This Friday and Saturday, the YMCA of Greater Nashua will host the two-day New Hampshire Running Festival, beginning Friday with the “Mad Moose Mile,” followed a 5K/10K Santa Fund Run on Saturday.
Y members and guests are advised that parking at the Nashua Y will be tight Friday afternoon while the Expo takes place in the gymnasium through race time and Saturday morning until 12 noon.
Friday’s mile-long race, or the “Mad Moose Mile,” will take place during the N.H. Running Festival Expo, which will run from 4 to 8 p.m. on Friday, October 18. The expo, put on by the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce, “will showcase vendors who cater to the sports and wellness industry.”
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The first 200 runners to register for the “Mad Moose Mile,” which will start at 6 p.m., will receive a free hunting hat and beer sampling glass. During the race, runners will chase a man wearing a moose suit. The “Mad Moose Mile,” which coincides with the opening of moose-hunting season, will be followed by a pub crawl. Registration for the one-mile race costs $25 in advance and $30 the day of the race.
Day two of the next week’s running festival will feature the 37th Santa Fund Run, where runners can choose between either a five or a ten-mile dash. Registration fees, $30 for adults and $15 for children, will go towards the Santa Fund; now in its 52nd year of helping less fortunate families in Greater Nashua during the holiday season. Proceeds generated by the Santa Fund will go to the Front Door Agency and the Salvation Army.
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The Santa Fund Run will take racers through Nashua High School South and to the flat, foliage-laden trails of Mine Falls Park. Prospective racers should be at the YMCA between 7 and 8:30 a.m. for on-site registration. The first 500 racers to register will receive a free technical shirt and a free elf hat. The Santa Fund run begins at 9 a.m.
Instead of registering for each event individually, prospective runners may register for both races by signing up for the Tri-Umph Package. The Tri-Umph Package is available for $95 until October 11, and afterwards for a fee of $110.
The Tri-Umph Package, as well as registration for individual events, is available online at NH.com/running-festival. All races begin from the YMCA of Greater Nashua, located at 24 Stadium Drive.
