What a weekend! This race (or all 3 I should say, as there was a 5k, 10k, and half marathon) was well-organized and tons of fun. Kudos to Runners World and DMSE Sports for putting together such a fun, running-filled weekend!

Merrimack College in North Andover was a great, easy location for the races. My mom and I had no problems getting there and parking was a cinch (despite my alarm somehow failing to wake me up Saturday morning so we were a little later than we intended.) We grabbed our bibs and shirts and took a minute to check out the expo. One of my ONLY complaints about the event would be the T-shirts – I love the color, but I was bummed that they were cotton! I’ll still wear it, but it would have been nice if I could have worn it out on runs.

The expo was also very small – I think there were 2 vendors, apart from Runners World! I was super stoked to see Sarah Marie Design Studio there (check out her website if you haven’t heard of her!!) I had actually just ordered one of her “Netflix and Treadmill” tanks, and me and my mom both decided to buy some new running tanks (I got “Positive Vibes, Negative Splits” – love that slogan!)

I was doing the Hat Trick - all 3 races for a total of 22.4 miles and FIVE (!) medals for the weekend. First up on Saturday was the 5k, followed about an hour later by the 10k. I thought DMSE Sports (the event producers) had done a great job adjusting for the hot temperatures that had set in - there were plenty of water stations and they provided runners with cold, water-soaked sponges at the finish. They also seemed to have a LOT of medical staff on standby. The same was true for the half marathon on Sunday - plenty of water stations, well-stocked with both water and Gatorade.

There was a pretty good selection of post-race foods for refueling after all those miles. There was a big selection of chips, granola bars, Stoney Field yogurt, Yasso bars (probably my favorite post-race food!), and Tazo chocolate. The official finisher food was a single hot dog (though you could opt to buy a second one). I’m not a big hot dog person, but it kind of hit the spot after 9.3 miles. You also got a ticket for 1 free beer and they had a choice of Coors Light and Blue Moon.

Saturday also featured a Celebrity Mile Race. The line-up included Runners World editor David Willey, Adrienne Haslet (Boston Marathon bombing survivor), Dick Hoyt (of Team Hoyt), Bill Evans (the Boston police commissioner), and many more. It was really inspiring and heartwarming seeing how far the survivors of the Marathon Bombings had come.

After the Celebrity Mile was over, my mom and I met up with a running friend to check out the seminars. What better way to celebrate spending your whole morning running than to follow it up with afternoon discussions on running?😉 The first seminar was called “Getting the Most from your Machine: How to Become your Fastest and Healthiest Runner”. This one was led by Amby Burfoot, winner of the 1968 Boston Marathon, and Bud Coates, a 2:11 marathoner and 4-time Olympic marathon trials qualifier. This discussion was a little more anecdotal, but it was pretty cool getting to hear these incredible runners describe their experience with running, injuries, and training.

The second seminar was led by 2 physical therapists on how to keep running injury-free. This was another fascinating presentation as we discussed why so many runners get injured, and how the regulations of the health care system contribute to that. I don’t remember the names of these speakers, but both were physical therapists in the Boston area and very engaging speakers. They also stayed around after the talk to answer questions.

The courses themselves were also really great. Most of the course was along shady, tree-lined streets of North Andover, but we also got to run through along their Main Street, where there were a bunch of spectators out cheering. There was some minor congestion at the start of the 5k as we ran through the college campus streets, but not terrible. The races also didn’t have a ton of crowd support, but the folks who were out were very enthusiastic, so they made up for it. :)

Overall, Runners World and DMSE Sports put on a great event - everything seemed extremely smooth, the swag was great, and the post-race party was excellent. I hope they will continue to put on the Runners World Classic in North Andover, because I would DEFINITELY run this one again.I am so glad I did the full hat trick. It’s such a cool challenge to run 3 races in 2 days and I think it would be pretty difficult to replicate outside of a Runners World event.

Maybe I'll see you there in 2017!