Let me start by saying we had the perfect day for the race. It was about 75 degrees, sunny, a little cloudy, and a little windy in Newport. We got there at 10:00 a.m. when check-in started, because we didn’t know how crowded it would be. We took the backroads through Connecticut into Rhode Island, and although we hit some traffic in downtown Newport as we drove through, I loved how adorable it was. I definitely want to go back and check out the shops and restaurants in the area.

I did forget road snacks, though, which I was mad about because that’s normally my thing on trips. They would have helped because I was hungry by the time we got there but had to wait until after to eat.

Here’s the view we had while walking through Fort Adams State Park to get where the race was. I think were near the Newport Yacht Club, too, and further down people were already out boating or sailing.

The guy at check-in was like, “This is the fastest number we have.” Numbers seemed to go alphabetically since I had to the very last table, which had the highest numbers. We got through check-in and bib pick up pretty quickly, so we had a little more than an hour and a half to kill.

Below is Kristen—my co-worker who I asked to run with me and for some reason she said yes—and I pre-race while we were waiting for it to start. The bridge you can kind of see in the background on the left is the one from Jamestown into Newport.

Here’s me in my natural element, looking for dogs that I heard barking.

Around 11:30 a.m. or so, we put our bags away in the mobile locker unit they had there—I reserved one for the both of us a few weeks ago—and we followed everyone who was going over to the starting line. They were playing music, and there was a woman who was MC’ing as people walked over. Apparently, there was a bridal party there for someone’s bachelorette party. That’s something I would do—or have it at Fenway. Or both. I’ll just have two bachelorette parties.

Not too bad of a view from the starting line area. That bridge in the background is the one from Jamestown into Newport.

A lot of people ran with headphones, so we both did, and it was nice to have something to listen to. I used my regular running playlist so it felt familiar. And to mask the sound of my heavy breathing.

People who were running stayed on the left while people who chose to walk were on the right side. The first mile was fine, and I slowed down to walk for a couple of minutes and hopped to the right side. (I lost Kristen after the first water break, though.) A lot of other people were doing this, too—a combination of running and walking. There were a few hills that I couldn’t really run up, so I walked and ran down the other side.

I think I ran most of second mile, stopping for a short break after two and a half and started running around 2.8 miles so I could run into the finish line area. I can’t really remember the exact breakdown of what I ran vs. what I walked, but I’d say I ran about 75% of it, and I made sure I ran across the finish line.

According to the official race results—our bibs were chipped—I finished in 35 minutes and 29 seconds. I swore I was going to finish well over 40 minutes, so I was pleasantly surprised. They gave us water bottles as soon as we finished, and I had never chugged water so quickly in my life. I waited around until Kristen finished, just a little over 43 minutes.

Here we are post-race! Off to the right, you can see where the festival was set up.

We grabbed our stuff out of the locker because we both brought drawstring bags with us to carry what we needed. The beer was free, but you had to pay for food, so we brought cash with us. And we both got shirts to commemorate our race and finish.

Then it was time for beer!

One of my proudest moments to date!

We got little sample cups on our way into the festival. Each brewery had a tent either outside of under the big white tent. The price we paid for the race included free beer samples, and here’s a list of what I had:

• Newport Craft Brewing: Storm Blueberry
• Ragged Island: Beach Night
• Two Roads Brewing: Passion Fruit
• Black Hog Brewery: S.W.A.G. (summer wheat ale with grapefruit)
• Itz Spritz: Golden Pear
• Down the Road: Reynard’s Witbier (a pilsner with orange zest)
• Wormtown Brewery: Citrus & Sunshine
• Champlain Orchards Cider: A maple cider (this was so good!)
• Big Elm Brewing: 413 Farmhouse Ale
• 14th Star: Recruit (crisp, golden ale)
• Rhode Island Brewing Society: a strawberry ale
• Narragansett Beer: the Dell’s shandy
• Artifact Cider Project: By Any Other Name (a blackberry currents cider)
• Jack’s Abby: Springdale – blood orange

There were about 30 vendors there, and I wanted to try them all, but I didn’t want to push it because I was already dehydrated and was in the sun all day. The ones I sampled, though, I really liked. I was happy to try Two Roads and Black Hog, and the two ciders I tried were wicked good.

After eating a very yummy cheeseburger at one of the food booths, we headed into the big white tent to get out of the sun. There was a one-man band playing all afternoon, and he was really good. The lines for samples weren’t all that long; I don’t think I waited more than a few minutes.

We stayed until around 3:30 p.m. and headed to a little restaurant I found online that was in Jamestown called Spinnakers. It was a little place right on the water, and the food was really good. I got a turkey, bacon, tomato, and lettuce sub, and Kristen got clam fritters.

The Jamestown-Newport ferry docked for a few minutes while we were there, and some people went out to their boats.

One of the reasons I wanted to go there was because they had ice cream, too. Kristen got cookie dough, and I got the “Green Monster”—mint ice cream with Oreos and fudge. The picture below was our view as we ate our ice cream.

I’m so landlocked where I live, so I always get excited to go near the water, and I love sitting by the water and seeing all of the boats. I don’t think I’d ever go on one, but sometimes they’re pretty to look at.

We left Jamestown around 5:30 p.m. and got back to my house at 8:00 p.m. It was a long day, but it was totally worth it. I spent today recovering by napping and nursing the sun blisters I have on my forehead and in my hairline—ouch! It’s my own fault for not wearing any sunscreen yesterday, and being by the water and the wind probably didn’t help either. I’m hoping it’ll clear up in a day or two.

So, I can officially say I’ve completed a 5k and survived. It was so much fun, and I definitely want to do it again next year. Thanks everyone for following along on my training and any words of wisdom! (I may sign up for another race this year—stay tuned!)