This 5K takes place at Boston Common and starts at 10am about 1.5 hours before the Pride Parade and is part of Boston's Pride festivities. I was on-call today but … MORE
This 5K takes place at Boston Common and starts at 10am about 1.5 hours before the Pride Parade and is part of Boston’s Pride festivities. I was on-call today but since Boston Common is an under 15 minute walk from my work I figured I cold squeeze this in. Luckily there was pre-race packet pick-up on Wednesday afternoon/evening which is the best day for me to get my packet so I was able to get it beforehand. There is also Thursday and race day packet pick-up. Packet is just the bib and you can pay extra for a shirt. One thing cool about this race is during registration you can pick tiers for pricing based on how much you are able to spend so everyone should be able to participate no matter their income level. There was good pre-race communication. The morning of the race ended up being quite busy for me work-wise so I had to go straight from work and could not change into running clothes so I ended up walking the race. The start/finish area was really fun with a stage and lots of vendors. The race is chip timed at the start/finish. They announced people in pace groups of 7-9 min/mile followed by 10-12 min/mile followed by 12-15 minute/mile followed by walkers. Since I usually walk between a 15-16 minute mile I lined up at the end of the 12-15 minute/mile group and front of the walkers. The race had 700-800 participants and is three laps so it is gonna be crowded and involve passing people of different paces so be prepared. As I said the course is 3 loops through Boston Common. Not the most exciting course ever but I get that Boston Common is not the largest park and this involved no road closures so it made sense as a course. Course was well marked and had mile markers (though they were like 0.05 miles short but the actual course was the correct length). There was also an aid station you passed 3 times with water. The course as I said gets a bit boring though Boston Common has some interesting statues and artwork and with Pride going on it is fun people watching. It is also quite congested and this is a better race to do for fun than time. It is also very, very hilly. My pace was fast for walking in regular clothes not work out clothes and I reached my goal of under 50 minutes. The finish line has basic snacks like bananas and granola bars. All participants get a medal. The medal though is not at the finish line but at a booth. The medal has a nice design. It is not very big but I think that is better for 5K medals. Runners also got a free scoop of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream (and they had non-dairy strawberry cheesecake!) and also some energy drinks. It is also convenient for going to the parade afterwards. Overall it’s a convenient though not exciting course but a fun event that I would do again if I were in Boston for Pride.
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Run (or Walk) Proud
This 5K takes place at Boston Common and starts at 10am about 1.5 hours before the Pride Parade and is part of Boston's Pride festivities. I was on-call today but … MORE
This 5K takes place at Boston Common and starts at 10am about 1.5 hours before the Pride Parade and is part of Boston’s Pride festivities. I was on-call today but since Boston Common is an under 15 minute walk from my work I figured I cold squeeze this in. Luckily there was pre-race packet pick-up on Wednesday afternoon/evening which is the best day for me to get my packet so I was able to get it beforehand. There is also Thursday and race day packet pick-up. Packet is just the bib and you can pay extra for a shirt. One thing cool about this race is during registration you can pick tiers for pricing based on how much you are able to spend so everyone should be able to participate no matter their income level. There was good pre-race communication. The morning of the race ended up being quite busy for me work-wise so I had to go straight from work and could not change into running clothes so I ended up walking the race. The start/finish area was really fun with a stage and lots of vendors. The race is chip timed at the start/finish. They announced people in pace groups of 7-9 min/mile followed by 10-12 min/mile followed by 12-15 minute/mile followed by walkers. Since I usually walk between a 15-16 minute mile I lined up at the end of the 12-15 minute/mile group and front of the walkers. The race had 700-800 participants and is three laps so it is gonna be crowded and involve passing people of different paces so be prepared. As I said the course is 3 loops through Boston Common. Not the most exciting course ever but I get that Boston Common is not the largest park and this involved no road closures so it made sense as a course. Course was well marked and had mile markers (though they were like 0.05 miles short but the actual course was the correct length). There was also an aid station you passed 3 times with water. The course as I said gets a bit boring though Boston Common has some interesting statues and artwork and with Pride going on it is fun people watching. It is also quite congested and this is a better race to do for fun than time. It is also very, very hilly. My pace was fast for walking in regular clothes not work out clothes and I reached my goal of under 50 minutes. The finish line has basic snacks like bananas and granola bars. All participants get a medal. The medal though is not at the finish line but at a booth. The medal has a nice design. It is not very big but I think that is better for 5K medals. Runners also got a free scoop of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream (and they had non-dairy strawberry cheesecake!) and also some energy drinks. It is also convenient for going to the parade afterwards. Overall it’s a convenient though not exciting course but a fun event that I would do again if I were in Boston for Pride.