Annual Soup Walk: Holliston 5 & 10 KM Routes

$4/walker
This is a traditional event, with marked route and is not a group or guided walk. If anyone is interested in volunteering to help at stations, please reach out to Blake or Bea.

REGISTRATION/START TIMES:
10km walkers: 9:00-10:00 a.m. 5km walkers: 10:15-11:00 a.m. FINISH TIME: by noon. The walk times are staggered so that walkers will finish shortly prior to noon when the soups are served. If you do not wish to stay for soup, you are nonetheless invited to join the walk event and start anytime between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m

TRAIL DESCRIPTIONS: The 10km walk is comprised of two loops and the first loop, much of which is on flat, paved surfaces, is also the 5km route. This loop traverses through downtown Holliston, including new crosswalks and traffic lights, before venturing into the Mudville neighborhood. A tribute to Casey at the Bat and the Irish immigrants who originally settled Mudville will be seen before heading to Arch Street, walking under a 1-arch railroad bridge (listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the smallest railroad bridge in the world). Weather & trail conditions permitting, walkers will head up to the Upper Charles Rail Trail to reach Blair Square and then continue on the Rail Trail to walk over the recently renovated 8-Arch Bridge, originally built in 1846 by the Boston & Worcester Railroad over the Bogastow Brook Viaduct. If conditions do not allow walking on the Rail Trail, a parallel street route will be used offering a view of the 8-Arch Bridge from below. Walkers then return to the finish for 5km walkers and checkpoint for 10km participants. The second loop of the 10km route includes two gentle hills and is on paved surfaces. After passing the high school, the route circles through a neighborhood, then travels through the Thomas Hollis Historic District with stately antique colonial homes dating to the early 19th century and back through the downtown area. The walk routes are mostly on paved surfaces with a few slight inclines and have an AVA rating of 1A, suitable for baby strollers, but difficult for wheelchairs due to some missing curb cuts.

Soup Social With soup being served at noon, you are invited to join fellow walkers for this social gathering—our first since 2019. If you would like to contribute an appetizer, soup, bread or dessert (no nuts please since our host location is a nutfree facility), please notify Blake (host) to indicate what you are planning to bring. Note that it is not necessary to come with anything other than your smiling face, an appetite and perhaps your favorite soup bowl and spoon. Beverages and paper goods will be provided.