The Hollis Fast 5K is New England’s only downhill 5K race. The course drops 224 feet from start to finish. This USATF certified 5K course begins at the Hollis Brookline Middle School in Hollis, New Hampshire. The gradual downhill course travels through beautiful apple orchards, corn fields and vegetable farms, …
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The Hollis Fast 5K is New England’s only downhill 5K race. The course drops 224 feet from start to finish. This USATF certified 5K course begins at the Hollis Brookline Middle School in Hollis, New Hampshire. The gradual downhill course travels through beautiful apple orchards, corn fields and vegetable farms, finishing at the junction of Depot Rd. and Rt. 111. The course lends itself to people running a personal best time and for first time racers, a runner friendly course.
Running Times Magazine listed this race course as one of the top three fastest race courses in the USA. The Wall Street Journal posted an article about this unique race course. New England Runner magazine named this race as their Race of the Year for 2018.
This fundraiser supports local Rotary charitable causes and projects throughout southern New Hampshire. The race is inclusive of all abilities – walkers, joggers, runners and Olympic dreamers! We are always thrilled to see entire families participate in this fun, festive community tradition.
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Not so Fast Today
This was my third year doing this race. Overall this is a really fun race as it is point to point downhill and you can potentially have a really fast … MORE
This was my third year doing this race. Overall this is a really fun race as it is point to point downhill and you can potentially have a really fast time. Last year I had my fastest 5K time in about 5 years. This year though that wasn’t happening as it was a heat wave. I think it was even hotter than the night before. I won’t go into all the details about parking and shuttles and logistics as they are in my other reviews and not much changed. This year there was good pre race communication including a heat warning with suggestions for us and what the race was going to do to make things as safe as possible. Packet included bib and shirt and you took shuttle to start. I appreciated there was a water station with plenty of water at the start as I was able to start the race well hydrated. There were a good number of porta potties and clear race announcements and anthem and we were off. I knew I was not beating last year’s time but was just hoping to be faster than my last few races. My GI issues had calmed down. The course is net downhill and in cool weather would be super fast. It was not super fast today but was as fast as possible for the heat. The course is pretty through rural NH with some farmland views and views of neighborhoods. A lot is shaded but not all of it. There was an aid station at the halfway mark with freezing cold ice in their water cups which felt great. There is also great spectators support for a 5K in a small town and a lot of the spectators were spraying us with hoses and water guns. My finishing time was okay. It was slow for the course but fast for the heat so kind of average. They changed the finish area so the post race food and water was immediately at the end and you didn’t need to walk back to the parking area. I thought this worked better. There was also less congestion at the parking area. Overall this is a really fun and potentially really fast 5K as long as the weather cooperates. Will continue to run it as long as it fits with my schedule.
More Fun when you are Faster!
This is an all downhill race located in Hollis which is in Southern, NH near Nashua. I did this race last year and it was a very similar experience and … MORE
This is an all downhill race located in Hollis which is in Southern, NH near Nashua. I did this race last year and it was a very similar experience and I have a lot of reviews to catch up on so read that one for more details. There were a couple changes. The first change is they listened to me about the parking situation. Last year I arrived really early and had to park in the back. This year I did not arrive so early and laughed as they listened to my feedback and I was again stuck in the back. To be honest this is totally fair. The first people to arrive should get the best parking. Last year I arrived super early and it was a lot of waiting before the race. This year I arrived a little after 5 which was perfect. Another difference was the shirt. This year it was polyblend. I preferred the tech shirt last year but this shirt was fine. You are again shuttled to the start. Again waves for the start would be nice. Probably the biggest difference is I am significantly faster this year and have also gotten over my fear of downhill running (I reinjured myself on the downhill portion of Yosemite several years ago and for a long time was a bit hesitant on the downhill). I had a very ambitious goal which I hadn’t done since I injured myself in 2021 which was to run an under 34 minute 5K. This race was much more fun being faster and I really, really appreciated the signs they have at the last mile for each quarter mile left. I was able to pace myself to my goal of under 34 minutes even though the weather was quite hot. The end was the same with kind of mediocre snacks. It seems easier to get out of the parking lot this year. That is probably because I finished almost 10 minutes faster than last year.
