This is an evening 5K which is in Londonderry, NH produced by Millennium Running. Londonderry is in between Concord where my parents live and was spending the weekend and Salem … MORE
This is an evening 5K which is in Londonderry, NH produced by Millennium Running. Londonderry is in between Concord where my parents live and was spending the weekend and Salem where I live so this is a convenient race for me. After the race there is a concert and brewfest. The theme is country music and beer which I will admit is not a theme I am particularly interested in (I’m more of an indie music and coffee type of person lol) but why not do two 5K’s in one day. There is the option for pre race packet pick-up but I just got it race day. You can purchase VIP parking and park right at the start and finish but I just did regular parking at the high school which is about a 10 minute walk. I arrived early and had time to get my packet and bring it back to my car. Packet included bib, a wrist band for the brewfest and a tank top. It is nice quality and a fun design but again quite neon. The start area has some additional booths and a good amount of porta potties for a big race. This is a big race with around 1000 participants. The race is well produced as expected by Millennium. I do think there could have been more of a wave start. There is suggested paces to line up by but it’s a mass start and the first 1/2 mile was very congested. Just about every was doing the same pace so it was fine but it made it hard to do run-walk intervals so I mostly ran at a medium pace the first 1/2 mile. The first mile is a gradual downhill which means the last mile is a gradual uphill. The middle is mostly flat with some small rollers. It is well marked and there are mile markers and a few official and unofficial aid stations. It is mostly through neighborhoods and has pleasant but not exciting scenery. It’s a very fun atmosphere with so many runners and several were dressed up in cowboy costumes. I was a bit tired since this was my second race today. My first and second mile had solid paces but I was tired by the third mile and given it was all uphill just walked it. It wasn’t a terrible hill and if it was my only race today I’d probably run walk it. The elevation profile and crowd makes this a slow race and my time was not great but it’s okay as the race is very back of the pack friendly. At the end of the race there is typical post race food (granola bar, chips, yogurt) and water and there is the brewfest where you can stop and get a tasting glass. I appreciate they had food options outside the brewfest in case anyone just wanted to go home. I don’t drink alcohol but decided to check out the brewfest since I had time. There was a band performing and several breweries you could get samples from. I was happy that one brewery Better Day Brewing was a non-alcoholic brewing company and at least two other companies had non-alcohol samples so I got to try a few things. There were also some food trucks but they had long lines and limited veggie options so I skipped them. Overall this was a fun and convenient event. As long as I am in town I would do it again and since it is in the evening could even do it weekends I am working.
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Country Music and Beer
This is an evening 5K which is in Londonderry, NH produced by Millennium Running. Londonderry is in between Concord where my parents live and was spending the weekend and Salem … MORE
This is an evening 5K which is in Londonderry, NH produced by Millennium Running. Londonderry is in between Concord where my parents live and was spending the weekend and Salem where I live so this is a convenient race for me. After the race there is a concert and brewfest. The theme is country music and beer which I will admit is not a theme I am particularly interested in (I’m more of an indie music and coffee type of person lol) but why not do two 5K’s in one day. There is the option for pre race packet pick-up but I just got it race day. You can purchase VIP parking and park right at the start and finish but I just did regular parking at the high school which is about a 10 minute walk. I arrived early and had time to get my packet and bring it back to my car. Packet included bib, a wrist band for the brewfest and a tank top. It is nice quality and a fun design but again quite neon. The start area has some additional booths and a good amount of porta potties for a big race. This is a big race with around 1000 participants. The race is well produced as expected by Millennium. I do think there could have been more of a wave start. There is suggested paces to line up by but it’s a mass start and the first 1/2 mile was very congested. Just about every was doing the same pace so it was fine but it made it hard to do run-walk intervals so I mostly ran at a medium pace the first 1/2 mile. The first mile is a gradual downhill which means the last mile is a gradual uphill. The middle is mostly flat with some small rollers. It is well marked and there are mile markers and a few official and unofficial aid stations. It is mostly through neighborhoods and has pleasant but not exciting scenery. It’s a very fun atmosphere with so many runners and several were dressed up in cowboy costumes. I was a bit tired since this was my second race today. My first and second mile had solid paces but I was tired by the third mile and given it was all uphill just walked it. It wasn’t a terrible hill and if it was my only race today I’d probably run walk it. The elevation profile and crowd makes this a slow race and my time was not great but it’s okay as the race is very back of the pack friendly. At the end of the race there is typical post race food (granola bar, chips, yogurt) and water and there is the brewfest where you can stop and get a tasting glass. I appreciate they had food options outside the brewfest in case anyone just wanted to go home. I don’t drink alcohol but decided to check out the brewfest since I had time. There was a band performing and several breweries you could get samples from. I was happy that one brewery Better Day Brewing was a non-alcoholic brewing company and at least two other companies had non-alcohol samples so I got to try a few things. There were also some food trucks but they had long lines and limited veggie options so I skipped them. Overall this was a fun and convenient event. As long as I am in town I would do it again and since it is in the evening could even do it weekends I am working.