Hightail to Ale 5K

On Friday night, Atwater Brewery hosted their annual High Tail to Ale 5k.  They tout it as a keg party with a 5k warm up.  The start and finish were at Atwater and the course took you from there, up past the Ren Cen to the Port Authority and then back along the river walk and through Milliken State Park (apparently, there is a state park in Detroit - who knew?).  This was only my second official 5k, although I run 3 miles a few times a week, just to stay in shape, and my goal time was to finish in under 30 minutes.  My official time was 28:28.  Not too shabby, although, my run tracker app had me at 26 something, in any case, I still beat my goal.

The best part of the race: as you cross the finish line, they hand you a beer.  Best. 5k. Ever.  I opted for the Dirty Blond Ale and man, was it tasty!  I'm not one to normally say this, but it was actually better out of the can than fresh from the tap.  Not entirely sure how that works.

The High Tail to Ale is part of the Thirsty Three.  It's the first in the series.  There is another race in August and one in October.  The one in August is a wine 5k.  A WINE 5K!!  I am SO BUMMED that we won't be here for me to run in it.  You have no idea. #FirstWorldProblems.  The final in the series is a hard cider run.

We also ran into a number of friends that we didn't know were also planning on running.  Instead of hanging around in the crowd, we headed over the Bucharest Grill / Park Bar to grab some dinner and a beer or two.  Turns out, a lot of other runners had the exact same idea.  A couple beers, some schwarma and a GIANT plate of garlic dip later, and we were done.  

Once again, I had my personal photographer in tow (now, I just need to get a stylist to follow me around, and then I'd have an official entourage), and he got some great pictures.  Check them out below!  

Meghan enjoying her delicious post-race Atwater Brewery Dirty Blonde beer.