Finish at the 50 5k 2016 Recap

Last Sunday, July 3rd, I had the opportunity to run in the Patriot Place/Harvard Pilgrim Finish at the 50 5k for the second year in a row. The cool part about doing this run two years in a row is that you can compare the two. If you're interested, you can read the last year's race recap here.

The Race Weekend Expo was three days and spread out the various activities. We went early Saturday to pick up my race bib while we were running other activities and I got my race shirt, some Muscle Milk, Krave Jerky and Power Crunch Bars since they all had tents set up for you to get samples and get special deals. It was great to load up!

We had gone to a pool party mid-week and I think we all caught some kind of stomach bug since Emily wasn't feeling so great and ended up throwing up. We got concerned Saturday night when she couldn't keep any liquids down so we went to the hospital where she is going to deliver just to ensure mom and baby are okay. Luckily, they were so we headed home late Saturday night.

Sunday morning, Emily and Lily started to feel better but still weren't 100%. Emily knew I had been working towards this 5k so she didn't want to see me miss it. I told her it's ok and I can always run next year but she insisted that I complete it, so I decided to go.

I went to Gillette and ran the race and it was great to go all around the stadium. The folks over at DMSE sports who put on the event were great and really did an amazing job! There were 3 water breaks (1 mile, 1.5 mile and 2 mile) and it was so cool to run through the stadium once again. The race course was the same as last year and provided excellent views. The weather was just outstanding as it was perfect running conditions for a 6 pm start.

My favorite part was running through the Patriots helmet tunnel onto the field of Gillette and then finishing at the 50 yard line. It was neat to be on a freshly made turf field since it was just put down for the season. It had a lot of spring and bounce in the step. I also hung around and even got the chance to meet former Patriot Jerod Mayo. He was such a nice guy!

NOTE: I was provided with a complimentary bib to run the Finish at the 50 5k. No other compensation was provided. As always, all opinions are my own.

Dedham Trails 5k and some practice for the Finish at the 50 5k this weekend

So I know you all haven't heard from me the past few weeks but we've had some interesting things going on...

We started the first 5k of the season running in the Dedham Trails 5k. It was a great trail run on a gorgeous day! The best part of it was that it was a free run and had some great company.

I'll admit, I haven't been on top of my nutrition or athletic preparation game this year, so I haven't been training as much as I did last year. I did a combination of walking/jogging for the trail run and had a great time.

Tonight, we took advantage of the Fit by the Field free fitness series offered by the great folks at Patriot Place. Luckily, it's only about 10 minutes from our house so really easy to get to! Monday nights start out with Yoga and then is followed up by a great Zumba class. We arrived right in time for Zumba and the weather was just amazing with a cool breeze too!

Can't wait for the Finish at the 50 5k this Sunday!

A fun Saturday in Foxboro and Sharon

We had a fun Saturday in Foxboro and Sharon today! We went to the second to last stop on the Life is Good #GrowTheGood tour and had a great time playing outside at Patriot Place with life-size jenga pieces, corn hole games and frisbee. They even had an airstream bus on site which was retrofitted to have fun Life is Good products in it. We got to toss around a huge Life is Good beach ball.

Emily and I have been HUGE fans of the guys from Life is Good for the past 15 years… We’re volunteered at their summer festivals, backyard athlete games, seed spitting contests, pumpkin festivals, days at Fenway and other events. We were fortunate enough to be asked to be team leaders for various festivals and one of the most memorable was in 2009 on the Boston Common where we led a team of volunteers which consisted of many art tiles that were put together to make one big mural. It was called the Art for All Mural and there was a picture of it in the Life is Good store on Newbury street for the longest time…  We were really excited to find out that the same picture is printed on page 199 of Bert and John Jacobs new book, “Life is Good: The Book”.

The coolest part of the day was when we got to meet one of the co-founders of Life is Good, John Jacobs. He was so cool, easy to talk to, down to earth and such a nice guy. We briefly talked about the festivals and he was so thankful that we volunteered. We were so thankful that he created the company! We LOVE Life is Good - okay, have we said that enough? ;) Another neat thing was that he was there with his sister, Berta, who was equally nice and is also featured in the book.

