March 1, 2014 10:00 am, Hamtramck, MI
Temperature: 24 degrees, windchill 24
Race #6 in 2014
Race #16 all time
Distance: 5k (3.1 miles)
Time: 31:14, (PR is 30:31)
Finish: 42/183 in my age group, 506/1436 overall
LOVED this race! Let me just cut to the good stuff....I RAN THE ENTIRE DISTANCE!!! This is a first for me. I thought for sure I had my Personal Record, but no such luck. I will say, my PR is from a race in which I ran/walked, and when I finished that race I didn't believe my time even then. That was one of my first races, so I didn't use any mapping apps at the time. Either the course was not truly 3.1, or when I was running I was RUNNING. It was a trail race too, which makes me think my time would be even slower than previous races...but I digress...Unofficially, I will say I PR'd this race! THIS will be the number to beat every week!
Now the nitty gritty. The boys had a hockey game at the exact same time as the race, so they were unable to run today. I signed up for this race on February 21, just making the 2nd early bird price of $25 plus a processing fee of $3.25. I did the registration online via their website. I had no problems with this process at all. I thought it was AWESOME that the race offered runners their choice in color for the shirts we were to receive. In keeping with the Paczki theme, the colors were named after Paczki. Raspberry, plum, lemon, or custard. Because I was rather late in registering, the only color left in my size was lemon (I wanted raspberry).
The race organization had a facebook page dedicated to the run, which they updated regularly. I was concerned about the streets being filled with residents parking their cars on race day, so I posted on their facebook page my concerns, and they immediately responded to tell me the entire route would be a no parking zone during the race.
This race offered 2 days for early packet pick up (LOVE this). I went the first day, Thursday, right at 4 when they opened. Email communications, the race website, and their fb page were very clear with packet pick up instructions. I was concerned with parking in Detroit, but I was able to find a spot right in front of the building! I took my kids with me to explain this process, as they will officially be doing 5k's this year. Bib numbers were on the walls when you went in to the room. After I gave the volunteer my number, she retrieved my bib and shirt. She verified with me that everything on the bib was correct. I kind of jokingly told the volunteer that yes, my info was correct, but I really wanted a raspberry shirt. She said "but you indicated during sign up lemon". I told her how that was the only choice because I did it late. She said, "I will be happy to switch it for you, we actually now are out of lemon, and people want lemon, and we ended up with extra raspberry." YAY for me!! So I ended up with raspberry after all!
After picking up the packet we drove to Hamtramck to check out the course. I was a little upset with the amount of potholes on the streets, the parking of so many cars on such narrow streets, and the ice mounds on some of the roads. As stated, I posted about the parking and was relieved to hear about the no parking zone.
On race day, I arrived to the area pretty early, at 8:55 am. I was able to nab a great parking spot, right next to the polish music tent! I stayed in the car for a while listening to the music. Then I got out, warmed up, and met the runners from one of my running groups for a group picture. We then proceeded to the start line. The only negative thing I can say about this race is that it did not start on time. According to my phone it started 11 minutes late. I know that's not a big deal, but when you are standing still waiting for a race to start, it gets very cold! They did the national anthem, and one of the race organizers then explained that they had the potholes filled in as best they could! I was so happy to hear this!!
The race went thru residential areas of Hamtramck, a very big Polish community in SouthEast Michigan. While there were cars on the route, there were not nearly as many as when I drove it on Thursday. Most of the ice was cleared, and the potholes WERE filled! There was some congestion with runners, especially for the first half mile. Then on top of that, a runner who had her big dog with her had to stop in front of everyone while her dog did his business (BIG business if you know what I'm saying). This is the first time I have seen this in a race. Personally I am not a fan of dogs or strollers in races, and this is why. Especially when it's so crowded. There were many runners actually yelling at this lady, because it caused the inconvenience of the crowd parting ways.
The race itself was pretty uneventful for me...I just kept running and running and never stopped to walk. VERY proud of myself for this accomplishment. After crossing the finish line, we were handed a bottled water and a paczek (for you non Polish readers, that's singular of paczki). We were also given free beer, however I chose not to get one. I stayed and listened to some Polish music for a while and cheered on the other SEMR runners still coming in.
Conclusion: LOVED LOVED LOVED this race. I really enjoyed the theme of it (as you can see by my shirt I AM Polish)! The race organization was really on top of things with communication and also responding to those potholes. The only negative was starting late. For $25, I thought it was an excellent chip timed race, and I really enjoy having a shirt that's a different color then most races offer. And the best part of all, was enjoying my paczek after :)
Race on runners :)
AP Running Mom
