Wow, what an awesome event! I don’t even know where to begin so I’ll start from the beginning…I signed up back in January – you can read more about that here. 

To summarize my goals were to 1. Dress like a pirate. 2. Have fun with me mates! And 3.  Finish the 5k Friday and 10k Saturday with enough juice in my legs to get another 6k in sometime Saturday for my “long run” (16k). I didn’t set any time goals but wanted to finish 5k under 30 minutes and 10k under 60 minutes but not focusing on a Personal Best.

Race Expo – I missed this as it was on Thursday as was working. Bummer

Friday: I worked in the morning as we hosted a Natural Playground Workshop (which was awesome). Sai had taken the girls to my parents place in the morning and I met them for lunch. Once we got Hilary down for a nap and Lilly was occupied with Grammy & Grandad, Sai and I took off to run some errands, have an early dinner and head over to the races for 5:30. The 5k Sunset didn’t start until 7 but I didn’t know the area and wanted to get a good parking spot.

Expect traffic delays and PIRATES!

My friend messaged me to come take her parking spot right at the start/finish area of the race as her Mom was volunteering and heading to her spot. Lucky! It was sunny and warm…perfect for getting on our pirate costumes and just hanging out chatting.

I managed to meet a few friends from twitter…or tweeps…or peeps…I don’t know what to call them. Anyway, it was cool to chat with them in person after some run #RunATCan chats on twitter. They were running the 5k and 1/2 Marathon.

Around 6:30 everyone was encouraged to line up in the shoot according to finishing time. IT WAS PACKED! It seemed like we were waiting forever in the shoot before it started. It was cooling off as the sun was starting to go down and I was starting to regret wearing a tank top. The gun went off and the crowd slowly moved forward and then stopped. They were doing three starts to allow for the mass of people running together. It worked okay but it was still super crowed on your way out.

KM #1: This was really frustrating for me as there were some walkers (which is great) and slower runners (which is great) but we literally weaved through people for one full kilometer on the left hand side of the road only. Krystol was wanting to push it and see how fast she could go. She quickly jumped on the sidewalk like other people and I followed her for a bit.

KM #2 & 3 were great…I was able to weave around people and just enjoy the run out and back, on a fairly flat ground. My goals of both races was to finish them with enough juice in my legs to run another 6k so I could get my long run in. I didn’t want to go all out and push myself for a Personal Best.

OH – let me talk about the view…..this is the only photo I got but I WISH I had my phone during both runs. STUNNING doesn’t even explain the views.

KM #3-5 Around the 3km mark, I noticed my time was pretty fast and physically I was happy with my pace so I figured why not keep going at this pace. Steady pace, steady race…right! Around 4km I knew I could get a PB so I pushed the last kilometer.

Last KM: I felt great as I increased my speed gradually over the last kilometer and was able to see Sai (and Krystol’s husband/kids) before the finish line. With the last little bit to go I really picked up my pace and sprinted as I turned the corner to the finish line. As I crossed the line I was full-out sprinting and gave it my all.

5k: 27:06 (Garmin time)  a new Personal Best – IT. WAS. AWESOME! Krystol finished ahead of me, a Personal Best for her too. She rocked it! We high-fived each other and waited for our friends to cross the line. Chocolate milk, bagels, banana’s and watermelon (yes, please…we all have another race in the morning). Oh – and I am glad I stayed in my tank top – didn’t regret that decision after my run 🙂

 52/499 Division Total (F30-39)

27:43 Gun Time

27:05 Chip Time (even better than my Garmin time)

5:26 Pace (5:21 Pace on my Garmin)

We hung out for about an hour after the race and the sun was gone. It was getting really cold so we took off, missing the fireworks. When we got home, we had a visit with my parents and some family friends. I grabbed a quick shower and then got my race gear ready for Saturday’s 10k.

What I loved about this race: the energy, the view and of course the pirates everywhere. I wish I would have taken pictures of other pirates but I didn’t want to seem creepy, ha ha. The course was beautiful and 95% flat.

What I would do next time: I would book a hotel close to the event, enjoy the fireworks, have a drink with friends and just enjoy the night. I’d also line up a little early so I didn’t have to weave through so many people (maybe next year they will divide the Sunset 5k in more waves/times; those under 15, 16-25 minutes 26-35 minutes etc.)

Stay tuned for the Tartan Twosome 10k Race Recap 🙂 

Do you run in costume races?

Ever get a PB when you aren’t trying to?

Any chance you ran the Tartan Twosome?