About the Harpoon 5-Miler

In 2001, Harpoon’s friend Barry Chait came to the brewery and said: You need to do a charity road race, and I want to help you. It didn’t take much convincing, as beer, running and supporting the community is what Harpoon does best. When it came down to choosing the beneficiary, ALS research struck a chord with Harpoon’s co-founders, as one of Harpoon’s founding investors, Gordon Heald suffered from ALS. With Harpoon Brewstock in June, and the tents already in place, 2001 was the inaugural year of the event.

On a sunny Saturday morning in June, 1,000 runners came to the Harpoon Brewery on the Boston Harbor, enjoyed a beautiful race course into South Boston by DCR’s Castle Island Park and DCR’s Day Boulevard and celebrated at the brewery afterwards with beer, music and food. Over $12,000 was raised in that first year.

The race has grown each year since, and to date, has raised over $200,000 for the Angel Fund. We hope to continue this growth, for the Harpoon 5-Miler to become a staple on the Boston events calendar, until we find a cure for ALS.