Dear foodies and music nerds, Maritime Race Weekend just became your new bucket list event

After organizing Maritime Race Weekend for five years, we decided to review everything being offered and determine which features are popular enough to continue and which aren’t.

The Alexander Keith’s Pirate Jamboree is definitely a favourite. Free beer at the finish-line? Um yes please. The temptation station, custom cheer signs and free children’s pirate parade will also continue. Nova Physio will continue to give-out refreshing cold water sponges at the 12K mark so your sweaty heads can be thankful for that. Soles in Motion kiddie pool foot soak will also be back. It looked so relaxing, I need to try it this year. That’s where I’ll be. (Just kidding.)

RELATED: Pint sized helpers

Last year was the first year we didn’t have chocolate milk at the finish-line and we heard you loud and clear – you need to chug this decadent drink after running. Got it.  Thanks to Dairy Farmers of Canada, it’s back. The chips and mandarins were also a huge hit and I ordered thousands of each from Sobeys. Pickles were more popular than we realized it would be and Choice Health has generously offered to supply our runners with this salty recovery treat.

The only big feature being cut is the fireworks. For the small crowd that stayed, you know it was magnificent and we share that memory. Considering that the majority of runners don’t want to wait the hour after the Sunset 5K for the show, we’ve decided to allocate those funds to two new features that we know everyone will enjoy. Are you ready for this?

RELATED: Supporting runners beyond race day

Weather permitting, we’ll have live musicians along the route. Leave your iPods home, we’re hiring local artists to serenade you playing guitars or fiddles and some might even sing. You came to the Maritimes, now you get to take in the east coast soundtrack.  

Another new feature will be toasted bagels! We not only get the best bagels in the city from Izzy’s, but we also offer cream cheese and now we’ll toast the bagels too. (Keep your drool away from us though.) Look for the bagel bar in the Volkswagon Tailgate Party. Speaking of VWs, we will also have a VW VIP parking. I better organize that contest… the race is only two weeks away. See you soon!