Marathon Sports – Somerville Jingle Bell Run 5K

On Sunday, December 16^th, I ran the Jingle Bell Run 5K in Somerville, MA with my friend Gail and 5,537 of our close friends.

This is a local race run out of Davis Square in Somerville and produced by BA Events. A lot of races are run out of Davis and this was my fourth one. These are always fun races because Davis is close to my house, it’s easy to get there and I have a secret parking spot. All of the races I have run out of Davis have been sponsored by Harpoon. This means all of us runners pile into about seven of the local bars, have a few free Harpoon IPA’s, maybe another tasty selection or two and a bite to eat.

Getting ready to run

We got to Davis nice and early and sat in Au Bon Pan for an hour drinking coffee and eating pastry. Mostly we just talked, watched the crowd go by and chatted with fellow runners. About 9:20 or so we wandered down the street and enjoyed the festive atmosphere. There were lots of Christmas costumes and everyone was in high spirits.

It was probably no warmer than 36 degrees, though I never did get a good look at the bank clock. It was frigid but not icy, so I estimate 36. When we were in New Hampshire for the Mill Cities Relay there was black ice and the car thermometer did say 32.

The road was pretty well packed with runners. We jogged across the starting mat and started our watches. Even being boxed in we managed to do an 8:55 mile 1. We planned to do between 8:00 and 8:30 miles. Mile 2 we did 8:02 and mile 3 we did 8:09. For the last .10 miles of the race we clocked a respectable 7:15 pace. We actually ran 3.15 and only ran at a 7:15 pace for 1 minute and 3.6 seconds. Our finish times were 26:05 and 26:06 with an average pace of 8:24. Pretty much spot on what we planned to do.

This race really was about having a good time and not the finish time. We ran the race that we came to run and had a great time hanging out afterwards.

Often times this is what running a race is all about. It’s not just the finish times. It’s spending time with friends, meeting new people and enjoying running. No pressure, no expectations, just enjoying the day and the people you are with.

Run well my friends.

Andy