Frosty 5k Race Report

Just over 300 people registered for the first of three Frosty 5k events. This family friendly series has filled the void of running events in the winter months and the excitement and enthusiasm of the participants was evident last Saturday.

Results may be found on Charlotte Health & Fitness Magazine's website at www.chfmag.com.

Jim Payne participated in the 5k run and was kind enough to write about his experience at the event.

Frosty 5k Race Report, January 12, 2008

By Jim Payne

This past weekend I participated in and completed the Frosty 5k Race. The race is 1 of 3 that are being held in Jan., Feb. and March by Charlotte Health and Fitness (CHF) Magazine. I signed up primarily because my friend Tim is now an Editor at CHF and he suggested that I run in the 5ks. They sounded like fun races so I signed up for all three.

I picked up my race packet the day before. The packets were good with actually useful information and a really good, long sleeve race shirt. I smiled when I pulled out the flyer for the upcoming Ramble Trail Half Marathon. An extremely tough Half Marathon trail run that I completed for the first time this past summer.

The Frosty 5k was starting at 9am so I planned on showing up around 8am. Well, as usual, I was running late and did not show up until 8:40am. Everything was organized very well so this was not going to be a problem. The race was starting next to an Elementary School so parking was not an issue. There was even a play ground for the kids. The race organizers had the typical tables for pre-registrants, chip pick up, day of registering, etc. There was also coffee and water abound. I picked up my chip and then went to get ready for the run.

It was a bit cool outside but I still planned on wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Being 47 degrees, the start would be cool but once we got running everyone would warm up and be very comfortable. Of course, I had my Sharksbite singlet on over my t-shirt. Once ready I decided to run the last little bit of the course to check it out. The start was on a down hill which turns out will be a decent uphill to the finish. The course was a very fast out and back through Mallard Creek Greenway. I ran for 5 min or so just getting the feel for the Greenway and warming up. All but 30 yards of the course was paved and winding through the Greenway. I kept thinking, this was going to be a very fun run. Much different from the typical street based 5k through Charlotte. Once back to the start everyone lined up. I assumed my typical place at the back of the pack. I am not very fast and want to respect those that are by not being in the way. The race director went over the typical announcements. Plenty of water, turn here, turn there, have fun and be safe. I looked around and noticed the vast diversity of the people participating. Fast runners, slow runners (myself included in this group), baby joggers, walkers and especially kids. Lots and lots of kids. This is great. Far too many kids are sitting on the couch playing video games or watching TV. It was nice to see so many kids out and off the couch.

The race started. It took 15 to 20 secs for me to get to the start line. Lots of people showed up this cool morning. According to the results site, 250 people ran the 5k. Once we got down the hill the runners started to spread out a bit and I got into a decent pace. The flat course really helped. I saw the 1 mile marker and looked at my watch. 8:41 was on the dial. Amazing. This was pretty fast for me. Granted, not long after that I saw the lead runner on his way back to the finish. He was taking long strides and looked like he was not exerting much energy. He was moving very fast. Not very long after that I saw my friend Marcus on his way back. I got to the turn around point and started thinking that I had the opportunity to complete the course in very good time. This motivated me to continue my fast pace. At the end I started up the hill to the finish line. That hill really got your attention. I pushed and started running to catch up with a guy just in front of me. Once I caught up to him he started to run faster as well. He was about to pass me back but then he tapped me on the back and said, "Come on. You got it. Go Go Go!" Some how I started running even faster. Once we crossed the finish line I could hardly breathe but I felt great. Afterwards he came over and said good run. I could barely get out the same back to him. A race I just came out to run, not thinking of a specific time but rather just run it to have fun turned out to be a personal record breaking run for me.

Afterwards I stuck around to watch the awards being handed out. My friend Marcus was getting one of those coffee cups. The race director handed out the awards with a little bit of comedy sprinkled in. One thing he did that I thought was great was he pulled out everyone who completed this as their very first 5k. Everyone gave them a round of applause. This showed the sense of running community and really builds a sense of achievement by those first time runners. I still remember my very first 5k and this type of acknowledgement is priceless. These 5ks are not the normal 5k road races. They are very family oriented. You can tell they are structured for the community. My hat's off to Charlotte Health and Fitness and the sponsors, especially Lowes Foods for putting on the races. They did a great job with the first one.

More information on the Frosty 5k series and remaining two events may be found on the magazine's website, www.chfmag.com

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