I was visiting NH this weekend for my birthday so I signed up for this run on Saturday. It is produced by Millennium Running and has the same start location … MORE
I was visiting NH this weekend for my birthday so I signed up for this run on Saturday. It is produced by Millennium Running and has the same start location as the Manchester City Half. This is a fun Christmas themed race. You can get a Santa Hat and Costume and most participants were dressed up. Packet pick-up was at the start of the race. The race started at 3pm which is a little annoying for eating but worked very conveniently as I had plans for a concert in Boston after the race and Manchester is on the way to Boston from my parents house. This is a pretty popular race with over 1000 runners and it is an out and back so I was worried this was going to be a very congested course but the set up was really smart. The course is essentially an out and back along Elm street in Manchester. They had participants line up by predicted pace but it was a mass start though chipped time at start and end since it too maybe 20 to 30 seconds to get to the start. The first half mile had the whole road open so there was plenty of space to spread out so the start wasn’t toocongested. Then after 1/2 mile the street was coned off so the runners coming back had their own lane. By then runners had found their pace so the tightening of the course wasn’t a big deal. Another smart thing about the course is instead of a straight out and back which often results in a log-jam at the turn around. Runners went off Elm street for one block so there was never any sharp turns. The final half mile also wasn’t coned off so if you had energy to speed up at the end you could generally find a straight path. It was also a smart course as the street is pretty much flat but it is a barely perceptive uphill the way out and a slight downhill the way back making it a fast course. Adding to the festiveness there were 4 fun aid stations: a candy station with candy canes, a maple syrup station with maple syrup packets, a candy station with Hershey’s chocolates and a cookies and milk station. The start and finish line was festive with a Santa. I was aiming for an 11 min/mil pace since my foot is still bothering me and was slightly faster but normally this would be a good course to really push the pace. I’d like to run it uninjured to try to break 30 minutes. Along with the treats from the course there were some yogurt, fruit, etc. along with non-alcoholic beer and the bib had a coupon for a free alcoholic beer. This was a really fun race with a well-designed course so that it was fast and to prevent congestion as much as possible for a large, out and back course. The only reasons I took a sneaker away though it was between a 4 and a 5 sneaker race was it’s not a particularly scenic course and I would have liked a more practical swag item like a shirt or winter hat as opposed to a Santa Suit. However you could buy a shirt if you really want one. Again I don’t plan around shorter races but I will probably visit NH on my birthday again and if I do would definitely run this race again.
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Smart Course & Festive Atmosphere
I was visiting NH this weekend for my birthday so I signed up for this run on Saturday. It is produced by Millennium Running and has the same start location … MORE
I was visiting NH this weekend for my birthday so I signed up for this run on Saturday. It is produced by Millennium Running and has the same start location as the Manchester City Half. This is a fun Christmas themed race. You can get a Santa Hat and Costume and most participants were dressed up. Packet pick-up was at the start of the race. The race started at 3pm which is a little annoying for eating but worked very conveniently as I had plans for a concert in Boston after the race and Manchester is on the way to Boston from my parents house. This is a pretty popular race with over 1000 runners and it is an out and back so I was worried this was going to be a very congested course but the set up was really smart. The course is essentially an out and back along Elm street in Manchester. They had participants line up by predicted pace but it was a mass start though chipped time at start and end since it too maybe 20 to 30 seconds to get to the start. The first half mile had the whole road open so there was plenty of space to spread out so the start wasn’t toocongested. Then after 1/2 mile the street was coned off so the runners coming back had their own lane. By then runners had found their pace so the tightening of the course wasn’t a big deal. Another smart thing about the course is instead of a straight out and back which often results in a log-jam at the turn around. Runners went off Elm street for one block so there was never any sharp turns. The final half mile also wasn’t coned off so if you had energy to speed up at the end you could generally find a straight path. It was also a smart course as the street is pretty much flat but it is a barely perceptive uphill the way out and a slight downhill the way back making it a fast course. Adding to the festiveness there were 4 fun aid stations: a candy station with candy canes, a maple syrup station with maple syrup packets, a candy station with Hershey’s chocolates and a cookies and milk station. The start and finish line was festive with a Santa. I was aiming for an 11 min/mil pace since my foot is still bothering me and was slightly faster but normally this would be a good course to really push the pace. I’d like to run it uninjured to try to break 30 minutes. Along with the treats from the course there were some yogurt, fruit, etc. along with non-alcoholic beer and the bib had a coupon for a free alcoholic beer. This was a really fun race with a well-designed course so that it was fast and to prevent congestion as much as possible for a large, out and back course. The only reasons I took a sneaker away though it was between a 4 and a 5 sneaker race was it’s not a particularly scenic course and I would have liked a more practical swag item like a shirt or winter hat as opposed to a Santa Suit. However you could buy a shirt if you really want one. Again I don’t plan around shorter races but I will probably visit NH on my birthday again and if I do would definitely run this race again.