Summer Mid Week Races 2022

Mid week summer races are as rare as the summer is short. But they are usually a lot of fun and a break for the usual.

Mid week races are a nice change of pace. Summer mid week races are even better as you can enjoy the great out doors after work and it’s still light out!

Mid Week Race Logistics

For a weekend race, you may have to get up early or drive long distances.

Any mid week races that I’ve run have been in the evening. We all have to work. So it’s a good idea to toss a can of bug spray into your bag.

Maine State Bird — socialxyz.blogspot.com

A few years ago I ran a Thursday evening race along The Charles River. As we stood their in our running clothes waiting for the start, the bugs were eating us alive!

Fortunately, someone had a can of Off and we passed it around for everyone to use.

For a Saturday or Sunday morning race, the traffic is usually light. For a mid week race you are dealing with rush hour traffic.

If possible try to get the afternoon off so you have extra time to get to your destination. If you can’t leave work early, change at work and head out as soon as you can.

I’ve changed up in the Men’s room several times for an after work run. I have to say, it is a little odd to be standing in a stall completely naked and then have a colleague walk in.

As they say, there’s a time and place for everything. In the locker room I wouldn’t think twice.

In summary: plan ahead, leave early if you can and don’t forget the bug spray!

My Summer mid week races 2022

Cambridge Summer Classic 5K

On Thursday July 14th, I ran the Cambridge Summer Classic 5K. I’ve probably run this race every year it has been held and this year I also volunteered to distribute t-shirts.

This is one of my favorite summer mid week races. I work in Cambridge and can walk about a mile to get to this race.

The race starts just off of Mass Ave and right next to MIT. Harvard and many well-known businesses are around the block or just down the road.

It starts at 6:30 and it’s almost always an ideal July evening. One year we had torrential rain, but every other year it’s just perfect.

It draws a large crowd of college students and young professionals. Then there are the old boys like me who have been running for years.

Paul Clark has a very well organized operation, while I’m sure something goes wrong at every race, you’d never know it.

I got there early, helped with the shirts and then lined up for the race.

There is always a large group of volunteers and we always manage to have a good time!

I managed to run a time of 29:04 for a pace of 9:34. It was the hardest I’ve run in quite a while. While I wasn’t breaking any records, it was an important step on my road to The Marathon.

After the race I ran into one of my friends from Athletic Brewing! I’ve been enjoying their brews for almost a year now. What a great find!

There is a group of regulars that I hang out with after the race and we always have a good time.

Newburyport Home Coming

This race event is part of Newburyport Yankee Home Coming Days and has been around for 62 years. 2022 was the first time I ran this race.

Lucky for me I worked from home on Tuesday, August 2nd and hitched a ride with Maria from my running club. I just had to drive to Melrose to meet her.

I always encourage car pools to any races because parking can be a major pain. And it was for this race.

We got there less than an hour before start time. We drove around but couldn’t find a spot to park.

Maria dropped me off near the start so I could pick up our bibs and she could find a parking spot. It took her another 15 minutes or so to find a place to park and make her way to the start area.

Even with almost an hour to spare, we had a hard time finding parking. It’s always a good idea to keep in mind how large the race is.

This race had a 5K and 10K and probably 5,000 runners between them. And this town was having a festival!

For summer mid week races, you may find many parking spaces occupied by commuters or people who work in town and haven’t gone home yet. Not to mention, cars to transport 5,000 runners!

We definitely learned something about logistics that night!

This race began at 6PM at Newburyport High School. Right in the middle of town and right in the middle of their festival. Talk about mayhem!

I got our bibs and Maria made it to the start area and found us with about 10 minutes to spare.

There were about 15 people from the club, so that made the race even more fun.

Running The Newburyport Homecoming 5K

Everyone told me that the race had a lot of hills and was always hot.

In fact, it’s so tough that neighbors stand out with their hoses for the runners and some have their own water stops! I love it when the town comes out for the race.

