Harvard Pilgrim Finish at the 50 – 5K & 10K at Patriot Place on July 3 Part of Independence Day Celebration with Kid’s Race, Family Activities, Fitness Expo and Fireworks

Online registration and full schedule of events available at www.harvardpilgrimfinishatthe50.com

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (June 18, 2012) – The upcoming Harvard Pilgrim Finish at the 50 – 5K & 10K at Patriot Place will take place on July 3 as part of a two-day Independence Day celebration that includes something for everybody, from recreational athletes to families and children looking to revel in holiday fun.

In addition to the pair of road races – including a brand-new 5K within Gillette Stadium – the two-day event at Patriot Place in Foxborough includes a Kids Fun Run, free family activities, the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Fitness Expo and a fireworks spectacular the night of July 3.

Online registration for the two races, plus a full schedule of activities and events, is available at www.harvardpilgrimfinishatthe50.com.

“We’ve created a fun, two-day event for the entire family,” said Mike St. Laurent of PRE, who organizes the race with B.A.A. Boston Marathon Race Director Dave McGillivray of DMSE Sports. “We’re especially looking forward to the fireworks this year as well as the new 5K within the stadium. The Kids Fun Run is also a huge draw as parents and families can cheer on the children from the stands inside Gillette Stadium. There’s something for everybody.”

For runners, the new 5K features a 3.1-mile course around Patriot Place and through Gillette Stadium, including the stadium ramps, while the 10K winds through historic Foxborough. Both races end at the 50-yard-line inside Gillette Stadium. Runners will experience the unique and fun opportunity to watch themselves on the two giant HD video screens as they pass through the inflatable Patriots football helmet onto the field and race to the finish while family and friends cheer them on from the bleachers.

Kicking off on Monday (July 2), a world-renowned sand sculptor will turn 10 tons of sand into a work of art. Patriot Place will be filled with fun-filled family activities, including bounce houses, face painters, air brush tattoos, live music, and the health and fitness expo, featuring a wide range of vendors and products, starting at 2 p.m. Registered runners can receive complimentary menu items at participating Patriot Place restaurants by showing their bibs from 4 to 7 p.m.

The fun continues on Tuesday (July 3) with sand sculpting and play space, bounce house, air brush tattoos and the health and fitness expo. Roaming performers, live music and a Touch-a-Truck will add to the day’s excitement.

Special appearances will be made throughout the day from the likes of running legend Bill Rodgers, the inspirational father-son Team Hoyt, plus Pat Patriot and Patriots cheerleaders.

The Kids Fun Run, for runners 12 and under, gets underway at 3:30 p.m. inside Gillette Stadium.

The 5K and 10K races start at 6 p.m. at Patriot Place and end at the 50-yard line inside Gillette Stadium. What would an Independence Day celebration be without a fireworks spectacular? Fireworks will start at approximately 9 p.m.

“Families are again encouraged to run as teams,” St. Laurent said, “Last year, several hundred families participated and prizes were given to families with the most participants.”

Bib and t-shirt pickup begins Monday, July 2 from 2-7 p.m. at Patriot Place and continues on July 3 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. To register for the 5K, 10K or Kids Fun Run, and to see a complete schedule of events, go to www.harvardpilgrimfinishatthe50.com.

In 2011, more than 3,000 runners finished the 10K, surrounded by cheers from thousands of family and friends. Updates and information about the event are also available on Facebook.

The Harvard Pilgrim Finish at the 50 – 5K & 10K at Patriot Place is owned and managed by Professional Race Events, LLC (PRE), a collaboration between Mike St. Laurent of Loco Running (www.locorunning.com), and Dave McGillivray of DMSE Sports (www.dmsesports.com), who also directs the B.A.A. Boston Marathon, the TD Beach to Beacon 10K in Maine and the New Balance Falmouth Road Race on Cape Cod.

About Harvard Pilgrim
Harvard Pilgrim is a not-for-profit health plan that provides a variety of insurance plan options and self-funding arrangements to more than one million members in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine., For the eighth consecutive year*, Harvard Pilgrim was named the #1 private health plan in America, according to an annual ranking of the nation’s best health plans by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)**. For more information, please visit www.harvardpilgrim.org.

* NCQA’s Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2011-12 – Private ** U.S. News/NCQA America’s Best Health Insurance Plans 2005-2009 (annual). America’s Best Health Insurance Plans is a trademark of U.S. News & World Report. NCQA The State of Health Care Quality 2004.

About Patriot Place
Adjacent to Gillette Stadium, Patriot Place features more than 1.3 million square feet of shopping, dining, and entertainment. Visitors have access to major fashion retailers, live and interactive entertainment, eateries, a four-star hotel, state-of-the-art theater and much more. For more information, visit www.patriot-place.com.

About DMSE Sports
Founded by McGillivray in 1981, DMSE, Inc. is a leader in sports event management, specializing in creating, marketing and producing mass participatory athletic events throughout the U.S. and abroad. McGillivray and his team at DMSE Sports have produced or consulted on more than 900 mass-participatory athletic events, including the Boston Marathon, the TD Beach to Beacon10K in Maine, Run for the Dream in Williamsburg, Va., the Women’s Half Marathon and was recently named race director of the famed New Balance Falmouth Road Race in Cape Cod. For more information, visit www.dmsesports.com.

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