The Narragansett Summer Running Festival is New England’s iconic summer race and one of the most fun mornings in the New England running calendar. One of its greatest strengths is to bring friends/family together in one race setting, where one person can run the shorter event while another person runs …
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The Narragansett Summer Running Festival is New England’s iconic summer race and one of the most fun mornings in the New England running calendar. One of its greatest strengths is to bring friends/family together in one race setting, where one person can run the shorter event while another person runs the longer event. They can all celebrate at the same finish line and take in all that our party has to offer.
The half marathon of the Narragansett Summer Running Festival features a beautiful scenic run through Easton and Stoughton Massachusetts. Leaving from Stonehill College and crossing over Washington Street, you’ll head into the “Sheep Pasture” of Easton, and then through a few challenging climbs and rolling neighborhoods of the Ames Lond Pond area. A lollipop-style course, 95% of this course is paved road, with 3 quick dirt-road sections that are located toward the start of the race and just before you come into the final mile. Your finish will be highlighted by a quick but challenging final hill that leads you into the finish.
The 10K offers a fantastic tour of the beautiful Stonehill College campus. The course utilizes the paved roads, dirt roads, walkways and bridges to make for a weaving course through Stonehill’s grounds. The 10k is a mostly flat course with very minimal incline/decline. The only major hills are a 50 yard incline as runners approach the halfway mark and another 50 yard incline as runners approach the finish line.
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Dud race
This was my Massachusetts choice in my 50 state quest and what a disappointment. This is a 100% local race and I felt really out of place. It should have … MORE
This was my Massachusetts choice in my 50 state quest and what a disappointment. This is a 100% local race and I felt really out of place. It should have been advertised and priced as such. I flew into Providence, Rhode Island and drove about 50 minutes to Easton, Mass. The race was headquartered on the beautiful campus of Stonehill College. One bright spot was that we were offered a chance to stay in one of the dorms for $80 with sheets included. This was fun for me as I hadn’t spent the night in a dorm in 40 years. The course was pretty scenic with a pond here and there and some supportive neighborhoods who offered their sprinklers. Also the last couple of miles were through the campus. The course was terribly marked – Only becuase there were others in front of me is the reason that I didn’t get lost. The medal was tacky – it only advertised the local beer – no where was Massachusetts on the medal so I’ll need to find a way to mark so I’ll remember. The afterparty is not a big deal to me because I’m always at the end and by the time I finished – It was practically packed up. There were no pictures. It’s the only half of my 53 that I don’t have a picture. I have no idea what the entry fee went for. It was hard to find a race in Massachusetts, and I think I picked the worst.
Unreached Potential
I had relatively low expectations for the race- hot time of the year, I was running with my girlfriend at a comfortable pace for me. Unfortunately, the experience was utterly … MORE
I had relatively low expectations for the race- hot time of the year, I was running with my girlfriend at a comfortable pace for me. Unfortunately, the experience was utterly disappointing.
Parking was a nightmare. The race is simply too large to have hundreds of cars coming down a single lane road over a mile long to reach parking at the college. It took me 50 minutes to drive the final mile to park, and my girlfriend luckily just got out of the car to walk to the finish line. Across two races, I was mindblown that organizers thought this setup was adequate.
The area is beautiful. Tons of road with scenic views. With that setting, constructing a course with dozens of hairpin and right angle turns seemed like an intentional effort to cause jams in a large race, slow down runners, and overall limit the experience. Probably could construct a dozen courses without these turns in the future, hopefully organizers look into that.
Gravel/grass sections are really annoying. Dont bring your carbon racers unless you are ready for them to get ripped to shreds. Again, dozens of potential courses in the area that would avoid any grass or gravel.
Pictures were a wash. The photos that came out looked great, but they failed to capture everyone. I have run many many races that cost less than half of the price of this one. The formula is simple, stick a few photographers in set spots and take pictures of everyone until the last runners pass. How myself and my group of 4, 3 of which ran at different paces, all managed to go without a single race photo is pretty disappointing.
The food/production post race was definitely a highlight. Tons of good food/drinks/music. Perhaps some of the post production funding should have been reallocated to additional photographers.
Solid Summer Race
Good Summer Race. Strava Time to 13.1: 2:10; Course Time: 2:14 The Course: The course was very good. The reviews on this race for previous years say it was very … MORE
Good Summer Race.
