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Make a run for the Craft Brew Races this year

This year we are proud to once again sponsor each of the six Craft Brew Races to be held in New England. Find out why this fun series helps to connect us to future tour guests.

The Craft Brew Races are a celebration of local craft brewing, an active lifestyle, and the surrounding community.

Each event consists of a timed 5K road race followed by a local 3-hour outdoor craft beer festival. Every participant receives a finisher’s medal that also doubles as a bottle-opener, and a distinctive branded souvenir pint glass upon exit.

The organizers are proud to purchase all beer directly from the breweries or distributors in order to support the craft industry.

For the beer festival there are no tickets, just unlimited samples from local, regional, and national breweries. And as with most beer festivals there will be live music, food available for purchase, and great vendors like us!

We are pleased to once again sponsor all six of the Craft Brew Races that are help in New England. We found that these festivals really helped connect us to a new group of prospective guests.

The line waiting to spin the wheel in New Haven, CT last year was so long, the neighboring breweries shuttled beer to them as they waited.

The attendees at these events fall in a wide demographic. There are serious runners who are casually interested in beer, and also serious beer drinkers who can suffer through a 5K run just to drink good beer. And there are plenty of sporty and thirsty people in the middle wearing fun costumes as well.

Zach hosting the Wheel of Brew Trivia in Stowe, Vermont

We find that many people attending have no idea that there is even a possibility of taking a tour bus to visit multiple breweries. Many interested people stop by our booth to get information about our current tours, sign up for our newsletter, and of course spin the Wheel of Brew Trivia to win a prize pack from us on the bus.

All set up at Payson Park for Craft Brew Races in Portland last year.

Later on, when they think about visiting Maine and visiting Portland (maybe for our own Craft Brew Races event on June 25th) they remember their experience with us and book tours to learn more about the craft scene.

The start/finish line in Worcester is right in front of the Worcester Common.

The first New England event is this coming Saturday in Downtown Worcester. Beginning from in front of Worcester Common, this run through the city streets ends right back in the outdoor space that then features the beer festival.

In Worcester it is expected that 39 breweries will be in attendance. They’ve got a great slate of breweries on board, from local superstars like Wormtown, Jack’s Abby, and Wachusett, to regional rockstars like Two Roads Brewing and Mayflower Brewing. With 39 breweries pouring a variety of styles, there will be plenty of craft beer to help you hydrate post-run!

And also you can feel good about participating, Preservation Worcester is the charitable beneficiary of the Worcester Craft Brew Races. A portion of all proceeds will go towards The Preservation.

If you haven’t done so already, be sure to grab one of the limited number of tickets still available, or recruit your friends to join a team. Tickets are available at the Craft Brew Races event page, but online registration closes Friday at midnight.

Want to know about the other events in the series? Mark your calendars for these dates and locations:

There are even more events outside of New England, with one in Boulder on September 10th.

Hope to see you soon at one of these great runs and festivals!


Don Littlefield is the General Manager of The Maine Brew Bus. He last enjoyed an Allagash White at a Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce event last night. Twitter: @BeerinME