There certainly were a lot of hills, though my Garmin elevation map looks like a flat-line. My elevation gain over the entire 5K course was only 86 feet.

And while the map may show flat, most of that gain came in short intervals.

I was feeling pretty good so I ran as hard as I could in that heat and humidity.

When you get near the end you can hear the crowd which gives you a nice boost. Then we took a right onto the high school driveway and began the final ascent! No kick for the last 100 yards of this race!

Getting up the hill was challenge enough!

I ran a little long at 3.16 miles for a time of 29:23 and a pace of 9:18.

After the race we went to a concert in the park which was right on the river.

I had no idea we were going to hang out and drink beers in the park. But some of my friends came prepared with lawn chairs and a few cold beers to share.

A perfect summer evening with friends.

Wakefield Stride 5K

This race was Wednesday, August 10th at lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield and benefited Melrose Healthcare.

The Melrose Running Club is a sponsor of this race, lends volunteer support and we were the largest team at the event.

A Summer mid week race on the banks of a lake is a nice setting. It is still a very urban setting with roads wrapped around the lake and lots of traffic. But we were in a nice park looking out onto the lake.

The Mystics Running Club has mid week race around this lake every Wednesday night. I’ve run with them many times.

This Wednesday night, the Hospital had taken over the joint!

I didn’t really have any expectations and was happy to run a bit with my old friend Jeff. He’s in much better shape and eventually we parted ways.

One of my favorite running memories is a Mystics Tuesday night race on this course. It was about eight years ago and I was probably at my running peak.

I ran with a few other guys and we were all in. We traded places a lot and each of us knew what we were doing. So there was no pushing or close calls and we kind of looked out for each other in the traffic.

I have no idea who those guys were and we didn’t win anything, but it was a great time!

This year I ran 3.05 miles in 27:12 for a pace of 8:55! Where did that come from?

For me, it was a pretty quiet year race-wise. I’m still going to PT and trying to ramp up my running at a rate that won’t cause another injury.

These three summer mid week races were a lot of fun and I plan on running them again next year.

I hope you had a great summer and had some excellent running experiences.

Andy

Time for a Margarita Half Marathon

I definitely did not feel like having a margarita after this run. The heat really knocked the snot out of me and booze was the last thing I wanted.

The Margarita Half Marathon was originally scheduled for May 3rd in New Hampshire.

Due to COVID-19 the Margarita Half Marathon and 5K were turned into virtual races. I ran my half marathon on July 10th.

May is a great time to run a half marathon in New Hampshire, July is not such a great time to run a half marathon in the Greater Boston Area (GBA).

Running the Margarita Half Marathon 2020

This was my second half marathon in 14 days. On June 27th I ran The Great Bay Half which was postponed from April 5th to a virtual half.

I had Friday off and decided it would be a good day for a half. No matter how unfit I was or how hot it was, I was going to do it.

At 8:56 AM I set off from Medford headed to somewhere in Cambridge. I had a general idea of where I was going. My sole criteria for a turn around point was the mile 6 mark.

It’s easier to add on distance on the way back. In May I ran a half and ended up walking almost a mile so I could stop my watch at 13.1 miles for my official distance.

Sometimes I learn from my mistakes.

Garmin lists the temperature at 73° F, but that must have been at 8:56 when I started my watch.

As I ran down my street I actually felt pretty good. And that’s unusual. Usually a knee or an ankle makes a few grumbles.

I should have recalled that when things start out well, they often do not end well.

The First Six Miles

I knew it was going to be warm, hot even. Over the past few months my training has been poor.

My only goal was to finish the race through an honest effort. There’s no cheating in virtual racing. At least not for me.

The first two miles got me to the Somerville side of the Mystic River bridge.

This segment, along the Fellsway, was mostly in full sun.

After the bridge I took a right onto Shore Drive towards Blessing of The Bay Boat House. They had the crew of summer work kids out front for their morning brief.

I was glad to see that at least some kids were getting the opportunity to earn a few dollars and learn how to work this summer.

