{"id":824,"date":"2008-12-02T04:35:22","date_gmt":"2008-12-02T09:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/?p=824"},"modified":"2008-12-01T23:35:51","modified_gmt":"2008-12-02T04:35:51","slug":"race-review-giving-thanks-5k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/race-review-giving-thanks-5k\/","title":{"rendered":"Race Review: Giving Thanks 5K"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This race<\/a> has outgrown its humble beginnings.\u00a0 It wasn’t clear to me when I registered that this was a “fun run” had I known that I might have chosen a different race or just run with another group of friends.\u00a0 Nonetheless, we had a fun time and enjoyed the beautiful Thanksgiving morning!<\/p>\n

We arrived in plenty of time, checked-in, and waited around.\u00a0 There was hot water with instant coffee, hot chocolate, and hot apple cider available.\u00a0 I went for the cider and Nathan, Mike, and Emily went for the coffee – I was the only one who walked away happy.\u00a0 Registration went smoothly and Nathan and I did a warm-up lap around Como Lake<\/a>. It is about 1.6 miles around the lake and we got a little confused by the mile markers. They didn’t represent miles or kilometers….<\/p>\n

Como Lake is a nice setting for a race and it was a beautiful morning.\u00a0 Upper 20’s or lower 30’s and a lot wind, with the lake having a thin layer of ice on top.\u00a0 Some snow lingered around the lake and frost on the little dock.\u00a0 The rising sun would have made for an amazing picture – but I forgot my camera and I’m not good at creating a word picture, so just imagine it!<\/p>\n

We made our way to the starting line and waited, and waited, and waited some more.\u00a0 They were waiting to get everyone out of the registration area.\u00a0 The race director made some announcements, but some in the crowd were getting a little anxious to start.\u00a0 We finally started exactly 15 minutes late.\u00a0 The director had tried to help the front of the pack separate into some semblance of finish times which if people actually followed would have made for a decent start.\u00a0 At these races though no one really starts in the right spot unless they are super-fast on the front line!<\/p>\n

I was on the far outside 3-5 rows deep and was able to dart out and around a huge chunk of slower runners. Paul, another runner in our group, got stuck on the inside and struggled to get around slower runners. I settled into a comfortable pace and started picking off runners, while dodging walkers.\u00a0 Even during the first lap there was a lot of walkers on the trail.\u00a0 Some were neighbors of the lake, while others were wearing race numbers and should have started behind us…\u00a0 For the first lap it wasn’t too much of a problem because they were in small groups.\u00a0 About .75 miles into the race we turned a corner and got hit by a pretty strong headwind which we faced for about the next mile.\u00a0 Shortly before the first mile mark a father was letting his 4 young boys run around with the runners.\u00a0 They paid no attention to us almost cutting me off a few times.\u00a0 I think if this wasn’t a holiday I may have gotten upset.\u00a0 I tried to stay relaxed and have some fun. I was enjoying slowly picking people off!\u00a0 I ran the first mile in 6:37<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>It was pretty much more of the same as we came through the finish line area and back past the starting line. At this point the trail started to really be getting crowded with walkers, strollers, and dogs. I tried to stay relaxed and zigged and zagged my way around them without making any quick movements and trying to run the tangents as much as possible. I was feeling pretty relaxed and comfortable as I came through mile 2 in 6:35<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The last mile was all in the wind again which wasn’t overly pleasant and the runners were pretty spread out while the walkers were getting thicker. I looked up ahead and saw a woman running and a man in shorts and set myself to try and beat them both.\u00a0 So I slowly picked up the pace and worked on my zig zag technique and ran mile 3 in 6:16<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

As we turned the corner into the homestretch I still hadn’t caught either of the people I wanted to pass and couldn’t see shorts guy anymore but the woman was with in reach – as long as she didn’t kick too hard! I turned it on and went flying past her and strode across the finish line, pretty happy with myself!! The last 0.1 miles was in 0:32<\/strong> which is 4:41 pace!\u00a0 Overall 5K time was 20:01<\/strong>.\u00a0 I had no expectations for this race so that was fine… it would have been nice to get under 20 since I was so close, but oh well!!<\/p>\n

