The Children's Museum of New Hampshire 5K

Road Race Name: The Children's Museum of New Hampshire 5K

Location: Dover, New Hampshire

Distance: 5K

Price: $22

Race Rating: 8/10

Course Review:

This course was actually much hillier than I was expecting. The race started right next to the park behind the children's museum and it was a beautiful morning. The race headed up an incline right away and then took a right as we crossed a main road. There were never any cars in the way when we were trying to run, as most of the roads were blocked off at that time. The race continued to follow some rolling hills through the streets of dover, until we reached a round about or a cul de sac (however you say it). This was an excellent way to turn all the runners around since there was plenty of room to run, and you weren't sharing the same lane as runners coming the other way. I expected the course to then be more of a lollipop route, but on the way back we took a left hand turn and took a different route, behind the park and came around the children's museum on the way back. This was an excellent way to do the course and although we never ran through downtown dover, you still got a feel of the neighborhoods of Dover and overall it was a comfortable (slightly hilly) race.

Overall Course Rating: 7/10

Race Atmosphere Review:
The race atmosphere was really nice! I thoroughly enjoyed supporting this children's museum as the employees seemed very nice and they were all so thankful that we donated to the great cause of supporting children's museums. The owner of the museum gave a great speech before the run and made sure that there weren't any issues with the race. As for the volunteers during the run, everything was very well marked. There weren't any mile markers that I saw, but there was a water stop around mile 1.5. The awards ceremony after was great, and prizes were given out for age group winners in which I received a $30 Texas Roadhouse gift card (not too shabby!). The race results went up right away, so everyone was able to see their finishing times immediately. The atmosphere overall was very friendly and people were definitely enjoying the race day experience.

Overall Race Atmosphere Rating: 7/10

Post Race Food and Drink Review:
The post race food spread was surprisingly full! There was of course bananas, granola bars, bagels and water which are a staple for road races. On top of that was a make your own yogurt bar, in which you could add a bunch of different toppings to a cup of yogurt. It was very unique and something that everyone at the race enjoyed (considering how long the line was). On top of that, there was pizza from La Festa, which many believe is the best pizza in dover (myself included). The Weathervane also sponsored the race and provided finishers with a delicious and hot cup of clam chowder with oyster crackers. I took advantage of all this food and it was wonderful to see all these wonderful food companies supporting this wonderful race.

Overall Post Race Food and Drink Rating: 9/10