I went under the Rt. 93 bridge and headed south on Mystic Ave/Rt. 38. The on-coming traffic kept me very focused as the sidewalk is narrow here and folks like to fly down this road.

I found a break in traffic and crossed Mystic Ave to run the back side of Foss Park. The pool was full, but the facility was closed.

I chose this route for a little shade.

To avoid the bridge over the rail tracks I went down Broadway to Cross Street and ran through East Somerville up to Washington Street.

I hit Mile 4 just before I crossed The McGrath Highway and headed for East Cambridge.

Eventually I ended up in Kendall Square and headed down Broadway to find my turn around spot.

Margarita Half 2020, Kendall Square — Broadway in Kendall Square

On my way down Broadway I passed a Starbucks. I wasn’t at mile 6 yet but one water bottle was almost empty and I wasn’t even half way yet.

I ordered a Trenta iced coffee on my phone and turned back to Starbucks.

As I approached the door I stopped my Garmin and then stepped into the dark coolness. My drink was being made as I approached the counter, so I only had a minute or so to cool off.

I grabbed a straw and stepped back into the heat.

The Long Road Home

I was now on my way home and short on distance. My watch hit mile six as I walked down Broadway drinking my coffee. Man it was good!

I took a leisurely jog back through Kendall and The Canal District down to Lechemere Station.

My shorts were so wet from sweat and water dripping off of my coffee that for a moment I thought I had a problem!

When it’s hot and you are sweating, that is a good thing.

I found a trash can on Cambridge Street and tossed in my empty cup. It only took about a mile and 12 minutes to drink the entire cup. And all of the ice had melted.

I pretty much took the same route back to Washington Street and then took a left into the neighborhood.

At this point my quads were exhausted and I was beginning to feel altered.

I checked my running belt for a salt pill, but I didn’t have one. That was a crucial error on a day like this.

My sports drink had some sodium, but I was dripping sweat.

I got back onto Broadway and ran the same route back to Blessing of the Bay Boat House.

Fortunately they had a porta-potty on the grass next to their parking lot.

It was like an oven in there, but I meant business!

I continued on the bike path next to Rt. 93 and headed for Medford.

I didn’t hit mile 11 until I had crossed The Mystic Valley Parkway and was less than a mile from home.

At this point I was doing a fair amount of walking and experiencing the worse part of what I had anticipated.

When I got back into my neighborhood I started going up and down the side streets to get in my distance.

So close to home and I felt like I was running laps!

I managed to jog down my street and stopped my watch before I got to my house.

I was DONE!

I don’t think everyone has run and reported their results yet. But as of my run I was 131 out of 138!

Have you run any virtual races this year? How do you feel about them?

Run well my Friends!

Andy

Summer Solstice Run

Summer Solstice occurs June 21st at 6:51AM EST

It is the longest day of the year and many of our ancestors believed the day was of significance. For modern man, it means it is still day light when we leave work. It’s even daylight after dinner so we can go cut the grass.

For the Melrose Running Club, the Summer Solstice is an excuse to have a good time.

We run every Tuesday night and this week we celebrated the Summer Solstice. We broke up into teams and were given a list of locations to run to and activities to perform.

At one stop each team member had to swing a hoola hoop three times. My back was still stiff from the marathon so they kinda gave it to me after a few honest attempts.

Then we had to sing a song (we thought a Christmas carol) in front of a public building. We tried to get a stranger to film us but he took one look at this sweaty group of runners and kept on walking. So we did a selfy that with the camera up-side down. We are so good with technology!Turns out, we could have sung any song!

Then we had to get a recipe card from Whole Foods and then take a full cup of liquid and run about a half mile back to the club. Katherine was quite good at this.

We thought we were in first place, as we arrived back at the club first with a full cup. But another team had a fuller cup. And who filled those cups? So we settled for 2nd place, which wasn’t even good enough for the steak knives!

Everyone had fun with the activity and watching the videos and photos of us doing the hoola-hoop.

Summer is now in full swing, get out there and live it!

Run well my friends,

Andy