Harpoon Brewery Annual 5-miler to Benefit the Angel Fund

First off, thanks to Unilocal and Cape Cod Potato chips for getting me into this race!
A couple of tips for runners. If you run at a decent clip try to get to the front of the corral so you can get across the starting line early (this helps you get through beer lines cause you will finish before many of the people :) If you’re taking public transit leave yourself extra time, the silver line comes infrequently and fills up very quickly. I’d suggest you bike.
The course was great, not too hilly, interesting landmarks to run by, and only smelled of fish for aproximately 1 minute. Hey I’ll take it.
Couldn’t have asked for better weather, and there were a TON of people running. Close to 4k. I wished there were better costumes but I saw a few notable (big props to the team that dressed up as cops and robbers. really great!)
The after party was good, lots of free swag and beer lines moved fantastically quickly. The food was meh, and the lack of seating also meh.
A couple of big no-​nos the music was too loud to talk to friends. I hate yelling to people standing right next to me. $ 2 for a bag check? really? People already forked over a bunch of money to be in the race, give em a free bag check.

It’s a fun race, supplied you get in with some pals.
The mile race begins and ends at the brewery, I believe always the Sunday after their summer (May) beer festival. The race course is flat, and all pavement/​asphalt — you definitely end up seeing some interesting parts of Southie if you haven’t frequented it that much before.
It’s nice to know the money generated goes to a good cause, and you’re able to snag an extra beer ticket if you’re a friend of Harpoon, although of course you can always buy extra beers at the festival after.
Last year I tried to join as part of a 6 pack team and wasn’t selected, and this year the same, although I won an individual runner’s spot. Great, but I’d like to have some pals to drink beer with at the finish line… I had to convince some friends to meet me at the finish line. Not a big deal I guess, but just frustrating.
I will say this — if you’re a single man/​lady, what better place to meet someone then where everyone is fit enough to run 5 miles and then throw back a few beers?
You can bring kids, just don’t be that jackass pushing your kid in a stroller through the race and then book it for the last tenth of a mile. No one like getting passed by stroller mom.
You enter with a credit card, but need to pay for additional beers with cash.

Overall, this is a fun race. I would especially recommend it for beginning runners; the course is slightly (but not too) challenging, and like all Harpoon events, there’s a spirit of fun and camaraderie.
ANTICIPATION:
I appreciated multiple options for packet pickup before the race; I got mine at City Sports in Back Bay earlier in the week. T-​shirts were meh: Typical gray jersey with a printed logo. Getting to Harpoon on race day turned out to be a bit of a challenge since most runners had the same idea I did (take the T), so make sure to leave plenty of travel time.
THE RACE:
The course is a 5 mile loop that begins and ends at Harpoon and circles the reservoir. I thought running through the dry docks area was especially cool, with warehouses rising tall on both sides of the road. There are some gradual but long hills in the first few miles of the course that present a mild challenge, but bear in mind, you’ll get to run DOWN those hills on your way to the finish. Water stops at about 2 and 3 miles will help tired runners. One criticism: The 2 mile marker was definitely in the wrong place for the race (I’d estimate at the 1.75 mile point).
THE PARTY:
The best part! Harpoon has two beer tents, a food tent, and a number of vendors giving away free swag (Clif bars, PowerAde, City Sports). Food this year included sausages from the Sausage Guy and pasta and salad from Bertucci’s. It was really hard to eat while holding a beer, and there were no tables, so my suggestion is that Bertucci’s provide pizza next year for easier eating. Runners who are Friends of Harpoon received 3 beer tickets in their race pack, with additional available for $ 5 each. For some reason, the awesomest available beer, the 100 barrel rye IPA, always had the shortest line. Your loss, fellow runners.
THE VERDICT:
I’ll be back.

After yesterday’s overcast yet humid 9^th annual 5-​miler to benefit the Angel Fund ($ 80,000 raised), I quickly realized that beer isn’t the best motivation for completing the race. «Just one more mile for ice cold beer, runners!» Yells the volunteers who watch on as sweat pours down my face. Each sign I pass has a beer image representing the number of miles run; 1 beer at mile one, 4 beers at mile four. All I want is more ice cold water! I mistakenly did not train for this one but manage to pull off a sub 50-​min 5-​miles.
As a friend of Harpoon, you arrive to pick up your race bag containing extra drink ticket. We snagged four, to be exact. The race started just near Nagle Fish Co. behind the brewery. The run is flat with multiple road stretches broken up by 6 of 7 turns. It’s not a scenic run until you reach the south Boston causeway at mile 3 and til you take the last hump of Summer Street at the race’s last mile with a view of Boston. Whew! 5-​miles isn’t too bad.
And upon the sweaty completion, the rewards started coming in. Two tents each with a minimum of 5 lines of beer taps. One tent with buffet of ziti and tomato sauce, and sausage sandwiches. Vendors, including Zipcar, Puma, City Sports, Cliff, Scion, Vitamin Water, Cape Cod Chips, offer raffle prizes and a lot of free shite.
The lines for brew was long at first but after about an hour and two strong beers and of course a buzz, the lines really broke up in plenty of time for Harpoon’s follow up festival: Summer Session.
Watch out for heat, sun, and dehydration!