RED Episode #50: Donna Marathon Weekend Social Shakeout Run, Southern Swells, and Mini Bar Donuts

This week’s episode starts a series featuring one of our favorite race weekends, the 2019 Donna Marathon Weekend!

RUN

The 2019 Donna Marathon Weekend started with a Social Shakeout Run on Friday.  It was a 5k to get us going for the fun weekend of running ahead. I love that this weekend gets kicked off by an easy run where you can meet some great people you’ll be running on the same course with during the races like Donna Deegan, the Chief Eternal Optimist and founder herself, Olympian and America’s Coach, Jeff Galloway, Dr. Edith Perez of the Mayo Clinic, and Dr. Andi Sharp of the Bouncy HuntERs, an organization that raises money for The Donna Foundation. The course for this fun run is also a preview of a latter part of the half marathon as well. It means so much when we encounter them on the course during the 5k and the half later in the weekend, having heard their stories of strength, survival, and supporting others.

EAT

The Mini Bar... when you hear that you might think of a hotel mini bar, but in this case, it is made from scratch donuts and creative coffee. It is right next door to Southern Swells Brewing and the perfect breakfast food to refuel after a run. The place has a fun takeout counter that is designed to look like a Volkswagen van. And did I mention the mini doughnuts that take you back to childhood? Tasty flavors based on favorite childhood cereals and desserts make up their menu and cereal lattes to comfort you like staying in and watching Saturday morning cartoons on a chilly day. (It was a little cold on race morning!)

DRINK

We had to celebrate the start of our great weekend of running to support a great cause with a tasty beverage, of course! So we headed to Southern Swells Brewing. We had a chance to chat with owner Corey Adams about a flight of their original beers. They are focused on citrusy New England IPAs, stouts, and sours. Normally, we don’t select these types of beers from a menu, but Corey really set us up with selections that gave us the inspiration to give those types of beer a first glance the next time we look at a beer menu. He gave us a nice education about the different kinds of hops that can used to create IPAs and thus create different flavors than you would typically expect. Thank you, Corey!

THAT’S A WRAP

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