Blue Point Brewery is probably one of the best sponsors of local races on Long Island than any other brewery on the Island. It has developed a pretty loyal following among triathletes and runners that I know, simply because they are at the center of every great post-race party. Now, on to the recap!
Pre-Race
You had the option of picking up your packet - or the packets of others, they aren't too strict on security here - on either Thursday or Friday or directly before the race on Saturday. If you picked it up at the Sayville Running Company prior to race day, you were given an extra raffle ticket as well as the enjoyment of wandering around their giant tent sale, spending money on things that you probably don't need but buy anyway "because they're on sale, duh."
We picked our packets up early so that we wouldn't have to worry about it Saturday morning and went straight to the parking lots designated for the race. Since there isn't enough parking at the brewery itself, they have various parking lots within a half mile walk of the starting line, so it's not like you're really hiking to the start. We slyly parked at the Patchogue Y (no line in the bathroom!) and walked down the street to drop our bags off in the tent and head to the starting line, which is pretty much right outside the brewery.
Piece of cake.
The Race
The race itself is ten miles long and takes place on the flat, flat, flat streets of Patchogue, Blue Point and Sayville. It winds through the neighborhoods, meanders along the Great South Bay for a few and then takes you parallel to the train tracks for the stretch back to the finish, roughly a half mile from the Brewery. As far as races go, this one is pretty boring. It's essentially doing a training run through your neighborhood, only you don't know any of the houses and aren't quite sure where you are going. There is literally nothing interesting to see, unless you are a real estate agent and like to see the local property listings in different areas.
However, the course is flat and it's long enough that not everyone and their grandmother can do it, which is nice. It's capped at 1500 entrants - mostly because of the free beer - and it sells out pretty quickly. Ten miles is a decent distance - or at least a distance that gives some people pause. I mean, another 5k and you've got yourself a half marathon, so it limits the applicant pool a good deal.
Neither SJ or I had actually trained for this race, and I literally hadn't run ten miles since the Philly Marathon - not at once, I mean hadn't run ten miles IN TOTAL since then, so this could have gone horribly wrong for the two of us. But, seeing as how we are both so awesome, we started at a decent pace and kept it up for just about the whole run. There were a few times during the course where we slowed down and grabbed water or Gatorade or took a potty break, but we weren't going out there to crush it so neither one of us really cared. . I mean, really, we were only doing it for the free beer, so the whole running thing was just a bonus to make us thirsty to drink more beer.
Post Race Party
Seeing as how the whole point of this run is to get back to the Blue Point Brewery, the post-race party is one giant party. They stick a big tent out back of the actually brewery and set up their portable keg system (which is awesome and I wish I had one) and everyone goes to town. There was a live band, so much food you didn't even know where to start and everyone was hanging out and having a great time. If it wasn't for all the spandex, you would never know that thousands had literally just run ten miles in the (slight) rain and mid-twenties temps. It reminded me a lot of Aspen, a place where the beer flows like wine.
There were plenty of bathrooms, which is always a concern for any after-party that involves unlimited beers, and at some point there were raffles that were drawn. The crappy part was that you had to be present when they drew your number, which, considering the number of people inside the tent, the live band playing and the general overall noise-level, I'm amazed that anyone even heard them draw the tickets. I, for one, didn't even know a raffle was being held - but that could be for multiple reasons, and they all begin with Hoptical.
The beer is open till noon, and after that they brewery is actually open so you can move inside to order food and have some more beers. There isn't a limit on the amount of beers that you can take each time you go up to the beer truck, and the line is pretty long if you are a middle of the pack finisher, so it's best to stock up. Or just stay until the lines thin out and then take as much as you want so that you have multiple back-up beers for when they kick you out!
Wrap-Up
There is absolutely no reason to do this run. It was absolutely horrible. Don't sign up for it next year, regardless of what you hear from friends or relatives. They clearly don't know what they are talking about.*
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| Just finished ten miles - now it's time to start they party. At 9:30am. |
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| This is what happens after ten miles - and an equal number of beers! |
*This is totally not true. I just don't want to advertise the fact that this race is amazing because it already sells out in less than a week so I need to add to the number of people looking to sign up. But in all honesty, this is one great run, and I highly recommend it! While the run itself is nothing to write home about, it's flat and a great training course. If you are looking to do a spring half-marathon or marathon, then this is a great gauge at your fitness level. And the after-party is really a great time and one of the best reasons to do the run. Even if you don't drink or are the DD, there is so much great food and so many fun people to hang out with that it's easy to have a good time. And the great thing about a run like this is that everyone is there to have a good time - and runners are some of the best people to hang out with. By far. And even if you're not a runner and just an athletic supporter, you can come volunteer and drink and hang out afterwards for generously donating your time - but even that gets filled quickly so act fast next fall!
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