Don’t miss the 15th (and final) Finish for a Guinness 5K

By Ethan Hartley
Posted 8/28/23

Lace up your racing shoes and do some calf stretches, because it’s time for the 15th Annual Finish for a Guinness 5K race, taking place on Sunday, Sept. 3 in Warren.

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Don’t miss the 15th (and final) Finish for a Guinness 5K

Posted

Lace up your racing shoes and do some calf stretches, because it’s time for the 15th Annual Finish for a Guinness 5K race, taking place on Sunday, Sept. 3 in Warren.

However this year’s race will have a hint of melancholy once runners receive their finish-line libations, as race co-founder and organizer Tara Thibaudeau reports it will be the last one.

“We just feel like we’ve run our course,” she said, utilizing a perhaps unintentional but still appreciated running pun. “We’ve done it, and it’s a lot of work. My kids are older now and they want to move on with their lives now and it takes a lot of people to run it that day.”

Thibaudeau and her siblings started the race to assist her brother-in-law, Chris, who was diagnosed with ALS and sadly passed away around six months later. The first race was created as a fundraiser to help Thibaudeau’s sister, Amy, with the surrounding financial issues created through finding care and treatment options for Chris.

That initial race started with around 250 runners, and in the many races since, they’ve ballooned up to around 800 at their peak. Thibaudeau said she expects over 800 to be running this year.

As for the amount of money they’ve raised in the history of the race, Thibaudeau said it eclipses $500,000.

“We have definitely raised a lot of money and donated a lot of money and helped a lot of families and did exactly what we wanted to do,” she said. “We wanted to take a bad situation and try to make it better.”

The race kicks off at 10 a.m. with registration and bib pickup happening on Saturday from 12-3 p.m. at the Old Warren Marine (66 Church St.). On race day, registration begins at 8:30 and kicks off at 10:00 a.m. in front of the Baker Street Playground and runs throughout the downtown Warren area.

If you want to register for the race, go to runsignup.com/Race/RI/Warren/AnnualFinishforGuinness.

A $150 cash prize is awarded to the top male/female runners, and the first 500 pre-registered runners get a race t-shirt.

Thibaudeau expressed sadness that the event was coming to an end, but was grateful for all the support that enabled the race to occur for 15 years as it did.

“It’s something that is going to be missed but we’re finishing on a high note,” she said.

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