Too Hot to be Fast
This is an all downhill 5K on Hollis, NH that takes place on a Thursday night in June. It is basically designed to PR and is a very popular race … MORE
This is an all downhill 5K on Hollis, NH that takes place on a Thursday night in June. It is basically designed to PR and is a very popular race for a weekday race in a smaller town. Hollis is in Southern NH and is just west of Nashua. I work in Nashua every other Thursday and this year it took place on a day I was working in Nashua so this was very convenient for me. There was good pre-race communication but they definitely overexaggerated how early you had to get to the race. There was packet pick-up earlier in the week but I couldn’t make it as I was not working near Hollis/Nashua those days so did race day packet pick-up. This is a point to point race and the parking and packet pick-up is near the finish line and you are shuttled to the start. The parking, shuttles and packet pick-up are at an event center in Hollis. They said you should arrive well before 5pm if doing race day packet pickup. You really only need to arrive around 5pm. I arrived around 4:20 and all I got was worse parking since they filled the further away parking lots first and I hung around for nearly an hour waiting for the shuttle doing nothing since there was minimal service and poor wifi as packet pick-up took just a couple minutes. Packet included bib and a nice, tech shirt. Nice shirt for a 5K but its the only swag item. Eventually a little after 5 we were shuttle to the start at a school. I took the first shuttle and we arrived around 5:30 and I then waited another hour for the race start but at least there was service here. There were also cups and pitchers or water since it was a hot evening. There was an announcer but he was hard to hear. I thought the start could be more organized. It is a ton of runners in a small town/venue so the start line was cramped and there was no signs of where to line up. While there are plenty of walkers and back of the packers this is definitely a race field that tends to attract a lot of very, very fast runners looking to PR so I stood near the back but not right at the back. This seems correct based on my finishing time but there were people of all paces around me and the race was very, very congested for about 1 mile. I’d suggest in the future perhaps having people go off in 3 or 4 waves a few minutes apart. Other than the congestion in the beginning and having to weave around people or be woven around this was an excellent course. It is all downhill but most is pretty gradual so it’s not a huge quad killer. The scenery is nice through quiet neighborhoods, farmland and wooded streets. There are also a ton of spectators for a small town 5K which made it very fun. There is an aid station in the middle with water. Another thing I loved is along with mile markers for the last mile they also had 1 mile to go, 3/4 mile to go, 1/2 mile to go, and 1/4 mile to go sign. This made the last mile go faster and would also help people looking to PR keep pace. While this is a very fast course, it was about 85 degrees and a bit humid out so I was not very fast. I also tend to be slower at evening races. I do think if I ran an average difficulty 5K in this weather in the evening I would have been 2-3 minutes slower. The finish area is nice and there are lots of people cheering and a table with water. There is no medal which is pretty standard for short races in New England. One annoying thing is the finish line is about 1/2 mile away from the venue with parking and packing pick-up so you have to walk a bit after you finish. There were post-race refreshments in the event center. They were just yogurt (including non-dairy smoothies and bananas). Normally this is fine for a 5K but with a later 5K I was hoping for something a little more substantial as I was starving since I have to eat a small lunch if I am doing a race in the evening. It also takes about 10-15 minutes to get out of the parking. Not a huge deal nor unexpected for a large race in a small venue but definitely account for the walk from the finish line and the time to get out of the parking lot when planning your evening. Overall this was a nice 5K that would be really fast in cooler weather. There were a few productions things that could be a bit better but for a smaller town 5K it was well done. I would do it again if I am working in Nashua the day of the race.
Fast isn’t just a hook…
Loosely organized local run with a great downhill course. Hard not to PR this one. Offsite (free) parking and shuttle service was fine, but the walk from the finish seemed … MORE
Loosely organized local run with a great downhill course. Hard not to PR this one. Offsite (free) parking and shuttle service was fine, but the walk from the finish seemed almost as long as the race.
Fast fast fast
Net downhill point to point race that seems to provide infinite momentum. While you can’t use it as a PR (with a clear conscience), it’s still a fun, fast, well … MORE
Net downhill point to point race that seems to provide infinite momentum. While you can’t use it as a PR (with a clear conscience), it’s still a fun, fast, well run race that will boost your confidence. Put it on your bucket list.