This race recap will be slightly different as it was FREE race that was 4.01k (approximately 2.49 miles) and sponsored by Prudential. You know the commericals about are you saving enough for retirement? Well that is what this race is!
We did horror nights the evening before, got to bed late and dehydrated (from all the screaming), and woke up around 7am. Yes, that is late but the race did not start until 10AM! Even though it was hot by then (temp was about 79 when we started), it was still nice to be able to sleep in a bit. We ate some quick breakfast, drove to the rose bowl and parked for free.
Let me just give kudos to this race. It was so well organized except for an exit from the pre-race area to get back to your car was a bit confusing. We had enough time to park, go get our stuff, drop it off and even for me to do a quick warmup. oh I almost forgot the best part-RUDY WAS THE RACE ANNOUNCER! He was missed so much at DL Half weekend, it really warmed my heart to hear him.
We did horror nights the evening before, got to bed late and dehydrated (from all the screaming), and woke up around 7am. Yes, that is late but the race did not start until 10AM! Even though it was hot by then (temp was about 79 when we started), it was still nice to be able to sleep in a bit. We ate some quick breakfast, drove to the rose bowl and parked for free.
Let me just give kudos to this race. It was so well organized except for an exit from the pre-race area to get back to your car was a bit confusing. We had enough time to park, go get our stuff, drop it off and even for me to do a quick warmup. oh I almost forgot the best part-RUDY WAS THE RACE ANNOUNCER! He was missed so much at DL Half weekend, it really warmed my heart to hear him.
The race had 12,000 people of all ages running which is good but I knew I would need to get as close to the front as I could so I get some running in. I decided that I would use this for speedwork-try to run a 5k pace (which would be hard with the crowds and the temps) and see if I could hold on. I decided to shoot for 6 minute kilometers which would put me right around a 24 minute race.
The course went around the rose bowl which I had done many times and at the end, dipped into the Rose Bowl. I was in wave 3. Basically they just had people line up and then just let people go every few minutes. the start was pretty crowded but I was able to weave okay and find decent footing.
Around this time is where the sun caught up to me. Basically my body, after being at Universal, was dehydrated from all of the screaming and probably still hyped up. I think it really thought the apocalypse had arrived as I have never been so thristy in my life. My 4 cups of water I had before bed, and 4 cups before the race, were not enough. Mind you, we did not drink any alcohol before-during-after horror nights so to wake up with essentially was a hangover was not fun. I had a side stitch along with the dehydration so I took a few extra walk breaks and just tried to hold on. (told you-HOT MESS STATUS!)
As I approached the finish, I pushed myself and almost flattened a 5-year old boy that stopped right in front of the finish line. To prevent myself from running him over, I had to basically grab him by the shoulder and try not to hit him or have anyone behind me hit me.
According to the website, I finished in 23:58 (yay I made my goal!) and here were my splits.
1k 8:48
2k 9:51
3k 9:42
4k 10:19
which if you do the math, makes NO SENSE! Maybe it was pace for that kilometer?
oh and out of all of the runners, I was number 509-not too bad considering I had a rough day
On my Garmin my splits where:
1 mile: 9:11
2 mile: 9:36 (the walk breaks didn't slow me as much as I thought)
final .6: 8:36
The course went around the rose bowl which I had done many times and at the end, dipped into the Rose Bowl. I was in wave 3. Basically they just had people line up and then just let people go every few minutes. the start was pretty crowded but I was able to weave okay and find decent footing.
Around this time is where the sun caught up to me. Basically my body, after being at Universal, was dehydrated from all of the screaming and probably still hyped up. I think it really thought the apocalypse had arrived as I have never been so thristy in my life. My 4 cups of water I had before bed, and 4 cups before the race, were not enough. Mind you, we did not drink any alcohol before-during-after horror nights so to wake up with essentially was a hangover was not fun. I had a side stitch along with the dehydration so I took a few extra walk breaks and just tried to hold on. (told you-HOT MESS STATUS!)
As I approached the finish, I pushed myself and almost flattened a 5-year old boy that stopped right in front of the finish line. To prevent myself from running him over, I had to basically grab him by the shoulder and try not to hit him or have anyone behind me hit me.
According to the website, I finished in 23:58 (yay I made my goal!) and here were my splits.
1k 8:48
2k 9:51
3k 9:42
4k 10:19
which if you do the math, makes NO SENSE! Maybe it was pace for that kilometer?
oh and out of all of the runners, I was number 509-not too bad considering I had a rough day
On my Garmin my splits where:
1 mile: 9:11
2 mile: 9:36 (the walk breaks didn't slow me as much as I thought)
final .6: 8:36
Afterwards, I played some retirement games and even won a deck of cards. Super fun! Jason Derulo was performing but not for at least 1.5-2 hours and we were not going to stay along. We went home and cooked a large brunch to use up as much of the food I had in my house as possible. We also watched Ali Wong on netflix (HILARIOUS!) and then I headed out to a housewarming party for a classmate.
Overall, I loved this race. You cant beat free with a t-shirt, water bottle and a good opportunity to get in some good speedwork before heading to Paris!
Have you ever run a free race before?
Overall, I loved this race. You cant beat free with a t-shirt, water bottle and a good opportunity to get in some good speedwork before heading to Paris!
Have you ever run a free race before?
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