Posts Tagged ‘beer’

Sweetwater 420 Fest 5k

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

sweetwater-420-5k

We as runners know that water is pretty sweet, but what is the sweeter than water?  Sweetwater 420 Fest 5K.  Well, maybe this race isn’t as sweet as water, but it does feel great when it touches your lips.  The Sweetwater 420 part of the race name is referring to an alcoholic beverage, Sweetwater 420 brew.  The Sweetwater 420 Fest 5k is raced in conjunction with the Sweetwater 420 Festival in Candler Park.  How much in conjunction?   Well, all race participants over 21 will a recieve free beer at the awards ceremony!  What a great way to celebrate your hard work!  Stick around for the festival afterward and continue to congratulate yourself; over and over.

The Sweetwater 420 Fest 5K is a week from today, April 18th at 11:00 am, which gives you beer drinkers a couple of hours to re-hydrate from your activities the night before.  The 5k starts at Epworth Methodist Church at the intersection of Page Ave and McLendon Ave, near Fellini’s and Candler Park.  The course continues through the beautiful, historic Candler Park neighborhood.  If you live in the Atlanta area you need to come and experience this beautiful part of intown living…and running.

Registration is 23 dollars which includes a 100% Cotton short sleeve T-shirt with the Sweetwater 420 Fest theme so you can show off to all of your friends that not only do you run road races, but you also drink good beer.  You are so sweet.  Of course, race registration also includes your free beer at the awards ceremony where the 1st overall male and female and 1st in each respective age group will receive an award.  Beer is reward enough for me.  Cheers to every runner!

Make a day of this event and stick around the the entire Festival.  There will be a lot of great live music including Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Robert Walters 20th Congress, The Heavy Pets, Enthropy, and a whole bunch more.  The event is aimed to promote a greener enviroment with a lot of interactive games to help you learn.  Portions of the Sweetwater 420 Fest 5k race will go to park improvements.  You can’t get any greener than helping a park.  What a great reason to run.

So come run to the Sweetwater 420 Fest 5k to earn yourself a beer!  It takes so much sweeter when you earn it…and it’s free.  Double Sweetishness! 

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18th Annual Running the Blues 5K Run & 2.5K Walk

Friday, March 27th, 2009

running-the-blues-5k1It’s time again for the 18th Annual Running the Blues 5K Run & 2.5K Walk in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.  The event is being held on April 4th at 9:00 am this year and coincides with the Springing the Blues festival weekend, as per usual.  This isn’t your normal 5k race mainly because the whole course is on the nice, flat (as opposed to a hilly) beach.  I recommend running barefoot.  Even though the tide will be down, there is no promise that you won’t be running into the wind so watch where you are spitting.  If you aren’t extreme enough to run the 5k on the soft sand then you can still enjoy the beauty of the beach and participate in the 2.5K walk on the beach.  I did some research on Match.com and found that “walks on the beach” was an activity that 96% of singles enjoy.  So if you’re not a runner, at least consider impressing the opposite sex by walking on the beach.  You’re so sensitive and I dig that about you.  You need to register for this race TODAY by sending a mail in entry postmarked by the 28th or registering online before April 1st for the price of 17 dollars.  Everyone knows that’s a steal for a cool 5k like this.  The T-shirt alone probably costs that much.  Also there is race day registration available but then the price goes up to 20 dollars.  It’s a bad economy, go ahead and register now and use that 3 dollars to get yourself a McDonald’s Value Meal after the race.  You earned it, you just ran 3.1 miles!  Or walked 2.5K, still something to eat a Big Mac about.

The event is hosted by Performance MutliSports Event Planning and Production which is a really cool organization.  Performance MultiSports organizes a variety of races and promotes healthy recreational opportunities in NE Florida. Performance provides athletes of many sports a way to meet, train, and socialize together, while giving back to the community, as it produces sports events for a variety of other non-profit organizations.  They put on all kind of races like adventure, running, bicycling, triathlon, duathlon, kayak, and multisport events all over Florida.  We all know that running is the best sport you can participate in, but it’s great to get out and challenge yourself with some new activities and races.  You have to keep challenging yourself if you want to truly be extreme.  I’m thinking about doing a kayak race.  How cool would that be?  Pretty cool.  You can check out their event calendar to see all the different events you can participate in.  There’s also a plethora of links available on their website if you want to learn more about these different activities. However, don’t click on the Running link, it may give your computer the flu or some other sickness.  They have bicycling resources available too but not necessarily mountain biking, but you already know where to go for that. You’re so renaissance and I like how your resume reflects that.  You’re hired!…to run the 18th Annual Running the Blues 5k Run & 2.5K Walk.

