I love running. And I love wine. So an event that combines these two things? Yeah, that’s pretty much a guaranteed must do. So when I spotted the Run the Vineyards 5K Series, I laced up my sneakers and dusted off my wine-drinking shorts (full disclosure: every pair of shorts can be wine-drinking shorts when you’re me).
The races take place at vineyards in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and this one was at the Hopewell Valley Vineyards in Pennington, NJ. Sign up was super easy (all online), and on the morning of the race, traffic was light and we arrived 15 minutes earlier than planned. We were so early in fact that I got to use the vineyard’s gorgeous restrooms (instead of the quickly-getting-more-crowded port-a-johns)!
Overall it was super easy to find the place, and the parking lot was set up just steps away from the starting line in a big open lot, which was great. We popped the trunk of our SUV, had a seat, and relaxed while the crowd got thicker and the sun got warmer. After about a half hour or so I met up with a few co-worker friends, pinned on my number, and we made our way to the starting area.
It looked like it was going to be a small race – the results say there were less than 350 runners - and it was a little chaotic at the start. The actual starting line was also the finish line, which was a tiny little area that we all had to squeeze into. Not the worst, but also not really well-thought out. But once the gun went off we cleared out of there and took off up a slight gravel hill onto the main road outside the vineyard. It was a gorgeous place: hills and mountains, lots of trees lining perfectly paved roads, big farm houses dotting the landscape – if they were to ever hold a longer race in that area I’d jump right on it!
We started off down the main road under nice bright sunshine and a cloudless sky, and as we made the first and second turn through the first mile I realized that we were going almost explicitly downhill. Not by a huge amount, but still enough to know that I didn’t look forward to going back up them at the end of the race!
By mile 1.2, the speedier folks at the front of the pack had already turned and were making their way past us, so I grabbed a big cup of water at the turnaround (thank god for that!), sipped and walked, tossed the cup in the trash, and took off again up the rolling hills I’d just run down.
The hills weren’t as hard as I thought they’d be though, so I alternated between walking and running when the sun was too hot. By this point it was already in the 80’s! The downside of spring racing I suppose!
At mile 2.5 I saw the entrance to the vineyard again and started to crank it a little harder. We turned the corner and ran back down the hill we scaled at the start, past the finish line, around the vineyard building, and back up through the vineyard for the final .25 mile or so.
That’s when I hit a wall – literally, the ladies in front of me stopped to WALK!! And the course itself, now that it had gone INTO the actual vineyards, was SUPER small - single-file!! There were wires holding up the vines on either side of us – so I couldn’t pass them without being a huge jerk and literally nudging them away! I walked for a little bit behind them but soon heard the footsteps of other runners surging behind me, and that’s when I finally said screw it and dropped the hammer to pass them.
Another downside to the actual running IN the vineyards was the uneven terrain! I hadn't expected that. Being a road-runner primarily (I train on trails sometimes but haven't actually raced on them yet!). I felt my ankles rolling on the uneven dirt and prayed I wouldn't twist anything as I pushed past those walkers and crossed the finish line.
Afterwards we went back to the car where I changed into flip flops (ah the benefits of having the car right there!), then we all met up for some post-race chatting, delicious wine in our commemorative race glasses, and live music in the courtyard. We even went inside to explore the winery, which was beautiful!
I would definitely consider doing this again next year. It was very well organized, on a beautiful course, and the post-race festivities were awesome.