Showing posts with label Millenniumrun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Millenniumrun. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Inaugural Snowflake Shuffle

On Sunday my husband, my running partner, and I ran the inaugural Snowflake Shuffle in Bedford, NH. The weekend blizzard did not keep Millennium Running from putting on another fantastic, new event.


Once again Millennium Running had a sold out event. Check-in for bib and hoodie pick up opened at 8 AM for the start at 9:45. Despite more than two feet of snow falling less than 24 hours prior, the race site was in good condition and ready with the staple tents, pace markers, and port-a-potties.


Hundreds of runners were willing to brave the 14 degree weather, and at exactly 9:45 the organizers sent us on our way. The out and back course was mostly flat with one short challenging climb up a cul-de-sac just passed mile two. The city of Bedford provided police detail along the nicely plowed, closed roads, a few spectators braved the cold and sprinkled the course, and water was provided halfway for those that worked up a thirst.


The $30 registration fee included an awesome hoodie and post race pasta, bread, cookies and beer provided by the title sponsor and local restaurant, The Copper Door. Friendly faces served up plates of food and solo cups of Sam Adams.


For runners like me who hate to wait for official results, MR offered instant, personalized results at the finish line displayed on 2 flat screen TV's mounted on the Millennium Running Timing Trailer. All runners needed to provide was the bib number.


You would never know that this was the first running of the Snowflake Shuffle. Millennium Running did a flawless job organizing the inaugural event especially in light of the historic nor'easter. They even went the extra mile by arranging shuttles for runners forced to use overflow parking lots when mountains of snow encroached on space. 


This 3 mile fun run was not the first inaugural event that I have been to. Surprisingly, I have been to many. My first half marathon was also Providence's first Rock-n-Roll event. I was part of the first run across the Pell Bridge in over 25 years and I joined over 2000 Santa's running down Elm Street. Last fall I helped kick off a new Cape Cod race as a ZOOMA ambassador.



Have you ever participated in an inaugural event? How was it?





Friday, December 7, 2012

Santa Claus Shuffle

The Santa Claus Shuffle is a 3 mile fun run in Manchester that debuted last year with thousands of people coming downtown to run Elm Street wearing a Santa suit. This year was no different. Participants received a free suit with their registration. Those who opted not to wear the suits were encouraged to dress in a holiday costume or wear red. 


I was looking forward to running this event again because the girls were planning a meet up. It got even better when we started coordinating our outfits. Katherine ordered Peppermint Swirl Sweaty Bands and I picked up some matching holiday socks to go with our red shirts and black pants. 


As with most of the downtown weekend events, we parked in the comfortable garage right near Stanton Plaza and then made our way to bib pick up by cutting through the Radisson Hotel lobby. Thanks to modern technology, I easily found all of the girls before the start of the race. After watching the kids run their 50 yard dashes, we made our way into the start corrals. There were so many people lining up for this event that we completely ignored the designated pace signs and just found an open spot and tried to keep warm.


Once we were actually moving, my body temperature stayed comfortable in my new Nike Pro Thermal Training Shirt and I think I made the right call by wearing my Aspaeris compression shorts under my Nike capris. My toes, even with my Zensah compression socks under my cute holiday knee highs from Target, were painfully cold in my Mizuno Wave Rider 15s, but warmed up before the halfway point. On the other hand, my ears stayed nice and toasty the whole time since I was wearing my Sprigs Earbags. It didn't hurt to be surrounded by thousands of runners in Santa suits either!


Saturday's weather was perfectly suited for the Queen City event with temperatures in the low 30s and light snow covering the streets. A winter weather advisory did not interfere with the line up of events: Kid's Elf Runs, the Shuffle, post-race pizza and beer, and the Manchester Holiday Parade. The cold weather also didn't keep the spectators from lining the streets again this year with their cheers and bells.


The Millennium Running Company produced another fun event that certainly captured the spirit of the holidays and had me humming Here Comes Santa Claus on the way home. 



How do you combine exercise with your holiday?



Combine exercise with the NEW YEAR by joining the first ever Chilly Challenge and logging as many miles as you can for a chance to win some fabulous prizes. Check out all the details here or skip right to the sign-up part and be sure to choose #TeamEscapades! Then be sure to invite all your friends - more people = more miles!


Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Manchester 5K

 
Last night was the Manchester Mile and 5K. The race was organized by Millennium Running, a local running company that was founded by John Mortimer in 2010, and they put on awesome events. The evening started off with a 5K at 5:30 followed by a downhill Mile at 6:20 that recorded the fastest mile last year at 3:44!!

I signed up for the 5K with my CRP. It was my first ever evening race.


My husband decided to run the 5K too, so we met up with my CRP at bib pickup and registration in Derryfield Park. Derryfield Park is pretty much on top of a hill and we could feel a nice breeze. It was a beautiful day for a race and hanging out in the city.


While we were waiting we ran into a teacher-running-friend from school, Jen.

Jen, Daisy (CRP) and me

I also ran into Janine, a fellow FitFluential Ambassador, and her mom. Love their outfits!


I did not prepare for this race at all and thought of it totally as a fun run. I had a light lunch around noon consisting of a salad and some Quaker Rice Snacks - nutritious, I know. I didn't look at the course map (if there was one) and checked the location on the way to the race as I navigated. I did manage to grab a few of Sports Beans and my Simple Hydration Water Bottle when we left the car.

Turned out to be one heck of a course!

source

I started the race keeping pace with my CRP (who claimed to have an achy IT band) and we jetted through the first mile at 7:56! I couldn't keep that pace going into mile 2 which was almost entirely uphill, so we drifted apart as my pace slowed to 9:13 and she kept going. The last mile was a huge downhill to the finish so my pace bounced back to 8:26 even as I struggled with a screaming bladder.

Post race view of the downhill mile

After sprinting to the port-a-potties, I found CRP and then my husband. We chugged some sports drinks and water, chatted, and waited for the start of the One Mile. That's when someone asked my time. I checked my Nike+ GPS watch and saw my time, but I couldn't believe it. Later, after checking the results posted by Millennium Running it was official. I PR'd the 5K with a time of 26:38! We watched the finishers of the Millennium Mile, grabbed some delicious pizza slices, and sat down in Pulaski Park to eat. When the awards presentation was over, we enjoyed the nice mile walk back up to the car.


How do you prepare for evening races?

Have you ever run a race in the dark?
 My first "in the dark" race might be RTB depending on the leg I get...




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