and dads, and dogs, and strollers, and costumes getting out running or walking the course. It’s a small, local race but it’s one of my favorite days of the year.
Every other year, we travel to visit family for Thanksgiving and I’ve never been successful in getting anyone to do a Turkey trot while we are on the road. But those other years? It’s trotting time!
There’s a local 5k just a couple towns over from us in Medway that draws a crowd, starts early, affordable, and is family friendly.
The Medway Turkey Trot is Thanksgiving morning at 7:30. If you live nearby you can run it and be home to get the turkey in the oven before 9.
“Keep showing up.” I’m not sure Des Linden meant her now famous quote quite so literally but that’s what I did and just like it eventually worked out for Linden, it also worked out nicely for me, too.
HMEA is where Michelle works and we run the 5k fundraiser each year. The last few years I’ve been chasing a young (fast) kid around the course in Franklin, MA. Just like a few recent races this year where I’ve been chasing a young (fast) woman, I just haven’t been able to catch him. Would this year be any different? Yup. He wasn’t there.
When we lived in Boston, there was a strong running culture and a lot of places to run, but you almost always had to pause at some point to cross a road or dodge some cars. In the ‘burbs, you don’t usually has that problem. You have space and if you’re lucky you might have trails.
As a master runner with an arthritic knee, I’ve been very happy to watch the growth of trail races in recent years. There is now a thriving barn-to-trail race series that partners with local farms, plus a number of other races taking advantage of the preserved land and trails in the area. That includes the New Life Furniture 5k trail race on the Medfield State Hospital land.
I thought I had managed to dodge the cough and cold that has been stalking our house the past month. The girls all had it and had recovered. I thought I was good. With the Addison’s, I’m already very conscious of sleep and hydration. I thought my chronic disease actually helped in this case. I’ll admit, I was feeling pretty good about myself. And then I got sick.
Wednesday morning, I found myself a snotty, coughing mess. The perfect condition to compete in Hunter’s Run, a local 5k, for a great cause, that weekend. My plan had been to use the race as a tune up for the duathlon in a few weeks. Yeah….
