February 10, 2015

Dogfish Dash 2014 Race Recap

Okay so I'm an awful blogger and got totally behind on race recaps from last spring/before Chicago.  There's just too many races and not enough time in my day to blog about it all!  So in the new year before the spring racing starts, I thought I'd go back and finish some race recaps.  

I'm starting with the Dogfish Dash 5K/10K from September 2014. 

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I had been really wanting to visit Dogfish Head Craft Beer Brewery because my boyfriend are huge fans of the beers they put out. We also were enamored with a series called Brew Masters about them we found on Netflix which had episodes built around specific beers from concept to creation and problems encountered as a brewery.  

I randomly stumbled upon the registration link on Twitter the day of registration and since I knew it would sell out that day(it's capped at around 2000 runners), I signed my boyfriend and I up on a whim! 

We ended up making the trek to Rehobeth Beach the day before the race and went straight to packet pickup at the Dogfish Head Brewings & Eatery. Of course it was super packed, but after some waiting around we eventually snagged a couple seats at the bar and got to tasting beers. They have all of their usual beers on tap, plus specialty beers you can't get anywhere else!  I was also REALLY happy that they had their Punkin Ale which is one of my favorites, on tap.  

Our food and the beers were great!  I had the pub salad with falafel and a beer sampler.We even saw the owner Sam come in to eat with his family. It was awesome to see he was so down to earth, even when my boyfriend stopped him on the way to the bathroom to gush about how much he loves their beer. 

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We ended up enjoying ourselves a lot and since hotels in the area were all booked for the race, we stayed at local campsite in between Rehobeth and Milton. It's definitely a race you need to plan ahead for!   We had left Baltimore later than we liked so after dinner and many beers, we pretty much got to the campsite, pitched a tent, and went to sleep. 

The next morning we woke up bright and early to a sunny, clear sky.  We drove to the actual brewery in the small town of Milton, Delaware, parked the car and got ready to race. 

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As seen in the parking lot!

I had arm sleeves on initially, but it was warmer than I expected. Once I started sweating just standing around I knew I had to ditch them.  Since I wanted to try to take the race easier because I was only about a month out from the Chicago Marathon, I decided to have fun with it and wear my "will run for beer" tank top, sparkly Bondi Band, and my black sequin Sparkle Skirt. You can tell people were there more for fun and not serious running because they had a best "recycled" costume contest and many people were already drinking before the race even started!

It's a smaller race, so there were no corrals, just self-seeding. That always bugs me because it makes for a slow and uncomfortable start, but I understood this was all for fun even though it was chip-timed. 

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Waiting to go!
I was running the 10K and my boyfriend, who isn't a runner urged me to go ahead and run my own race.  After some words from the Dogfish Brewery President Sam Calagione including how the race raised $75,000 this year for the Delaware Chapter of the Nature Conservancy (woohoo, go green!), we were off.  

The course went around the small town of Milton, which had some locals out and cheering. It's become a popular race because of the beer, so I think it's a bit of an event for Milton. The 5K and 10K run together until the 5K turns to go towards the finish and the 10K goes onward. The course winds through town and was well-directed. It's mostly flat with a few deceptively harder hills thrown in the mix. I was going faster than I had planned but couldn't help myself in the race setting! 


It was a lot hotter than I expected and all those beers the night before were not helping my hydration levels. I was so grateful I decided to carry my water bottle of Nuun with me to supplement the water stops they had on the course. I felt pretty good until the last mile which had you loop around a field. During that stretch I was feeling my tired legs and the sun beating down on me. 

Finally I made it to the finish line in  47:00, 7:35 pace and immediately got in line to get my free finish-line beer (for 21+ older runners, obviously!). The initial line for beer was longer than I had hoped it would be. I think they still need to figure out a better system to get cold beers poured and handed out fast to runners as they finish.  It probably would have been better if I raced the 5K and beaten the crowds!

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An appropriate tank top for the day! 
My boyfriend ran the 10K on pretty much no training (NOT recommended) and survived so I was super proud to be able to cheer him on as he crossed the finish line! 

 After that unexpectedly warm race a cold 60 Minute IPA was exactly what I wanted to have handed to me. You received your initial beer in a stainless steel pint glass that you could then take to get refilled by using your three other free beer tickets.  Yes, three other full size Dogfish Head draft beers. They had only a couple beer stations set up with the tents, which also got really crowded after the race.  I loved the post-race food-it was a breakfast buffet of yogurt, granola, fruit, and bagels. The line was really long at first so I waited a while before hopping in. I had my post-race carbs in the form of beer, anyways

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Beer lines
I found out I was 4th in my age group and 52nd overall out of 610 10kers, which isn't bad for the conditions and the fact that I was in the middle of marathon training.  My boyfriend and I had seen Sam Calagione before the race (he ran the 5K) but didn't want to bother him, even though I wanted my chance to snag a pic. My lovely boyfriend decided to say hello after the race, bragged about how I was running Chicago Marathon the next month, and got me a photo with him. He was just as friendly, down-to-earth, and hippie-esque as he comes across in the media!  I was really excited!

dogfish-dash-2014-race-recap-president

After walking around the brewery store and buying some more beer we decided to head back to the Brewpub in Rehobeth to grab food, since the tours & luncheonette in the brewery were all packed. 

Before leaving I made sure we got a few photos with the amazing treehouse sculpture they have in front of the brewery though! 

dogfish-dash-2014-race-recap-treehouse

After another great meal at the less-crowded Brewpub  with more Dogfish Head beers(burgers and beers for the win), we began our journey back to Baltimore. 

Besides the long lines to get beer after the race, it was definitely a fun weekend trip and experience.  It's absolutely a beer-lover's racing dream. I hope they continue keeping it a smaller race, even though it's popular. I'll be sure to consider trying to run it again next year! 

Registration for the 2015 Dogfish Dash opens April 1.

Have you ever done a food or drink-centric race? What's your favorite warm weather post-workout snack?

This post was added to Race Recap Link-up {8}

14 comments:

  1. That sounds like a perfect race. Four free beers?! I'm in!
    I did the Annapolis Beer Week Beer Run last year and it was more of a "jog and drink" than race but it was so much fun. I highly recommend it! Well if it's not raining...it was very very muddy last year.

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    1. I read about that, but wasn't sure how it worked!

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  2. I love Dogfish and Rehoboth! I will have to watch for this one this fall!

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  3. Sounds like my kind of race! Wow your time was amazing Lauren. Way to crush that course. Congrats!

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  4. I've always wanted to do this race! I used to live in Philly and I would drive to Rehoboth all the time for shopping, beach time (all year long), and Dogfish Head! If I'm ever home visiting family in the fall I'll have to do this race for sure!

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  5. I have never done a beer race before. I actually don't like beer, but I DO love an ice cold beer after a hot summer race!

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  6. Sounds like a great race esp if you like beer. And you rocked it.

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  7. This sounds like a great race! I'm a beer lover so it's right up my alley! Congrats on doing so well!

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  8. Sounds like a fun race! Yikes, 4 beers at the finish! I'd be crawling home. BTW, Chicago has Goose Island at the finish!!!

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  9. It's a problem when you have too many races and not enough time to blog about them! :) Good for you. Actually, race recaps are my favorites to write and read. My first races had beer at the end of the race and now I kind of expect it at the end of all my races! :) Thanks for linking up. Great recap!

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