This is an annual 5K celebrating Chanukah in Swampscott, MA. I have done this race a few times as it was often held when I was home for the holidays. … MORE
This is an annual 5K celebrating Chanukah in Swampscott, MA. I have done this race a few times as it was often held when I was home for the holidays. In the past it has been the first weekend of Chanukah so I thought I would be out of town this year but this year they had the race at the end of Chanukah and it worked well as today was empty in my race schedule. My last review has most of the details. This year was the biggest race yet with a couple hundred participants. It was a very nice, hopeful event given all the current world events. Packet pick-up was interesting as they had a list of bibs by name and the bibs in envelopes with letter of last name and you just grabbed your bib. Worked efficiently but not sure if anyone took the wrong bib. Again there is a really nice baseball shirt although I didn’t see the mugs they had last year. The race is chip timed and it is a really nice course with some ocean views and is well marked with police at an major intersections. My only complaint about the course is it is not closed and sometimes I had to run on the sidewalk. Although I understand logistically for a smaller race like this, they are probably not about to close the roads for a small race like this so I didn’t take off a sneaker. My finishing time was pretty terrible as my lungs are still a bit junky from whatever I caught after Thanksgiving but I was faster than last week. At the end there are delicious latkes. I will continue to do this race as long as it fits in with the rest of my racing schedule especially as I am now back living in New England.
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Great, smaller 5K
This is an annual 5K celebrating Chanukah in Swampscott, MA. I have done this race a few times as it was often held when I was home for the holidays. … MORE
This is an annual 5K celebrating Chanukah in Swampscott, MA. I have done this race a few times as it was often held when I was home for the holidays. In the past it has been the first weekend of Chanukah so I thought I would be out of town this year but this year they had the race at the end of Chanukah and it worked well as today was empty in my race schedule. My last review has most of the details. This year was the biggest race yet with a couple hundred participants. It was a very nice, hopeful event given all the current world events. Packet pick-up was interesting as they had a list of bibs by name and the bibs in envelopes with letter of last name and you just grabbed your bib. Worked efficiently but not sure if anyone took the wrong bib. Again there is a really nice baseball shirt although I didn’t see the mugs they had last year. The race is chip timed and it is a really nice course with some ocean views and is well marked with police at an major intersections. My only complaint about the course is it is not closed and sometimes I had to run on the sidewalk. Although I understand logistically for a smaller race like this, they are probably not about to close the roads for a small race like this so I didn’t take off a sneaker. My finishing time was pretty terrible as my lungs are still a bit junky from whatever I caught after Thanksgiving but I was faster than last week. At the end there are delicious latkes. I will continue to do this race as long as it fits in with the rest of my racing schedule especially as I am now back living in New England.
Great Coastal 5K
This is a 5K that always starts the first day of Chanukah and is located in Swampscott, MA which is on the coast north of Boston. I also did this … MORE
This is a 5K that always starts the first day of Chanukah and is located in Swampscott, MA which is on the coast north of Boston. I also did this race in 2019 as well. The race starts at the Jewish Center in Swampscott. There is a race day packet pick-up which always includes a very cute baseball style long sleeve shirt. There were also mugs with chocolate coins. This is a smaller race with about 100 participants. This year I decided to walk the race with my mom to play it safe because of my foot injury (which is feeling better so I should be fine for my upcoming half marathons). The race starts with a really nice prayer from the rabbi. Then the racers go. It is a really nice course. There are beautiful ocean views and it is a very scenic neighborhood. It is a lollipop loop. It is on the flatter side but there are some inclines and one hill in the middle but it is a fast course. When I ran it in 2019 I ran it in 30:24. Since I walked with my mom I was obviously slow this year but we were well under 1 hour. It is chipped time. After the race there is a band and food. In 2019 it was very festive with tons of community members, a huge spread of food including latkes and other traditional Jewish foods and a band with dancing. This year due to covid it was appropriately a little more subdued. There were less community members but there was the band outside and there were still some delicious latkes. This is one of the best smaller, community races I have done. I don’t plan around 5K races but I usually visit NH a lot between Thanksgiving and New Years so if I am visiting again during this race I will likely do it again.