Blessing of the Fleet 2026

Narragansett, RI

Friday, July 24, 2026

I believe last year (2025) was the first year that the Blessing sold out, I think in a few months.  There is currently a total capacity of 4,000 runners and walkers combined, set by the town of Narragansett.  This year it sold out in one week!  There was a lot of discord, from no notification as to when registration would open, to no waiting list, to no ability to transfer bibs.  I generally agree with these criticisms, but fortunately I was checking the Blessing site in March when I saw that registration would open April 1, and I put it on the calendar and let others know.

Thanks to Jeff Vuono and Eileen Lassek for picking up my bib and shirt, along with picking up for many others.  Between this year's shirt color (purple) and the material (cotton), I'm not sure I will ever wear this shirt, just not my thing.  Not that I have any shortage of running shirts!

Race day:  Fast forward to race day.  This year will be my 24th consecutive!  And yes, I registered for and ran in the Blessing virtual COVID edition in 2020.  To avoid a repeat of the year when I actually forgot to bring my bib, had to turn around and go back home, and started the race 12 minutes late (yeah, pretty bad), this year I had everything laid out and packed 24 hours ahead of time.  We got the to the race about 5:15pm (6pm start), and Jana dropped me off on South Pier Road once she ran into police barricades.

My "race kit" laid out the night before,
and ready to go.

Walked the 1/2 mile to the start, then jogged out to the real bathroom I use each year on Boon Street. Had an Untapped waffle and my final pre-race sips of water, discarded the trash, and jogged to start line, where I ran a few strides.  Aerosmith's "Walk this Way" is blasting as I line up, about 4 rows back with Tommy and Shara.  Awesome motivational music!

I am wearing my New Balance Elite v5, pretty much brand new with just 3 miles on them from a recent WTAC Fun Run just to wear them at least once ahead of race day.  I bought them for Chicago Marathon upcoming in Chicago, and up until Chicago, to keep them fresh in their "sweet spot", I will only be wearing them at my two goal races:  Blessing (this race) and New Haven 20K on Labor Day.

New kicks!

Race start:  I pull slightly ahead of Tom, Shara, and Jared Dybas.  The first two I will not see again during the race.  The first 1/4 mile is hard enough with the crowded start, but then I see local Paul Weigle out in front of me, arms stretched out to the side, as he's talking and laughing with his buddy.  I'm all for all paces and abilities in this race, but he certainly should know and understand that he shouldn't line up at or near the start line in such a big race (he ran a 1:47+, 10+ minute pace) in the front.  Maybe it's the race's fault for not putting self-seed timing line-up signs?  Anyway, I run awkwardly wide of him and his buddy as I shake my head and keep moving.

1/2 mile in, I see Jana in her usual spot at the corner of Boon Street and South Pier.

Great photo, thanks to Jana!
Note Jared (white singlet behind me) coming my way.

Turn right onto Ocean Road, and my first mile split is 6:01.  Faster than my target 6:15-6:20, but it's just the first mile, and it's downhill.  Time to rein it in a bit.

Towards the end of Mile 1, about to turn onto Ocean Road
(From Rhode and Track Photography)

During the next three miles on Ocean Road, I did indeed rein it in, with a 6:20, 6:10 (another slight downhill), and 6:23 for Miles 2, 3, and 4, respectively.  Jared passed me early on in Mile 2, and then we spent the next three miles either in lockstep or with one of the two just slightly in front of the other.

Turning onto Route 108, this is usually the hottest and hardest part of the course.  But this year, it was actually mostly clouded or shaded and honestly not bad!  These two miles have an almost imperceptible uphill as well, but it didn't seem to impact me today.  I passed Jared early in Mile 5, expecting him to quickly catch right back up to me, but that didn't happen and unbeknownst to me at the time, I wouldn't see him again until after the finish.  I remember years ago thinking this stretch goes on "forever", but over time, I've gotten used to the few landmarks on this section of Route 108, including knowing exactly how many traffic lights remain before we turn off.  Miles 5 and 6 splits were 6:14 and 6:21, respectively.

Turning off of Route 108 into the darker shaded neighborhood, I realize I'm feeling pretty good for being 60% through the race.  Less than four miles left!  I see Chris Garvin in this 7th mile and between that brief motivation and getting close to the proverbial "home stretch", I'm excited and pick it up a bit.  6:05.

Early in Mile 8, I pass the two young women I've been trailing for pretty much the entire race.  I'm unaware of Jennifer Brightman there photographing and she captured and sent me a great pic of me striding down Kinney Ave before the left turn onto Gibson.  A short 1/4 mile or so on Gibson, which is chock full of screaming spectators.  I do hear my name called a couple of times, or at least I think I do, but I'm just focused on the run.

Love this photo in Mile 8
from Jennifer Brightman!

Running up South Pier Road, two things were memorable to me:  1) running past the party house right near the start, and they were blasting .38 Special at the time, and 2) Keith Ballard calling out to me from beside his trademark VW van, just before my turn onto Avice.  Avice was the usual party-land with jello shots and a drink station with a sign "Not Water".  Since I'm going for a time, I bypassed both amusements.  Last year I lingered and slid on a kids' slip-n-slide into a refreshing cold pool of water.  Apparently this year with the water ban, there were no slip-n-slides and no water slides, but I didn't even notice as I was totally focused.  Miles 8 and 9 were a pretty fast 6:11 and 6:12, respectively.

Final mile:  Turned off Avice onto Kingstown Road for Mile 10 to the finish.  Saw Chris Garvin again!  It's go time!  Making the final turn by Pier Ice Company, I was surprised to see, catch, and pass Steve Brightman.  He clearly was not having a great day.  Picked up significantly for a final split of 5:45!  (It's a downhill mile, but still a GAP of 5:49, so by either measure my fastest mile.)

Final result:  1:02:10 gun time, 1:02:08 chip time, 48th overall of 2,487 runners, 1st of 60 in age group.  Full results here

From finish line video

Crossed the finish line, turned around, and was surprised to see Shara right behind me!  She finished just 20 seconds behind me and also won her age group.  I've already used my $75 winnings to Wakefield Running Company, and bought a lot of race nutrition supplies for my long runs leading up to Chicago.

Photo just after first 4 WTAC runners came in
l-r:  Shara, Jared, me, Tommy

And a few more post-race shots of Team WTAC finishers:

Really fun race in unusually comfortable weather.  I'm already looking forward to my 25th consecutive.  I'll close out this race report with the following.  

1st overall on an age-graded basis!
87.6% is my highest thus far for any of my races this year.