Average event. Nothing impressive about it, but not bad either. Expo was pretty basic, at college bookstore. Parking race morning was a hot mess. Not enough parking at the beach … MORE
Average event. Nothing impressive about it, but not bad either. Expo was pretty basic, at college bookstore. Parking race morning was a hot mess. Not enough parking at the beach start/finish location. They did tell everyone to arrive 75-90 minutes early to get close parking. That’s silly to get up and arrive that early, and then stand around waiting to start that long. We showed up 60 minutes early and were directed to a remote lot pretty far away. Frustrating because many spots were still available in the closer beach parking lot when we walked in! The course was fine. More rolling hills than I expected. Ran through mostly residential areas, past some high end mansions as well. Lots of water/aid stations, which was nice with temps near 70. Finish line area/after party was decent. Live music, pizza and some other snacks. Not much seating available. And not much shade either. The cold water of Long Island Sound was nice to stand in and recover a bit. The finishers medal was just ok. My daughter ran the 5K the day before, and finishers did not even get a medal! Odd. She did get a 1/4 zip for a age group award though. This event is a One and Done for me. Just needed a CT race for my 50 state goal, and it fit my vacation schedule this year. Overall found CT is not real friendly to non-residents. Very expensive and limited access in many areas, and most of the shoreline. Tough parking almost everywhere we went. Like much of the East coast, too many people in a small space.
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Decent race, but nothing special.
Average event. Nothing impressive about it, but not bad either. Expo was pretty basic, at college bookstore. Parking race morning was a hot mess. Not enough parking at the beach … MORE
Average event. Nothing impressive about it, but not bad either. Expo was pretty basic, at college bookstore. Parking race morning was a hot mess. Not enough parking at the beach start/finish location. They did tell everyone to arrive 75-90 minutes early to get close parking. That’s silly to get up and arrive that early, and then stand around waiting to start that long. We showed up 60 minutes early and were directed to a remote lot pretty far away. Frustrating because many spots were still available in the closer beach parking lot when we walked in! The course was fine. More rolling hills than I expected. Ran through mostly residential areas, past some high end mansions as well. Lots of water/aid stations, which was nice with temps near 70. Finish line area/after party was decent. Live music, pizza and some other snacks. Not much seating available. And not much shade either. The cold water of Long Island Sound was nice to stand in and recover a bit. The finishers medal was just ok. My daughter ran the 5K the day before, and finishers did not even get a medal! Odd. She did get a 1/4 zip for a age group award though. This event is a One and Done for me. Just needed a CT race for my 50 state goal, and it fit my vacation schedule this year. Overall found CT is not real friendly to non-residents. Very expensive and limited access in many areas, and most of the shoreline. Tough parking almost everywhere we went. Like much of the East coast, too many people in a small space.
A yearly staple
The weather this year was overcast, but the temperatures were perfect once again. There were, unfortunately, no water showers set up on the course this year, but it wasn't super … MORE
The weather this year was overcast, but the temperatures were perfect once again. There were, unfortunately, no water showers set up on the course this year, but it wasn’t super hot so not needed.
Course isn’t too hilly, nice views, good back of the pack presence. Shirt has been a nice lightweight tech tee, this year’s was teal. The medal this year was a little disappointing, but it’s still decent quality.
Water on the course was plentiful, support from the community once again was nice, and day of packet pickup is so easy and bag check so easy that having your packet mailed to you is really not necessary.
Great local race
New date this year! First weekend in June instead of the third weekend in June. The weather was perfect. Partly cloudy and low-mid 60's with low humidity. This race gives … MORE
New date this year! First weekend in June instead of the third weekend in June. The weather was perfect. Partly cloudy and low-mid 60’s with low humidity.
This race gives you the option of having your packet mailed to you or doing pickup. I always have it mailed for convenience, but pick up day of is easy and their bag check is smooth so you can always check the shirt.
Parking is easy. You can either get there early early and park at the beach (the start/finish area) or you can park or take the train to the Fairfield stop and they offer school bus shuttles to the start area, which is only about a 7-10 minute ride.
The “festival” area is on the beach, right off the beach being where there are plenty of porta potties and water. The post race festival offers tons of food, including watermelon and pizza.
