Race Report: Celebration Rotary Club Pancake Run 10K 2016

The Celebration Rotary Club 18th Annual Pancake Run took place on a rainy day in October. This 5K and 10K race event put on by the Celebration Rotarians benefits the Central Florida USO.

Training & Goals
I was following a self-made training plan for the Lighthouse Loop Half Marathon and the Wine & Dine races at Disney World coming up at the end of October and beginning of November. This race fit into the plan, although training ended up getting a bit derailed for various reasons. Anyway, a big reason I wanted to run this race was because it coincided with a visit from Arthur's family from overseas. I thought it would be fun for them to attend a race during their trip. A bonus was that spectators could partake of the accompanying pancake breakfast for a small fee. The location was about an hour from home so we planned a nice day out following the race in the surrounding area.

Race Day: October 15, 2016
My mom met us at home before we left early on race morning. The drive in was overcast but rain was not in the forecast. We had some drizzle as we approached downtown Celebration but I was still hoping the race would remain dry. It was cloudy and 73°F with 94% humidity at the start of the race. There was no rain as we started the run, but the roads were wet from earlier precipitation.

Mile 1: 10:26

Mile 2: 10:31
I was hoping my pancake t-shirt would get some compliments but I guess the print isn't very clear. Somewhere around mile two a fellow runner told me she finally could see what my shirt was -- honey! What?!

Mile 3: 10:44
The route took us through the pretty streets of downtown Celebration. At the halfway point water stop some enthusiastic volunteers recognized my pancake shirt and gave me a shout-out. Yay!

Mile 4: 10:49
The routes of the 5K and 10K overlapped in some spots. Around mile 4 we split again and I don't feel like it was very clearly marked. I really thought I was running with the same 10K folks for a while but when the turn for the 10K came, they followed the 5K route. I was super confused.

Mile 5: 10:49

Mile 6+: 11:08, 3:08*
The rain started up again at the end of the race and it really came down hard at some points. I had to watch my footing and it really slowed my pace (not that I was on track for a PR anyway...).

After the race I met up with my family and I changed out of my wet clothes awkwardly in the car. We huddled under an umbrella to eat our pancake breakfast. The pancakes were the best I've ever had at a fundraiser breakfast and they were served with some delicious berry compote and honey butter. Unfortunately the rain kept coming and there wasn't really enough space under the firehouse roof for everyone to keep dry.

The results of the race show some strange anomalies that I don't think were adequately addressed after a couple of runners (including me) emailed the race directors and timing company. The 5K race was supposed to start 15 minutes after the 10K, and several 10K runners (including some in my Female 41-59 Age Group) show a ~15 minute difference between their chip time (time their actual bib crossed the start/finish line) and their gun time (time it took them to finish from when the starting gun was fired). Maybe they ran the 5K race but had 10K bibs?

The course through Celebration was really pretty and I enjoyed the run. The rain was a bummer but the race directors can't help that. The unresolved results weirdness puts me off doing this race again, though.

Chip time: 1:07:08
Placement details: 12/25 in (41-50) age group; 91st out of 211 finishers
Race Amenities: Swag included tech shirt, tiny medal, pancake breakfast
Cost: $45.00

*I often forget to turn off my Garmin after a race, so the final time is skewed.

Report written December 10, 2016