On December 5, the Ugly Sweater Run came to Hartford, Connecticut, which began and ended at Bushnell Park. I’ve never done an sort of ugly sweater event before, so I was really looking forward to participating in this run.

The race started at 11 am, and the weather was actually really nice out considering it is now December. The temperature was a little over 45 degrees, which was perfect running weather to don our ugly sweaters.

There were a bunch of Christmas themed inflatables near the start and finish, one of which is the biggest inflatable Santa both East and West of the Mississippi River. They also had these really cool snow globe inflatables where you could go and stand or sit inside of the snow globe.

I went into this race deciding to just take it nice and easy. I didn’t want to overdo it because I didn’t know how uncomfortable it might get wearing an ugly sweater, and leggings made out of an ugly sweater print, and all that jazz, and I really just wanted to have fun. I also got a head cold at the beginning of the week, and it turned into a chest cold, so I didn’t really know how well I was going to even be able to breath, which ended up being the main reason I wanted to take it easy.

The race was a lot of fun, and the course was fairly flat which was nice. The Ugly Sweater Run started on Capital Ave, in between the Capital Building and the State Library. The course looped through different areas in Downtown Hartford. We even ran down a cute little street that was all decorated for the holidays, and looked really cool with everyone running down the straightaway with all their ugly holiday sweaters on.

We finished the race with a time around 32:30, but the event was not actually officially timed. I like when bigger races are like that, because it shows that they’re encouraging people to just come and have fun, rather than try and give it your all so you can win.

The Ugly Sweater Run also benefits an organization called Save the Children. Save the Children is an organization that help invest in childhood, for every day, in times of crisis and for their future. It’s always nice when bigger chain races help benefit other charity events, that way you feel like your money is actually going towards something, instead of the race just trying to make a profit off of you.

There are 18 locations that the Ugly Sweater Run is located in, with dates ranging between Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you’ve got a really ugly sweater that you would like to show off, I would highly recommend checking out the Ugly Sweater Run and seeing if there are any events near you. Trust me, you will not regret it!