The women and men have separate start lines, people who want to run with a pacer (only offered up to 2:15) starting with the women. This cuts down on course congestion. The course is open to traffic, but there is not much of it on a Sunday morning and each intersection has a police officer directing traffic. Come to think of it, I saw maybe a total of 5 cars the entire race.
The course itself only really has about 3-4 bad hills and some you get to both run up and down as the course loops back on itself. The course offers entertainment along the way, the fire department sets up showers with their hoses, and the local folks also hook up their hoses or sprinklers to shower runners and/or set up their own water stops so the support on the course is pretty nice and I was back of the pack. The course also has some nice views of the harbor and Long Island Sound as well as some nice residential areas.
The water stops are plentiful and offer both water and UCan hydration (with the exception of the one around mile 8 which offerss UCan fuel and Gu).
Since the race festival is on a public beach, there are bathrooms with showers and changing facilities at the beach, though they’re smaller so don’t rely on them. The race now being the first Sunday in June, you probably won’t have to compete with beach goers.
Beautiful but hot and hilly
Let me preface this by saying that I've been nursing some tendonitis that has spread to my plantar fascia. So I was undertrained and my foot hated me as of … MORE
Let me preface this by saying that I’ve been nursing some tendonitis that has spread to my plantar fascia. So I was undertrained and my foot hated me as of mile 5. There was much walking.
This race gives you the option of having your packet mailed to you or doing pickup. I always have it mailed for convenience, but pick up day of is easy and their bag check is smooth so you can always check the shirt.
Parking is easy. You can either get there early early and park at the beach (the start/finish area) or you can park or take the train to the Fairfield stop and they offer school bus shuttles to the start area, which is only about a 7-10 minute ride.
The “festival” area is on the beach, right off the beach being where there are plenty of porta potties and water.
This year, the race started an hour earlier, at 8 am, which was awesome. The women and men have separate start lines, people who want to run with a pacer (only offered up to 2:15) starting with the women. This cuts down on course congestion. The course is open to traffic, but there is not much of it on a Sunday morning and each intersection has a police officer directing traffic.
The course itself only really has about 3-4 bad hills and some you get to both run up and down as the course loops back on itself. The course offers entertainment along the way, the fire department sets up showers with their hoses, and the local folks also hook up their hoses or sprinklers to shower runners and/or set up their own water stops so the support on the course is pretty nice and I was back of the pack. The course also has some nice views of the harbor and Long Island Sound as well as some nice residential areas.
The water stops are plentiful and offer both water and UCan hydration (with the exception of the one around mile 8 which offerss UCan fuel and Gu).
This year was blessedly not so humid, but the heat was definitely felt. Eventually, the strategy was to run in the shade and walk in the sun. The course does have a lot of shade on it, especially in the first 3/4, but the last bit is more sun than shade. I wasn’t last which is all that matters.
The finish area offers a nice spread with bagels, yogurt, ice cream pops (new this year), chocolate milk, animal crackers, popcorn, bars, watermelon, and pizza. There is also a bathroom with showers and changing facilities at the beach, though they’re smaller so don’t rely on them. Plus the beach gets very crowded early, so you’re competing with beach goers.
Despite how hot this race always is and how challenging the course is, I just keep coming back.
Toasty, but pretty
This is another nice local race, just usually happens to be quite hot since it's in late June. You can easily pick up your packet day of and bag check … MORE
This is another nice local race, just usually happens to be quite hot since it’s in late June. You can easily pick up your packet day of and bag check is super easy. It’s also easy to get to by car or Metro North as the race offers shuttles from the train station to the beach where the race set up is.
The course isn’t super challenging since they took out some of the hills a few years ago, but there are a few hills. I think the most challenging part is the temperature and/or humidity at that time of year. The course is closed which is nice and local police do a very good job of keeping locals from interfering with the race (meaning local drivers) since the course goes through mostly residential areas. You get some great Sound views along the course too as well as the odd beer from a resident. The local fire department sets up sprinklers all along the course and many residents follow suit with their garden hoses. Some even pass out fruit and ice.
Your entry fee comes with a tech tee and a pretty nice medal. Post race there is a spread with pizza, watermelon, bagels, and more and there’s always plenty for us slower runners.