Strava Time to 13.1: 2:10; Course Time: 2:14
The Course: The course was very good. The reviews on this race for previous years say it was very hot. It was not that hot in 2025, barring the mile 8-9 which is through Stonehill athletic fields before the final stretch. Even if it was hot, 90% of the course was well covered by foliage and trees, so not bad. Many locals also had lawn sprinklers out for runners to cool off. The hills were gentle and rolling, I would not try to PR on this course. Notably, one hill on the final mile or so separated the pack; and a slightly less killer one at Mile 7 which smartly had an aid station to take advantage of to refuel around the halfway point. No gels available, so if you use em, bring your own. This is a lollipop race format. Starts on gravel/dirt, and there were 1700 folks (sold out) this year, so be careful for first two miles (I felt like I was a cattle on a cattle run shoulder to shoulder for 2 miles), and many big New England rocks in the path, so keep an eye out. Other than that, all paved roads and neighborhoods, a few bridges/cause-way like things, and good scenery. Police and volunteers were excellent road guards, funny to watch the people in their cars scowling, ha. STAY inside the cones where there are not police officers. Big Benz zipped by me at 40 MPH and scared me, glad I stayed inside the cones…On the final stretch, you run through Stonehill College, and the crowd control was so-so, many people cutting in front of runners. I’m not trying to place, but still. My Strava told me I ran 13.50, so either my Strava is off or the course is a bit long. Probably the former. Overall, good course!!
The Admin: They had dorms available to use the night before the race at a very reasonable $80. I did not take advantage of that but should have. Race STARTS at 0730 but actually started closer to 0750. There is one way into the college for the race, so they’re not joking when they say get to the college no later than 0630 (I arrived shortly after and everything was fine, plenty of time to get ready/use the portas). The course lets your buddy pick up packets/bibs the day before, which was great; however, no big bottleneck for the same-day pickup from what I could tell, plenty of volunteers. I had a question a few days before and a volunteer/director emailed me back quickly and was super nice. Overall, a well put together race. Was inspirational to see an 82-year young man finish (wow!)
The Swag/After Party Thing: Many local vendors there. I crushed some capri suns, granola bars, and water and laid like a beached whale after finishing. Then you can walk over to the tents where there are vendors offering free swag and food. No waters near the after party area which, I get it, I signed up for a beer race, but I just wanted water and had to back-track to the finish, which was OK. Two beers per participant if you’re into that. The medal was yuge and pretty cool. I bought a sick running hat from a local vendor for my bald head. Technical tee shirt was of quality and well produced. Food (free) from local vendors include grilled cheeses, muffins, acai bowl things, and more.
If my schedule allows it next year, I would plan on doing this race again. A little out of the way from my home in CT, but well-worth the drive. Very well put together and great vibes.
Good Race. Bad Weather.
This is a summer half marathon or 10K that takes places at Stonehill College in Easton MA which is about 30 minutes south of Boston and an hour south of … MORE
This is a summer half marathon or 10K that takes places at Stonehill College in Easton MA which is about 30 minutes south of Boston and an hour south of where I live. I was happy to find a summer half marathon I don’t need a hotel for since there are limited options in New England but there’s a reason there are limited half marathon options in New England in the summer and that is the weather. I was actually registered to do this race last year but there were severe thunderstorms and they canceled the half and held only the 10K which is all located on the college campus so it would be easier to keep the runners safe. I ended up opting not to do the 10K last year since there were tornado warnings in Southern NH last year and I wasn’t risking my life for a 10K. They did not offer any refunds or deferrals you were just transferred to the 10K. This is all fair since you sign something saying the race may be canceled for weather and I understand this isn’t a big race and they paid for everything already but if you are someone who gets upset about not getting a refund for last minute cancellations don’t do this race. Luckily this year there were no thunderstorms in the forecast but the weather looked miserable with highs in the low 90s on race day. They had good pre race communication and option to transfer down to 10K with the heat. If I wasn’t 2 races away from making Sun Level in Half Fanatics I absolutely would have transferred down. I was very nervous they would cancel the half due to the heat but luckily the half marathon happened. They had clear directions of how to get to the race and when to arrive. I arrived about an hour early and everything was easy. There is race day packet pick-up. I can’t remember if they offered earlier packet pick-up but it’s kind of a long drive to do twice so I opted for race day. It was easy and included bib and a nice, red tech shirt with the race logo. The start