Frosty 5k (3rd of 3) Race Report

Frosty 5k (3rd of 3) Race Report

By Jim Payne

Yesterday was the third and final race of the Frosty 5k race series. The first race was held at Mallard Creek Greenway and the second race was held at McAlpine Creek Park. This race was held in Freedom Park close to Uptown Charlotte. This is a nice urban park. It has a neat little outdoor stage located on an island in the middle of a pond. There was ample parking for everyone running in the race and watching the 5k race. I had run on the outside of the park numerous times as one of Sharksbite's group runs used to run right past the backside of the park.

I have been fighting a cold for the past couple of days and considered not showing up. But I did not want to hear the ribbing I would have received from my friends Tim and Marcus if I stayed home. So I left my house shortly after 7:45am and showed up right at 8am. Of course Marcus pulled into the parking lot right as I turned my car off. We walked together to get our packets, bibs and chips. They had the tables setup on the island in the middle of the pond. While walking to the registration tables we were trying to figure out the course. We could see the start/finish being setup but really could not tell the rest of the course. As with the previous races, the registration was setup perfectly. Easy access and no wait. The turn out was great with many people showing up at the race. Many families with dogs and strollers and lots of kids. This is the exact reason why I feel CHF should sponsor a race every month and not just these three. For me, running is about getting outside and exercising. With the Nation average for weight on a significant rise, it is great that CHF can get so many outside and exercising. Being a magazine centered on health and fitness, this seems to be right in alighment with their charter.

The announcement was made to get to the start line and get ready to race. Marcus as usual went to the front. He is very fast and today was in the perfect mood to have a good run. Me, well, I am pretty slow. I have ran these events around a 9 min pace. I expected to be a bit slower today as I was not feeling very well. Still, I lined up where I thought I would place. About 3/4 of the way back from the start. Although this start turned out to be much different from the last. The race director did not line everyone up and this proved to be a big issue. The last race start went so smoothly for everyone. I have no idea why it was not done this time. But, I also understand how crazy things can get for race directors at the start. I am sure he was putting out numerous "fires" such as "I lost my chip..." and "We switched bibs...". At least, this is what I hope. So the race started and of course there was a big bottle neck right at the start. We started the race from the chute that would be at the finish. This caused everyone to bunch up. Especially with the baby joggers and dogs. Once we got past the start area we were running on a paved path. With so many runners this proved to be a continual bottleneck. About a quarter of the mile into the run we actually had to run on a city sidewalk. This was a bad decision. With so many walkers, baby joggers and dogs that started up front this proved to be an even bigger bottle neck than the start. I actually stopped running for a bit and then had to walk for a bit just to stay on course. I NEVER cheat so I just sucked it up and put this down to bad course planning. After the side walk we were still running on pavement but through a little side section of trees in the park. This was a nice area that I enjoyed running through. But just as we were getting into a groove we were out of that area and onto a parking lot. Yep, I said parking lot. I thought the sidewalk was bad but this was just plain boring. After the parking lot there was a little section of sidewalk again and then the turn around point. The course was an out and back so I knew this was the halfway point.

At the halfway point was a water stop manned by a group of cub scouts. They were all very nice and eager to get us our water. I made sure I told them thanks and took my water. Not feeling well I needed it. I also took a sec to look at my watch. I was way off my normal pace. Even being sick I was off the pace I thought I would run. In fact, I was running a slower pace than I have ever ran. I just chalked this up to me maybe being a little more sick that I thought. Still, it was a nice sunny day and I was outside running. This is still better than not running. I have always said, "A bad running day always beats a day without running." I had pasted numerous people and things were pretty spread out at this point in the race. I was able to stretch out my legs and get into a good rhythm. I still had to run through the parking lot and traverse the sidewalk again but with little people around me this was not an issue. Still completely boring but no longer a roadblock to a decent time.

I crossed the finish line around 31:49. This was not happening. Sick or not, Tim would lay down the guilt trip on me. He knows my running goals and he knows my ability. There had to be something other than me wrong. I immediately began thinking the course had to have been marked incorrectly. I guess I should say configured incorrectly as there were no mile markers on the course. At least, none that I saw. Maybe the course layout was not followed prior to the start of the race. Maybe we should have turned around before the parking lot instead of running through it and turning around afterwards. Anyway I sat down in the stands of the little theater with Marcus to await the awards. The first thing he said to me was, "Do you think the race course was long?" Yep. It had to be. That course distance and the layout was the big topic of conversation amongst the participants. Everyone was comparing their GPS running devices. I heard everything from 3.5 miles to 3.75 miles. But not a single GPS device had anything close to 3.1 miles. A 3.5 mile run makes sense for me to finish at a time of 31:49 with a average pace around 9 min. This is how I felt I ran so this is what I am going with.

The awards ceremony afterwards was great. The race director had some clever things to say for the award winners. Everyone was sitting on a hill and on the benches for the theater. It was a good setting to hand out the awards. Marcus came in first in his age group so he completed his set of three CHF mugs. I did find it slightly funny that they gave the winning kids coffee mugs as well. Because of the big give-aways pretty much all the race participants stayed for the awards. I did not win either the treadmill nor the Elliptical Trainer. Oh well, that is not why I signed up for these events. It was nice to see how large the bin was for the people who had signed up for all three races.

This race was just OK. My advice (and they have not asked for it) would be to not have another event at Freedom Park. It is just not conducive to a decent 5k race. Of the three races I would rank them as McAlpine Creek Park first, Mallard Creek Greenway second and Freedom Park a very distant third. I would also set the participants at the race start exactly as was done at the McAlpine Creek. This allowed for a very smooth race start. And lastly, I would get different awards for the kids. They don't need coffee cups.

These three races were a great idea and overall, were put on well. Sure, there are things that can be learned from all the races. Some more than others (say Freedom Park race). But the overall idea was well worth it. Enough people showed up to make them viable from a economic standpoint. Lots of families got outside and exercised. This is the most important point. Getting outside and improving health and fitness for the Charlotte community. I enjoyed the series and hope they do more.