Hampton Half & 5k
My first in person race in over a year!! I was so excited. I had signed up for this race earlier this year. It was originally suppose to be held at the end of April, but due to Covid and crowd restrictions they moved it an entire month earlier. I have to say in that moment I was so glad I had just signed up for the 5k. I can’t imagine training for a half and then have to be done a month earlier. I was disappointed it was going to be earlier becuase I was looking forward to a warmer day. But I understood and hoped for a warm March day. Well, it wasn’t snowing or raining so that was a bonus!
The Hampton Half & 5k was held on March 28th on a cloudy & windy day, you know perfect running weather. I just so was happy to be doing an in person race & also glad it was not to hot, becuase in New England you never know. The race started in waves, you were assigned your wave based on the time you thought you would finish. My time to start was 7:30:40am. Yes, down to the second! They really did a nice job spacing people out. This was the first year I have ever done this race, it is usually when we are away over spring break, so I am not sure how different the course is in normal times. But this year we started on the beach! It was kind of cool & beautiful to start on the ocean. I mean it was rather hard to start a race this way but running with crashing ocean waves made me happy even if my legs had to work a little extra hard.
The course was well marked and went along Ocean Blvd the entire way. You run past the finish line, and let’s be honest no matter the distance when you hear the announcer and have more to go it is a big tease! I did love this course a lot, it was flat with ocean views & easy to navigate.
The prize for signing up for the 5k was a long sleeve half zip. Who else runs races for the swag?! I know thats the real reason we all run, the swag. I loved being back in a real in person road race. I don’t know about you but I had signed up for my fair share or virtual races this past year, and even though they came with great swag I missed being apart of the running community. I am a super slow runner, like really slow. And no matter how slow I go other runners are always so supportive of each other. It made me so happy to be there cheering each other on. I can’t wait for my next race. As of right now my next in person race is not until September for the New Castle 10k and then I have Wallis Sands half (yikes) this October! If you have any good local to the seacoast of NH that are running in person races this year please let me know, I would love to do more! Thanks for reading and see you on the road!
