Running the Gold Jacket 5k

Well everyone, today was the day! I ran my first live road race of the year. One of my hometown races...the Pro Football Hall of Fame Gold Jacket 5k. This was the inaugural running of this event and it was an overall great experience! So where to begin? Well, let's start with yesterday.

The race expo for all this weekend's events took place at the McKinley HS field house. It was well organized and set up very easy to navigate. After getting my number and shirt I made my way through the crowd and back home to rest up for the event.

Now, I usually have a pretty laid back attitude about racing (for the most part) but I do have a HUGE fear of not waking up in time for my race. That said I set about 5 different alarm and told my honey to make sure I was up in time. Of course I woke up with the first alarm, but better safe than sorry, right? lol it was a very chilly morning for a run and I made a slight wardrobe adjustment and had an enjoyable time warming up and snapping pictures.

In front of my city's most well known landmark.

What every runner hopes to see before the race, lol.

Some awesome costumes runners.

The race started right on time and had a very friendly atmosphere. True to form I lined up a little farther back than I probably should have, because of that I ended up getting stuck in some major race congestion. It was a little rough to navigate, and I apologize to any runners I may have unknowingly cut off. It was not my intention if I did so. This was actually the only point at which I would say I had a negative experience, and it was just my perception....but I ended up behind a group of little ladies walking four wide and overheard one say, "There's no need to rush. No one here is trying to set a PR." I'll admit I got a little upset at that. Maybe they weren't aiming for PRs but others may be, and their effective blocking of any way around them was frustrating. I eventually did make my way past them and the rest of the run was a very enjoyable experience. We did get to run by the McKinley Monument and meuseum and through the parks which were both lovely this time of year. The course was mostly flat and downhill which could definetly lend itself to a PR. The finish line appeared before I knew it and just that fast I was done.

Official finish time 28:49. Not too bad. It was not an all out effort, I could have gone faster, which in a way is good to know, but a little disappointing at the same time. Crossing the line we were met by a very courteous, smiling Dan Marino who was there to high five all the finishers...pretty awesome, huh? They had a photographer there to capture the moment and I'm hoping my pic comes out well, I'd love to have one!

We also received one of the coolest prices of race bling I think has ever been made. It's a giant ring and cool enough to make me want to run more races in this series!

Overall this was an amazing race. The kind of experience that got me hooked on racing in the first place. Yes, there was room for improvement, but not much. I most definitely will run this one again, and recommend running one if you are able to do so too!

Now that the competitive fires are burning I couldn't resist signing up for my next live race. It won't be until late June, but I'm totally excited! I'll be running the Thirsty Dog 8k.

For now I'm going to bask in the glow of a great race, relax and get ready for my next virtual race, which will also be my first half marathon in 8 years! Until I see you all again run lots and be happy!! :)