Officer Thomas Giunta 5K (1995-2010)

Here's some good news -- registration is now open for the Officer Thomas Giunta 5K Memorial Road Race on Sunday, April 11, in Fall River, Mass. Here's some bad news -- the front of the web site notes that this will be the final race in its 16-year existence.

This news really bums me out because this race ranks among my top three favorites and it gives me a chance to race in my hometown and run into people I know from Fall River that I rarely see. If you have never ran it before, it takes place on a nice course with an uphill at the start and a downhill midway through the race, features one of the best post-race buffets around (picture two 60-foot rows of food) with two of my favorite Fall River dishes (chourico & peppers and Fall River chow mein), and a superb post-race party at the Elks Club four miles up North Main Street with a few kegs of beer, good company, and a scaled-down version of the band Bob's Day Off playing music.

It's surprising that this great race is coming to an end, especially since last year it drew over 1,000 participants (1,040) for the first time in its history (a 25 percent boost from the 823 it drew in 2008) and the city really gets behind it. The Giunta family and their race committee put a ton of work into making this race one of the best in this chunk of New England. I'm definitely sad to see this race come to an end, and I'm sure I'm not the only runner who feels this way.