YAYYY first race of 2014! To be honest, I've kind of been in withdrawal the past few weeks, because I had two whole weekends and NO RACES. I didn't know what to do with myself. Thank goodness for starting off the new year with a RACE! :D
After multiple requests from runners, Uberthons decided to put together a small, no-frills January run at Cook Park in Tigard, Oregon. Shorthly thereafter, runners clamored for a medal to be added to the race, so Uberthons added that to the race too!
Registration: Easy peasy online registration--there were 1miler, 5k, and combined options. I signed up for the 5k, which was only $22!
Packet pickup: For the first time ever... I forgot about packet pickup. I totally just forgot. Which is a bummer, because they were doing five random prizes for people who picked up their bibs the day before the race. But thank goodness for day of race packet pickup! And fortunately, there were no lines to get your bibs :)
Swag: Because it was a quickly put together, this was being called a no-frills race, but it still included a SWEET medal. It's really nice looking, and fits with the style of the other 2014 Uberthons medals (oh my gawwwd it totally makes me want to collect them allllll). While there weren't race shirts, that's fine--I have plenty!
Parking: Because our iphone Maps app thought that Cook Park was an hour away (it was only about 35 min away), we arrived really early, and parked in the lot fairly close to the event area. Other runners had to find street parking later, but it didn't seem to be too bad.
Back check: Due to the small size of the event, proximity to parking to the starting line, and the fact that there were heat lamps, there wasn't bag check. I was super cold and so I wore my winter coat until they called us to get into the starting corral--I decided to take my chances and just left it on a picnic table in the shelter. It was still there later :)
Course: The 5k course was fairly flat, and covered both dirt and paved trails. It was kind of a loop with some portions where you'd pass other runners. It was a great course, very pretty (although a little portion of it did smell like sewer...) The course was well marked and there were tons of volunteers on the course with flags.
The race: The race started promptly at 9am. Although there was some congestion at the start (please please please, keep to the right unless you're passing!), it quickly cleared up. After that, I ran a little bit too fast, but evened out my pace for most of the rest of the race. I was happy to finish the race feeling pretty good, PR'ing, and pain-free! And it was a gorgeous day, cold but sunny.
Post-race: Post-race, we hung out for a bit and helped ourselves to the hot cocoa, water, banana halves, Larabar minis, and calcium gummy vitamins. There were also two giveaways after the race for a single item up to $50 at Road Runner Sports. I love that Uberthons has two computers where you can immediately check your race results for your chip time! It'll even print out a little receipt. (You can also download the It's Your Race app and get results immediately).
Given that this event was put together quickly and was advertised as a "no-frills" event, it was still incredibly fun and it didn't feel like they skimped on anything!
Registration: Easy peasy online registration--there were 1miler, 5k, and combined options. I signed up for the 5k, which was only $22!
Packet pickup: For the first time ever... I forgot about packet pickup. I totally just forgot. Which is a bummer, because they were doing five random prizes for people who picked up their bibs the day before the race. But thank goodness for day of race packet pickup! And fortunately, there were no lines to get your bibs :)
Swag: Because it was a quickly put together, this was being called a no-frills race, but it still included a SWEET medal. It's really nice looking, and fits with the style of the other 2014 Uberthons medals (oh my gawwwd it totally makes me want to collect them allllll). While there weren't race shirts, that's fine--I have plenty!
Parking: Because our iphone Maps app thought that Cook Park was an hour away (it was only about 35 min away), we arrived really early, and parked in the lot fairly close to the event area. Other runners had to find street parking later, but it didn't seem to be too bad.
Back check: Due to the small size of the event, proximity to parking to the starting line, and the fact that there were heat lamps, there wasn't bag check. I was super cold and so I wore my winter coat until they called us to get into the starting corral--I decided to take my chances and just left it on a picnic table in the shelter. It was still there later :)
Course: The 5k course was fairly flat, and covered both dirt and paved trails. It was kind of a loop with some portions where you'd pass other runners. It was a great course, very pretty (although a little portion of it did smell like sewer...) The course was well marked and there were tons of volunteers on the course with flags.
The race: The race started promptly at 9am. Although there was some congestion at the start (please please please, keep to the right unless you're passing!), it quickly cleared up. After that, I ran a little bit too fast, but evened out my pace for most of the rest of the race. I was happy to finish the race feeling pretty good, PR'ing, and pain-free! And it was a gorgeous day, cold but sunny.
Post-race: Post-race, we hung out for a bit and helped ourselves to the hot cocoa, water, banana halves, Larabar minis, and calcium gummy vitamins. There were also two giveaways after the race for a single item up to $50 at Road Runner Sports. I love that Uberthons has two computers where you can immediately check your race results for your chip time! It'll even print out a little receipt. (You can also download the It's Your Race app and get results immediately).
Given that this event was put together quickly and was advertised as a "no-frills" event, it was still incredibly fun and it didn't feel like they skimped on anything!
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