Well, I missed out on wishing everyone a Happy St. Patrick’s Day last week — so a belated Slainte to all!! When I was growing up, my parents would have a party for St. Patrick’s day and it was almost bigger than Christmas! It was a Par. TAY! To this day I try to celebrate in some way, big or small!
The last few years, my big celebration has been to run the Hartford Marathon Foundation‘s “O’Trinity” — a series of 5Ks run during the “holiday” season.
To start things off, there is the Courthouse O’Putnam 5K, in the northeast corner of the state. The Courthouse is actually a bar, not a courthouse, which makes it a little better than the name would make you think! The first few times I did this one I would stay at my friend Kathy’s. She lives about 25 minutes from the late-starting 5K so…more sleep, less drive? Yes please! Plus I get to spend time with friends and Phred gets to visit his friends too!
Putnam, CT is a “typical” New England small town and I really should go there more often! And, I say this every year 🙂 The morning started out pretty chilly, but the sun was out. By the time we started it was actually warm…
Ended up taking off my long sleeve top — LOVE my new Emerald City Lotta Breeze Capri!
I did intervals of 45:30 and kept them up, most of the time – except for the big freakin’ hills! I didn’t have a great time, but I had a good run! Post race beer and corned beef sandwich always help!! And then we headed to this little dive bar we found one year for a couple more — by now it was time for me to drop Kathy at home, pick up Phred and get back home before it was *too* late!
The next weekend was a two-fer – 5K Saturday and the grand finale on Sunday
Saturday was the O’Niantic 5K — Niantic is a cute shore town that I also don’t visit enough 🙂 The run was delayed due to a funeral on the course but not a long delay. This one was a little cooler, but still VERY sunny! This one didn’t start out great, my blood sugar tanked right at the start and I had already eaten my sugar so I had to stop and make some adjustments but managed to get back on track pretty quick. Same intervals, same caveat re: hills 🙂 Did a little better than the week before but still not so great!
Stuffed pockets but keeping warm in my Go The Distance tights under my Free Love Lioness! #IrishPrincess
Sunday is the biggie – the O’Hartford 5K. I actually do visit Hartford more often than the other two towns! This is another late starter but we still headed in early to find (cheap) parking. We hung out waiting to catch  up with friends. I hadn’t seen Meg since a 5K last year on my birthday weekend – so it had been awhile. We ended up deciding to “run” together and it turned into more of a chatfest than a run, but that’s what happens. We had a great time – waited in a huge line for our post race beer, pretzel, and stout ice cream (new this year!)  then hung out eating and drinking before heading over to a pub for…you guessed it, another drink.
**No outfit pic for Sunday — but I wore my Heartbreaker Skirt in Grey. It was another cold one and it’s ALWAYS windy in downtown Hartford (or at least it seems like it!)**
For the last few years, the Hartford Marathon Foundation has given out medals for these 5Ks and then at the end of Hartford they make a special design – there has been a pot of gold, a shamrock, and this year it was the Irish Flag!
The spoils!
And, instead of t-shirts, a few years ago they also started giving out winter beanies — but this year, if you registered for the Trinity, instead of ending up with 3 nearly the same beanies, you got a beanie, socks and a pair of gloves!!! Pretty neat swag and a really great idea!
The swag!
This is a series I have enjoyed every time I’ve run – and I’ll keep it on my yearly running calendar for sure!!
Though belated, I hope everyone had a great St. Patrick’s Day!!
And don’t forget, you can grab some great comfy running gear at Skirt Sports and get 20% off with code ORF20
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