Race Report: Track Shack's Celebration of Running 5K 2016

Track Shack's Celebration of Running kicks of the running season in central Florida for a lot of runners. This year there were 1820 finishers. The event is the first in Track Shack's annual Running Series which has been around for 39 years! The race benefits the Track Shack Foundation.

Training & Goals
I had no special training and no particular goals for this race. On August 1st I started a training plan for a couple of upcoming half marathons and this race fit into the schedule.

Race Day: Saturday, August 13 2016
Arthur drove down to Orlando with me for this race. We arrived in time and found a fine parking spot at a nearby business. Before the start we were treated to a live version of the Star Spangled Banner. The singer flubbed a line a bit but she pressed on with appropriate mumbling before getting it back. Oops. It was 77° with 89% humidity at the start of the race. Ugh!

Mile 1: 9:47
I had crammed myself into the starting area around the 10 minute mile pace sign. I started out very slow, though, dodging walkers and slower runners. I picked up the pace a bit too much once the crowd thinned out which wasn't a brilliant idea.

Mile 2: 10:03
A lot of this race was on brick roads in a suburban area of Orlando that I'm not really familiar with. We runners had to look at our feet and watch our footing for much of the run.

Mile 3+: 10:22, 2:20*
I'm not surprised by the slower pace here. The humidity got to me and instead of taking walk breaks throughout the entire race I seem to have used them all during this last horrible mile. My Garmin's data shows the race was relatively flat throughout, but for some reason I'm remembering a big hill at the end. Huh? After the race I enjoyed my beer and a few other treats. Arthur and I headed to First Watch for a proper breakfast (and I had a sneaky change of clothes in the restroom) before heading to Disney World for more fun.

Chip time: 32:00
Placement details: 33/148 in Age Group; 604 overall out of 1820 finishers
Race Amenities: Swag included a nice lightweight tech shirt and a flashy medal. There was a nice spread at the end of the race and all runners got one free beer with a ticket on our bibs.
Cost: $33

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

Report written September 11, 2016