Hardy greeting for New Year.

• Position: Sports

The only downer about this year's Freezer Five? The famed "Re-I-Cycled'' shirts available are down to so few that they could be gone by the time someone jumps online today to register.

But running gloves again will go to all who sign up for the traditional New Year's Day 5-miler, with the 33rd running congregating at the Houghton School in Sterling. The race begins at 11 a.m. on that Wednesday morning.

Race directors Joe O'Connor and Kim Wambach and the Central Mass Striders crew will have that fairly flat course ready to go, blizzard or shine.

The event remains one of the area's great deals: $15 if registered by midnight Dec. 24. It's $20 after Santa comes.

Trophies are awarded to the top male and female finishers. Among the prizes in the postrace raffle are three GPS runners' watches.

A fantastic family feature returns in the Freezer 5-280, the kids' 1-mile race. For the past several years, runners have brought their children to participate. Yet, with the popularity of the youth race already, O'Connor sees this as a chance to attract the adults.

"We get a lot of children involved, and hopefully they can get their parents to run,'' O'Connor mused with a smile.

A hearty field of about 280 runners took to the course last year. Recent Freezer Fives have attracted from the high 200s to the low 300s, according to O'Connor.

For more information, check out the CMS website at www.cmsrun.org.

New Year's competition

For the first time in quite a while, there was another New Year's Day race in the area nearly 12 months ago, and it made a fine splash in its debut.

MRA Multisport's Alex Rogozenski was "pleasantly surprised'' when his inaugural 1st Day 5K drew 220 runners to Linwood Avene in Whitinsville, especially since registration didn't begin until Dec. 1.

But there are hearty runners in the Blackstone Valley, and they no longer declare the Whitin 5-Mile Road Race on Thanksgiving the end of the season.

Runners were challenged on the up-and-back course, as a nasty headwind greeted them on the way back after generous splits the first mile and a half.

Still, fun was had by all, evidenced by the 150 who already had registered for the event this Jan. 1. Start time of this race is also 11 a.m.

Along with the online registration, there will be a preregistration from 3-5 p.m. at the Gray Barn on Linwood Avenue.

All participants again will receive a knit cap, and Rogozenski plans on varying the colors from year to year. Hot chocolate and pizza will greet...