Halfway to St. Patrick’s 5K & 10K
Manchester, NH
- 10K, 5K
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
Halfway to St. Patrick’s 5K & 10K is part of a large Celtic celebration featuring music, dancing, food, and crafts from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The course features a fast start on Elm Street, a 3 mile loop through Manchester’s North End, and a finish on Kosciuszko Street in front … MORE
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Festive and Back of the Pack Friendly
This is a 5K/10K in Manchester, NH that celebrates it being halfway to St. Patrick's day produced by Millennium Running. St. Patrick's Day is kind of a big deal in … MORE
This is a 5K/10K in Manchester, NH that celebrates it being halfway to St. Patrick’s day produced by Millennium Running. St. Patrick’s Day is kind of a big deal in New England as Millennium Running has 3 different St. Patrick’s theme events. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to run this race so it was a last minute decision. Luckily you could sign up on race day. I can’t comment on pre-race communication other than Millennium usually has great communication and their website is very helpful and has all the info. I had plans in the afternoon and only had time for the 5K. The race takes place on Elm Street where most Millennium races start. One slight negative is it starts at 10:15 which is a little later. It was a beautiful day out and by far the best running weather we had in a while. If this start at 8 or 9am the weather would be perfect but it was a bit hot at the end of the race. Race day registration was easy. The swag item this year was a pint glass which was fine. Not the best swag I’ve gotten but sounds better than the “kilt” described from the prior review. The pint glass was not guaranteed to race day sign ups which is fair but they said to stop by after the race and see if there were leftovers which there were. The start had self seeded corrals and was organized. There was an announcer and Irish music and most participants wearing green which was fun. It was a fairly big race with about 500 runners doing the 5K and 250 doing the 10K. The race has a very fun energy and lots of back of packers which makes up for the lack of scenery. The first almost 1.5 miles is up Elm street which I have run so many times by now I know that street by heart. Then you turn down a side street and run a little under 1.5 miles down another street. Then you take a few turns to the finish. The roads are all blocked to traffic and the course marshals were going above and beyond to keep the race safe and were very engaged. There was an aid station a bit after mile 1. The course was very, very easy to follow. It’s a pretty fast course. The first half is net uphill but there is really only one hill which isn’t too bad and the second half is net downhill. There were a ton of people running my pace so it was fun to not be alone as I have been during a lot of races. I’d imagine the 10K is probably a bit lonelier in the back but there does not appear to be a time limit so it shouldn’t be a problem if you are slower doing the 10K. The finish line was big and it was chipped time. I was hoping to run under 40 minutes but ended up just a bit over. It was still one of my fastest paces since my lung injury so I was overall happy with my time. The end had basic snacks like crackers, bananas and pretzels. I also really like that Stonyfield the yogurt company from NH is starting to also give out non-dairy options at the end of Millennium Races. Overall this was a very fun event. Not one to run for scenery or swag but great production and great energy. I don’t plan my schedule around shorter races but I would definitely do this one again if it works out with my race/work schedule.
Irish Eyes Half-Smiling
PRODUCTION: As usual, Millennium Running put on an efficient race, complete with their signature self-seeding corrals. The start and finish lines were in different locations for this race, but it … MORE
PRODUCTION: As usual, Millennium Running put on an efficient race, complete with their signature self-seeding corrals. The start and finish lines were in different locations for this race, but it was very easy to find the start as it was a straight line from the bib pickup/finish area. I arrived very early to obtain street parking near the finish line (free because it was Sunday). Celtic-themed music was blasted from the speakers and a local bagpipe player performed before “The Star Spangled Banner” to follow through with the Irish theme. I appreciated these little touches. The pickup/finish area, aid station, and course-marking volunteers were all very friendly and helpful as always. My photos arrived the following day.
COURSE: Roads were blocked off for the race, and it felt very safe. No scenery to speak of (unless cityscapes are your thing). It was mostly flat with little rollers and a couple hills. Most of this loop course was long straight lines, then five or six quick turns at the end of the first loop/finish line. 5Kers completed one loop, and 10Kers completed two of the same loop. The 5K/10K split was very well-marked.
SWAG: My least-favorite swag of all my races so far. Runners ONLY received a thin, green, polyester, tartan, elastic-waisted skirt that they called a kilt. And they only had Larges. I had to get creative with safety pins to get it to stay up (I usually wear XS). I decided to wear it for the race as I didn’t think I’d ever have use for it in any other context (even a Halloween costume), as it was oversized and just plain looks/feels cheap. It was cool to see the majority of my fellow racers wearing it too, though.
AFTER-PARTY: The post-race beers were served in a local bar. We could choose between 2 IPAs and Sam Adams Oktoberfest. Guinness beer was not covered by the beer tickets (though the bar had it on tap), which was surprising as the event website depicted pints of Guinness when advertising the “free beer” amenity. The festival area had the usual results/awards tent, snacks, yogurt, bananas, etc. Division winners received an event-branded pint glass. There was a small stage where locals, such as Irish step students, performed. The event website had mentioned a city Celtic festival as the after-party, but I didn’t see anything in the town that appeared to be a Celtic Festival, nor did the few locals I approached know anything about it either.
OVERALL: This race was okay. If you like flat, city-based loop races AND you don’t care about swag or after-parties, this race will suffice quite well.
P.S.: I signed up for this race very early in the year as part of training for my first marathon. This race fell on my 11-mile training run day. Rather than cancel either, I combined the two by arriving very early and running 5 miles before the start of the race. I was able to time it so there was only a brief pause between finishing the pre-run and arriving at the start corral. I deliberately ran this race slowly as it was part of my “long easy run.” (I finished 11.3 miles in 2h10m and some odd seconds for my then-longest run ever.)