Sunday Run

Happy New Year Runners! While its only the first week of the year, its time to look forward and start to plan for to the Spring racing season. For the 12th year the MRC Sunday Long Run is there to help you meet those goals come springtime.

How the SLR works… for those that haven’t participated in the SLR before, this is how it works. Read this blog prior to the run and reply if you plan on running so I can bring enough water supplies for everyone. Review the route map so you know where you’re going. Check the weather so you’re prepared for the ever-changing New England weather. Put a dollar or two in your pocket to donate to the water stop supply fund for that week, supplies are there for those that donate. Show up at Brueggers before 8AM on the morning of the run. Keep your voices down inside Brueggers and stay clear of where customers line up to order and where the coffee station is… we’re guests of Brueggers, be considerate of their business. We’ll head outside on Main Street, review the route, and head out for the run. When you come to the water stop, have a drink and a snack, and continue on. If you start early and plan on using the water stops, please let me know in the blog. After the run completes back at Brueggers, consider changing your clothes and having a post-run breakfast there. They allow us to meet in their place of business and its good to return the favor by patronizing their business. Please refrain from bringing in outside food and drink. Go the MRC website and click Sunday Long Run for more information about the program.

This week’s run… The SLR will start on Saturday this week, 1/6, since the MRC Holiday Party/Winter Banquet is Saturday night. We’ll be dealing with increased traffic on Saturday morning, which coupled with snowy/icy sidewalks means all runners should stay alert on the road, run facing traffic, and run single file when the road narrows. Another thing to note is that there is a 3 hour parking limit in the parking lot beginning at 8AM, meaning you’ll need to leave the lot by 11AM or risk getting a parking ticket. This year there is one less weeks between New Year’s Day and Patriots Day so we’ll run a little longer in our first week.

The NEW route… Due to the extreme cold forecast for Saturday Morning, we’ll be meeting at the Knights of Columbus instead. We’ll be running 2 or 3 loops from the Knights around Melrose Center. This allows me to stay warm inside, allows you to have extra clothes at the ready to change/adjust after each loop, and you have a chance to warm up a little bit mid-run. We did this a few years back on a frigid Valentines Day and all worked out well. 

Loop 1… This short loop will head down Main Street to a right on West Wyoming. Turn left at Grimsby’s and follow the Fellsway East, bearing left onto Washington Street. Follow Washington to a left on Goul Street which will cut over to Pleasant Street. At Pleasant turn left and follow to the end where you’ll turn right back on West Wyoming. Turn left on Main Street and get yourself back to the Knights. 2.8 miles complete.

Loop 2… This loop is the 3 mile MRC summer loop backwards. Head up Main Street past Ell Pond, turning left onto Melrose Street and left again onto the LynnFells Parkway. Follow that to Grimsby’s and turn left onto West Wyoming, follow back to a left on Main Street and get back to the Knights. If you are running the shorter distance your 6 miles is complete. If you’re running the longer route head back out for Loop 3.

Loop 3… The final loop will start up Main Street past Ell Pond where you’ll cross over to bear right onto Green Street. Turn Right on the LynnFells Parkway. Take your immediate right onto Bellevue, crossing over to take your first left on Porter Street. Follow Porter to Ardsmoor Road. Follow to the end and turn right on Upham. Follow Upham to a left on Lebanon St. Continue to Grove Street where you’ll turn right, follow to Main, turn right again and finish up at the Knights for a 9.1 mile run.

The Knights will be opened at 7:45. There will be water, gatorade, and candy at waterstops inside the Knights. There will be no Gu available, that will show up at longer runs only. If you need gu for runs <14 miles, please bring your own.

Some cold weather tips: wear mittens if you have them, your fingers will keep each other warm. Wear taller socks, low socks leave the potential of unexpected ankle exposure. Vaseline on exposed skin creates a barrier that reduces wind burn. Sunglasses will cut down glare and pr0tect your eyes from the wind. Dress in layers, you can always remove some layers at the water stops. Wear a hat that covers your ears. Unlike night running where lighter colored clothes are more visible, against the snow you want florescent of darker apparel to stand out. And again, run single file!

The waterstops… I’ll man the water stop at the Knights of Columbus with Mike Quigley.

Remember… We’re running Saturday, we’re running from the Knights, it’ll be cold, leave by 11AM so you don’t get a ticket!

Roll Call…  who’s in?!

This entry was posted on Monday, January 1st, 2018 at 12:39 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.