Monday, August 27, 2012

Retro Run (Race Recap)

Denver, CO
Sunday, August 26
A's 7th 5k
Weather - Sunny and HOT HOT HOT


I received a Schwaggle that made this race about $14, so we all decided to do it. Even though it is HOT and in August... why. Why do we do this? For whatever reason, Denver likes to have the 5k's start SUPER late. This one didn't start until 9:30. 9:30!!!

We left the house around 8, hoping that would give us enough time to drive there, get a parking space, and pick up all our stuff. The lots at the lake were already full, but we parked on a side street not too far away. It was plenty of time.

We took some pictures by the lake of what we "thought" were some super awesome 80's outfits. I should have taken  more pictures of people there, as we were by FAR some of the most underdressed people. If you can believe it.





We missed out on the awesome group warm up, and lined up in the back. You know, since we had 2 kids, a stroller and a dog. There was supposed to be music at all the mile markers, and we assumed that there would be at least one water station. You know, since it was already 80 degrees. Nope.

A's a bit grumpy at mile 1 - no water!
The course was fine, I'd actually never run at Sloan's lake before. It was crowded, and obviously we were behind the super slow folks. It wasn't at all a big deal, I really just wanted to get in some light jogging so I could test out the knee. Good news! I didn't have any pain at all! Of course, I was totally moving at a snail's pace.

Around mile 2, A decided she wanted to walk with J and Chopper. That was fine, I planned on jogging until mile 3 and then turning around to walk in with them for the finish. Somewhere around  mile 2.5 I hear "mooooooommmma!!!" and I turn around and A is sprinting towards me. She said she felt like she was ready to run.

When she decides she is ready to run, she can RUN. I had a hard time keeping up and was worried about the knee, but it was fine. We managed to pass L, who had been jogging with H in the stroller, and crossed the line. She booked it the entire last half mile, and her final sprint was 7:33! We saw no water and headed back to meet up with J. We walked him up to the finish line.

A and I finished in about 45 minutes, and the course was just a bit short. Even with all my "back and forths," I measured 3.02 miles. L measured around 2.9 miles.

The Good:
  • People had a LOT of fun with this race. The costumes were awesome!
  • The free sunglasses were a nice, fun touch.
  • The live band was really good.
The Bad:
  • No water before or after the race - it was over 80 degrees when we started at 9:30. Not cool!
  • No food after the race. NOTHING. We didn't get done until about 10:15. A little snack would have been nice.
  • No volunteers on the course except for at mile 2. There were some chalk arrows on the ground, but obviously we must have missed a turn somewhere, or the course was just really short.
  • No timing of any kind (we did know this in advance).
I cannot imagine paying $50 for this race. I would NOT have been happy. Having spent only about $14 a person, it was pretty good.

10 comments:

  1. I can't fathom no water at a race. I mean, during a 5k, I guess, I can KIND of see it, but after?? Madness.

    A looks pretty unimpressed. Ha.

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  2. People paid $50 for an untimed unsupported race? Wow.

    Glad your family had fun. The little girls are so cute.

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  3. I agree, $14 is a good price. But no water pre or post race? I can't see how that could be overlooked.

    Again, great report!

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  4. No water? That's just plain dangerous, especially in summer. Hope you guys managed to re-hydrate and re-fuel somewhere close after that.

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  5. I totally understand the cheap race pull. I bought a $17 half mary deal through Schwaggle for a June 30th race in the high desert here. I should have known I was setting myself up for misery. It was very hot and then nearly 3 miles of the race were on this fine sand stuff that just killed my foot.

    I carry some amount of water with me at all races now thanks to being disappointed in the past. That had to be rough!

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  6. Oh and I'm doing an Awesome 80's run on Saturday that I'm sure people are going to go all out as far as costumes. I was planning on doing my hair the same way as you, I found a neon cut up top I'll wear over a neon bra and then I was thinking leggings but I may stick with a running skirt that has matching neon accents seeing as it'll be nearly 100 degrees in So Cal this weekend again.

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  7. $50 for a 5k??? that is insane. and without water. terrible. i can’t imagine that yall were underdressed. and the girls look adorable. sadly, i love the pic of A being grumpy-she still looks so cute!

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  8. No water is crazy! That's awful. Glad to hear your knee is better!

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  9. Good thing that was a schwaggle! Love everybodys outfits!!

    Sooooo late. I mean that just sounds sooo hot!!

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  10. $50?! Just no. I hope people bitched them out on FB.

    Hope you're having a blast here this weekend and that your knee was good for the half today!

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