We can’t wait to read it! Thanks guys! One other thing about the Life is Good store in Foxboro - it used to just feature Life is Good products, but now it features a whole host of other cool items that I find really align with how we are trying to live life… Mindfulness, Fun, Music, Art, etc. We hope to feature some of these neat things in the future!

when we got home we had to quickly bundle up and head back out because it was time for us to go to the last event of our town’s 250th anniversary celebration. They had the biggest bonfire we have ever seen and it was really warm and bright! We tried to capture it on video for your enjoyment! It was sponsored by Crescent Ridge Dairy which is the local ice cream place here in Sharon and they even had free samples! We were all over that and it was absolutely delicious! Crescent Ridge is listed as one of the Top 10 ice cream places in the world and it’s tops in our hearts!

NOTE: We were given copies of the new Life is Good book as we were one of the first 25 people to visit their table and meet John Jacobs. We were not provided wth anything in exchange for writing this review. We just love Life is Good so much that we wanted to write about our experience. All opinions are our own.

We Finished at the 50!

This past Saturday, Emily and I took on our original goal when I started this whole eat-live-exercise-healthier journey this past spring and finished a 5k together! To be exact, we actually finished our second 5k together! It was supposed to be our first 5k but we wanted to get a practice 5k under our belt ahead of time and the Dedham Trails 5k served as just that.

In any event, let me just say that our experience with this 5k was great! Now, in its 6th year, the Harvard Pilgrim Finish at the 50 is produced by DMSE Sports in partnership with Patriot Place, the shopping center adjacent to Gillette Stadium, the home of the New England Patriots and New England Revolution.

The Finish at the 50 event hosts a multitude of activities for the whole family to enjoy! We talked about the pre-race fitness expo which is held the two preceding days, and includes Race Day as well. During the expo, participants, as well as families have the chance to partake in family-friendly activities as well as sample some goodies from event sponsors. Since we all love free things, we really had a great time and enjoyed the samples from KIND Snack Bars (some yummy granola bars) as well as juice and iced tea from Purity Organics and Lily enjoyed face painting and playing the sand as well as balloon animals, playing on inflatable bouncy houses, appearances from the Patriots Cheerleaders and more! There were also some fitness events where you could participate in Zumba, Yoga and other Fit-by-the-Field sample classes (more on that in a separate future post)!

Registration was a breeze. We wanted to get the whole “game day” experience so we registered on site, which couldn’t have been easier, and got the bib right away! The guys from DMSE sports were awesome and made the process SO easy! They have tons of experience with running these events as they are the same crew that help to put on the Boston Marathon!

In leading up to the 5k you all know that Emily and I have been going on training runs as part of the Couch-to-5k program and complemented those runs with some great group Zumba classes that are offered every other monday right outside of the Patriots Proshop at Patriot Place on the NRG Plaza. For the pre-race fitness expo, the NRG Plaza was totally transformed and hosted the race registration, gathering area for the race day as well as Super Heroes which the kids really seemed to enjoy!

The kids run started a few hours before the 5k race and had all of the kids start in various groups based on age. The littles ones (toddlers) could run with their parents and finish at the 50, followed by the older kids.

For the 5k, we gathered at 5 pm with a scheduled start time of 6 pm. Thankfully, it wasn’t scorching hot as in past years and there was a slight breeze. They also added additional water stations based on feedback from previous years. We were thankful for all of the snacks - especially the Muscle Milk and a new product called Power Crunch, a protein-filled snack wafer which tastes amazing!

Now for the race recap! We started to gather at 5:45 and they had difference pace groups separated by the minute. There was the starting line, followed by a 6 minute mile, then 7, 8, 9 all the way to 11. We met up with our friend Heather who was running the race when we were roaming around the starting line crowd. Wouldn’t you know it but they didn’t have a 14 minute mile (which some people said was walking pace) so we just stood around the 9 minute mark. I’m just happy that I got to the starting line! As one of my wise running friends always says “Finish Lines over finish times!”

We saw the people starting to move so we hopped in the group around the 8 minute mark but we didn’t realize that the line was just compressing for the start of the race. We quickly laughed it off and started to run. The start was an easy gradual up-hill jog by Showcase LIVE! and then we turned right and ran around the entire parking lot surrounding Gillette Stadium. I enjoyed running past the security shack that I used to drive past every day when I worked there 10 years ago!