Talking with people who know the race director they said something like 600 people had pre-registered for the event, for smaller events you plan to double your pre-registered numbers, but there was a 700 participant limit.\u00a0 I would wager that they got pretty close.\u00a0 Since this was a fun run they didn’t have an official timing system or results.\u00a0 In his pre-race announcements the director indicated that next year they will be changing the course so that the runners aren’t lapping the walkers and creating a mess in the middle of the race.\u00a0 That would be a most excellent idea, especially if they can keep it flat! I occasionally enjoy low-key events<\/a> and this would rank up there as fairly low-key. Charities Challenge<\/a> is trying to encourage everyone to exercise and it is a hard balance between attracting lots of runners (of all speeds) and families who just want to walk together while supporting a good cause.<\/p>\n

A lot of the walkers had pinned sheets of paper on their backs which said, “I am thankful for…” It was a good reminder throughout the race that I should be thankful<\/a> for my abilities.\u00a0 Many of them were too long to actually read while I ran by, but it is nice to see people celebrating family!<\/p>\n

Media Coverage<\/strong> Pre-Race<\/a> on Kare11<\/p>\n

Note: if you zoomed in really close on the map you could see the zig and zag but at the zoom level above it just looks like the same course. <\/em><\/p>\n

[tags] Thanksgiving, 5K, Race Review, Charities Challenge [\/tags]<\/p>\n

\"Reblog<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This race has outgrown its humble beginnings.\u00a0 It wasn’t clear to me when I registered that this was a “fun run” had I known that I might have chosen a different race or just run with another group of friends.\u00a0 Nonetheless, we had a fun time and enjoyed the beautiful Thanksgiving morning! We arrived in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[45,28,13,37],"tags":[337,135],"class_list":["post-824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-5k","category-charity","category-my-running","category-race-review","tag-lake-como","tag-thanksgiving"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4iaAv-di","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":116,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2007\/upcoming-races-thanksgiving-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":824,"position":0},"title":"Upcoming Races Thanksgiving Day!","author":"crossn81","date":"November 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm going down to Broadripple for the Drumstick Dash. My wife is working on Thanksgiving so I'm kind of bumming around with other friends who are staying in Anderson! I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you have lots to be thankful for! Four Mile Foot Fest begins\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Calendar"","block_context":{"text":"Calendar","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/calendar\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1610,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2009\/race-review-victory-5k\/","url_meta":{"origin":824,"position":1},"title":"Race Review: Victory 5k","author":"crossn81","date":"September 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Another great morning dawned on Labor Day for the Victory 10k\/5k in north Minneapolis.\u00a0 The Victory races bring in a great crowd of competitors due to its flat and fast course.\u00a0 It is held annually on Victory Memorial Parkway. The morning began fairly cool in the mid-50's with humidity.\u00a0 I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "5K"","block_context":{"text":"5K","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/5k\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1385,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2009\/race-review-brian-kraft-5k\/","url_meta":{"origin":824,"position":2},"title":"Race Review: Brian Kraft 5k","author":"crossn81","date":"May 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Monday morning was another near perfect morning for a race. Upper 50's into the 60's by race time, overcast, and a slight breeze (a little more than slight at parts!). The sun warmed us up while waiting at the starting line but seemed to disappear as we made the 5k\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "5K"","block_context":{"text":"5K","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/5k\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1398,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2009\/slow-build-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":824,"position":3},"title":"Slow Build Up","author":"crossn81","date":"June 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"This week was a good rebuilding start.\u00a0 I'm trying to be careful.\u00a0 I also feel like it was a good \"break\" and feel ready to go again.\u00a0 Just wish my foot would stop hurting.\u00a0 Almost continuous pain isn't fun. Hard to believe that June is here already! Now that I've\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "My Running"","block_context":{"text":"My Running","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/my-running\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":741,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/race-review-rockys-run-8k\/","url_meta":{"origin":824,"position":4},"title":"Race Review: Rocky’s Run 8k","author":"crossn81","date":"November 6, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The Rocky's Run 5k & 8k brought back a lot of college memories for me.\u00a0 I've done a lot of trail races since college, but this is the first \"cross country\" race.\u00a0 So many things about it were similar to a cross country meet. Location - a golf course, we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8k"","block_context":{"text":"8k","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/8k\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"\/running\/images\/rockyrunAnneTeam.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2838,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2011\/race-review-autumn-salomon-trail-series-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":824,"position":5},"title":"Race Review: Autumn Salomon Trail Series #1","author":"crossn81","date":"September 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"A nicely organized, fairly low-key 5.7k trail race at Hyland Park. 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