Spooky Sprint 5K - Melrose

Spooky Sprint 5K - Melrose is put on by the Melrose Family YMCA in Melrose, Massachusetts, on October 31, 2026. The 5K run and walk starts at 8:30 a.m. and covers 3.1 miles through downtown Melrose and Pine Banks. Refreshments, age-group awards and a costume contest follow the finish. The race is one leg of the YMCA of Metro North road race series, with proceeds going to the Annual Fund that keeps childcare, camp and wellness programs within reach for the community.

A downtown course means road running with corners and changes of surface, so practice a few turns at pace rather than only running straight lines. The distance itself is forgiving: four weeks of three runs a week gets most people to a comfortable finish, and adding one session of short, quick repeats each week is enough to sharpen that into a time worth keeping.