Then we passed around the back of Gillette Stadium on the ring road and the first water station was perfectly placed! We stopped and grabbed some water and then started the ever so slight uphill run past the Patriots Practice Fields which fans can see during Training Camp. 

We passed the Dana Farber Field House which is also near where the Cheerleaders practice facility was (if I remember correctly) and as we passed it, a few cheerleaders who were running the race passed us. We said hello and kept running. We came up around the road by Bed Bath and Beyond and then turned right towards the Stadium’s uBid.com gate. We came upon the gate and a water station! We grabbed a quick drink and continued on the length of the stadium until the Bank of America gate which was located right near the BW/MGH Health Care Center at Foxboro and we entered the stadium right near the ramps. We proceeded to run right up the ramps all of the way to the 300 level and I found that it wasn’t as long as I expected…. Once up the ramp and halfway across the concourse, we took a #MidRunSelfie and also had someone take a photo of us and then grabbed some more water. One thing we really enjoyed is that they had four water stations total with two of them offering chilled bottles of Aquafina! It was great! :)

After we grabbed a bottle of ice cold Aquafina, we kept running around the 300 level concourse, we took some great photos and then some more water and then down the ramps all of the way to the main concourse on the 100 level.

We enjoyed the fact that by this time, we were at the north end of the stadium and got to run across the iconic bridge and under the lighthouse that Gillette Stadium is known for as they are reminiscent of various New England landmarks. As we crossed the bridge my parents and Lily were cheering us on! It was awesome!

We kept running around the rest of the concourse and then down the back ramp to exit the stadium and a quick left turn and we ran right through onto the field! It was so cool because we got to run right through the same inflatable football helmet that the Patriots run through before each home game!

By this time we were SO jazzed and psyched that we didn’t realize we were on the field until the 10 yard line! It was a quick trip from there to the finish line at the 50 yard line. We grasped hands and held them high as we finished the 5k! We quickly got our medals and then took some photos with Pat Patriot (the team mascot), some cheerleaders and the Patriots’ Nate Solder who was high-fiving race participants as they finished and was kind enough to take a photo with me.

It was such a great experience and we look forward to making this race an annual occurrence! 

After the race, we ate some great snacks that were provided (banana, Ocean Spray cranberry drink, water, KIND bars) and then had dinner at Capriottis before watching some amazing fireworks that started once the 10k finished and the sun went down. 

Getting out of the parking lot was a breeze since the folks that handle parking know a thing or two about having a few thousand people in the parking lots. It was really well done and we can’t wait until next year!

with the starting line crowd

mid-race selfie

another mid-race selfie

finally done!

Dave with Nate Solder of the New England Patriots.

NOTE: We were provided with complimentary bibs for the 5k and Kids Fun Run. While we had an absolutely great time there was no promise of a positive review. All opinions and commentary are our own.

Finish at the 50 5k tomorrow!

So, I know I should be asleep by now but just wanted to post a quick note...

We picked up our race bibs for the Harvard Pilgrim Finish at the 50 5k and Kids Fun Run happening tomorrow! The kids all get race bib #1, which is a nice touch and for us adults, we're in the 3,000 numbers so it should be a lot of fun running with a few thousand of our new friends!

The folks at Patriot Place really know how to take care of their runners and have a whole slew of deals that they offer for pre-race meals. We took them up on the offer of an Orecchiette Pasta with Spinach dish for just showing your race bib at the Twenty8 Restaurant at the Renaissance Hotel by Marriott at Patriot Place. It was SO delicious!

They also had a really neat pre-race expo that started yesterday (Wednesday, July 1) and lasts throughout the race day tomorrow, July 3. There were balloon artists, caricatures, face painting, photo booths, appearances by Slyde the Revolution Soccer mascot, and bounce houses from the Revolution! They have a lot for kids to do. We tried our hands at a bean bag toss from the 5Wits! folks and got these really cool Spy sunglasses which let you see behind you - those may come in handy tomorrow during the race, to see if anyone is trying to pass us! ;)

All in all, we had a great time and it was really easy picking up our race bib, t-shirt and some great food samples from Purity Organic beverages and the great folks at KIND Snacks. We're looking forward to running tomorrow and hopefully getting a personal record!

Even though online registration is closed, if you are still interested in running, you can register on-site!