had a corral area with pacers to help every line up. There are around 600-700 half marathons so it worked fine for the number of runners. I stood near the end since there is a 3:30 time limit and I was not planning on pushing myself today with the heat so knew I’d be finishing around the time limit. The race is supposed to start at 7:30 AM so at least the first hour wouldn’t be too hot. I had one very big issue with the start which is that it was delayed by 15 minutes due to runners arriving late due to traffic getting into the school. If it wasn’t so hot this would be understandable but on a day this hot every minute in the cooler, early morning temps matters. Especially since this is a chip timed race, I think they should let those who arrived on time go on time and just leave the start line open for those who arrived late. Other than the 15 minute late start production was very good for a small to mid-sized race. The course starts on campus for a short time and then it is a loop through down. There is a maybe 1/2 mile trail area you run through when you leave and return to campus. It isn’t too technical but may slow you down a bit. The rest is roads through town. The roads were mostly open but most of the race was on quiet streets and the few busy streets were coned off and the busiest street even had caution tape on top of the cones to make it extra safe. There were plenty of course marshals and the open roads where not an issue. Everything was well marked. There were friendly volunteers and a few spectators though this was not a huge spectator race. The scenery was nice though wooded streets and very, nice neighborhoods though wasn’t super exciting scenery. The elevation profile isn’t too bad. There are some small hills and includes with about 400 feet of elevation gain. I would consider it “New England flat.” There were a good number of aid stations every 1-2 miles with water, gatorade and one you passed twice had honey stinger. You then go through campus the last 3ish miles. The 10K is two loops around campus. The miles on campus are interesting and you see the football stadium and the buildings though some of it was not shaded and it got hot. I had an interesting race strategy that I would definitely recommend for hot races if you are concerned about the time limit. A 3:30 time limit is 15-16 minute mile. I often go for even splits in a race but this race knowing it would be really hot by the end I went for terrible splits to bank time so I could walk the last few miles. Basically what I did was the first third of the race that was not too hot I did faster 13-14 minute miles, the second third of the race which was hot but not yet miserable I did 15-16 minute miles, and the last third of the race that was miserably hot I just walked 17-18 minute miles and managed to finish a few minutes under 3:30. This was not a race to PR. The finish line you get your medal and even though I was third from last and close to the time limit it was a welcoming and fun finish area. They didn’t seem too strict on the time limit as the 2 finishers behind me were around 3:40 and got finishing times. The medal is wooden but it is actually quite nice. The finish festival area was nice and there were BBQ sandwiches including a vegetarian (possibly vegan?) one made from mushroom along with typical snacks. I had no issues being close to the time limit and this was definitely one of the best Massachusetts races I’ve done if you are a 3-3.5 hour finisher. If it wasn’t for the weather, I would 100% recommend this race for Massachusetts and it would probably be a 5 sneaker race if it had better weather. However with the weather I would be cautious about choosing this race if you are a 50 stater especially if you are traveling far for the race. I would definitely do this race again since it is close to me. However unless I am in a situation like this year where I need a half marathon to meet a milestone, I would definitely drop down to the 10K if it is this hot in future years.
Hot, but worth it!
Well organized, great volunteers, and an even better afterparty! The course was technically easy, the heat made it a bit more challenging. My only complaint is that there was some … MORE
Well organized, great volunteers, and an even better afterparty!
The course was technically easy, the heat made it a bit more challenging. My only complaint is that there was some serious bottle necking for about the first mile. The course starts on a narrow path (narrow for 600+ runners), which gives little to no room to pass and/or gain speed. From chatting with other runners, it seems that they changed the course from previous years, so maybe next year they will reevaluate the start of the race. A wave start would significantly help this issue. All things considered, I would definitely recommend this race to anyone looking for a mid-summer race!
Good race, GREAT party!
Overall great experience. Course was just ok, some pretty parts and then some plain neighborhood sections. But, really well run race with amazing after party: Yasso frozen yogurts, free Narragansett … MORE
Overall great experience. Course was just ok, some pretty parts and then some plain neighborhood sections. But, really well run race with amazing after party: Yasso frozen yogurts, free Narragansett beer (2 per runner) and a killer live band! T shirt is top notch and the medal is real nice. If you need a summer half, this one is fun.