I'm now a bit behind on race reports, but I guess better late than never. I ran the Harpoon 5-miler in Boston on May 20. In years past, they did a first-come-first-served to sign up for the race. It was so popular that the race filled up in the first 20 minutes it was open.
So they've finally gone to a lottery system. I got in last year but couldn't make it due to a scheduling conflict. This year I both made it and could run the race.
When I first got there, the place was absolutely mobbed (though I had no idea how mobbed it was going to be later after the race). We had to show our IDs just to get into the festival to get our numbers. It was well organized, but still really nutty with the number of people around. I wisely decided to park close to the brewery so that I could drop stuff off pre-race.
After all that, the race starts and ends at the Harpoon Brewery in the seaport area of Boston. They had a huge turnout again this year. The run itself was reasonably easy. Slight hills here and there, but it was generally just a tour around the seaport area of the town. We went through a couple parks and spent a lot of the run in the sun.
There wasn't a single part of the race where people thinned out. I guess that's the way that it is with these shorter race. I kept around a 9-minute pace and finished just under 45 minutes. It was just a fun run for me--more training than anything else--and it gave me a good reason to get into Boston (only an hour drive for me).
After the race, that's when the fun began. There was a HUGE spread of food (including bratwurst, pizza, pasta, etc.) and we each got 3 tickets for beer. I guess Harpoon was looking to make it either a calorie neutral or calorie deficient (depending on how you look at it) race. It was a mob scene afterward because it wasn't just the racers trying to get beer, but also the spectators and people who came just to hang out and have a beer.
I got out of there in a decent time. Very good race. Very well run. Would try it again next year, if I can get in...