You don’t live in Florida?  I don’t care, this 5k is a destination race for sure because it goes along with the Springing the Blues festival which is a free, three-day, ocean front concert.  Run a 5k on the ocean in the morning, then chill out with a free oceanfront Blues festival the rest of the day.  Sounds like the perfect vacation for this economy!  Some of the performers include Regi Blue, Cedric Burnside and Lightnin Malcolm, Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band and many more.  I honestly don’t know much about the Blues but Downbeat magazine rated this festival as one of the top 50 Music Festivals and Southeast Tourism Society named it one of the top 20 destination events.  See, it’s official, the Running the Blues 5k Run & 2.5K Walk is a destination event.  Make it you’re cheap vacation destination!  Where else would you go in Florida anyways?

No where other than Jacksonville Beach.  Go ahead and take your shoes off and relax…after running 3.1 miles of course…with our without shoes.  Don’t you want to earn all the beer you’ll consume watching blues all day afterward?  Beer that you earn tastes almost as good as free beer!  Almost.

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Hash Running: Do You Have A Running Problem?

Friday, February 27th, 2009

beer-after-marathon-resize-2Lately when talking about running, many people have asked me if I do hashes.  It usually is a reasonable question since the running discussion is shared over a beer.  Hashers, properly called Hash House Harriers, or if you’re into the whole brevity thing, H3s or HHHs (not to be confused with the long-haired wrestler Triple H).  They describe themselves as a “drinking club with a running problem.”  Lovely.  I hashed a couple of years ago and it was a lot of fun.  I’ve been planning on participating in some more hashes but haven’t found a way to make time for them on the weekends between races and training.  I really need to make more time for beer.  Sorry beer, I promise I’ll spend more time with you.  Beer can be so demanding sometimes can’t it?

Hashing started in 1938 by a group of British expatriates living in Malaysia seeking to cure their hangovers and clean out their bodies from weekend activities.  I agree, there’s nothing that can clean out your insides better than a good sweat from running.  Hashing resurfaced and started gaining popularity in the early 1980s as a protest to the rapid growth of the Atari game system in American homes.  Not really.  But hashing has grown exponentially since the early 1980s with approximately 2000 Hashes worldwide.  Find your local Hash, called “kennels” by going to the World Hash House Harriers Directory and searching from over 1879 Hashes worldwide!  You don’t have to deal with your running problem alone, there are others out there just like you.

H3s say that hashing is a state of mind.  They aim to relive their childhood and fraternity days (sorority days too I assume…minus the underwear pillow fights), as well as release the tensions of everyday life.  Even though there is a Hash House Harriers Bible with specific rules that H3s must follow, hashing is typically a laid-back affair, giving people another opportunity to act foolish on the weekends.  Being serious on the weekend sucks…serious running is always cool.  H3s give each other nicknames, originally because officers and enlisted people in the military wanted to be able to hash with each other on the weekends without it being considered fraternization.  I wonder if I can pick my H3 nickname to be my old military call sign, Red Bull 6.  I should have gotten sponsored.

Hashing starts with the “hare” running ahead of the “pack,” leaving directional markings along the route.  The runners chasing the hare must determine the correct directions to take.  Hashes are typically run over 3-6 miles, traversing some sort of trail run or sticky route.  H3s feel best when they are dirty.  There are typically stops along the route that involve drinking beer to replenish carbs used during the run.  Doesn’t this counteract the “cleansing of the body from the weekend” concept of hashing?  Whatever.  Who wants to be clean anyways?  At the end of the hash all of the runners gather in a group for some ritualistic activities that aim to facilitate more foolishness.  Just what the doctor ordered.

As I do some more hashes I’ll let you know more about hashing.  But until then you can go to The World Hash House Harriers to learn more.  Do something about your running problem and start drinking!


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