Some races you run for a medal. This one hands you a mason jar full of sprinkles and sends you into a bakery. Priorities: correct.
Last December, our family ran the Montclair Doughnut Run for the first time — and it wasn’t just any family run. It was my daughter’s first race ever. No pressure, kid. (She handled it better than I handled my first race, for the record.)
I never wrote it up. So ahead of this year’s race, here’s the recap — and your invitation (along with a sweet promo code!)
Race morning
You know it’s a good sign when the start line is this cheerful: a sea of striped knit hats with pom-poms, a giant doughnut balloon column marking the course, and the Trials of Miles arch over the street. I wore my doughnut-print cap for the occasion, because subtlety is not what this race is about.
The course winds through Montclair neighborhoods — a proper community 5K, with yard signs cheering the race on and plenty of families out running together. It’s competitive if you want it to be, and it’s a party if you don’t. We were firmly in the party division, and we were not alone.
The finish line is a bakery
Crossing under the arch earns you the best finisher’s medal in New Jersey racing: a little mason jar from Montclair Bread Co., filled with sprinkles. And then — because this race understands its audience — you go inside the bakery. We left with a box of six assorted doughnuts and lattes with heart latte art, and posed for our family-of-four photo at the event backdrop like the seasoned doughnut athletes we now are.
Seeing our daughter after she crossed the finish line of her first race, medal in hand, doughnut imminent? That’s the whole post, honestly. Everything else is sprinkles.
Run it with us this year — 2026 details
- When: Sunday, December 6, 2026, 9:00 a.m., Montclair, NJ
- What: 5K (run or walk — families very much included), presented with Brooks; the race benefits the Human Needs Food Pantry of Montclair
- Cost: $55 (the early $50 window closed Nov 5)
- Registration closes: Saturday, December 5, at 4:00 p.m.
- My follower code: LARA15 gets you 15% off registration
- Post-race: doughnuts from Montclair Bread Co., obviously
It’s on my list of the best local races in New Jersey — the only one where my whole family asks about next year before we’ve even finished the box of doughnuts.
Thinking about a first race — yours or your kid’s? This is a very good place to start. 🍩
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