Phelps Sauerkraut 20K & 5K
Phelps, NY
- 20K, 5K
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
The Phelps Sauerkraut 20K is the oldest race in the Finger Lakes! Both 20K & 5K are USATF certified courses. Race includes chip timing, post-race food plus a can of sauerkraut! For the 20K and 5K races all those pre-registered will be guaranteed a tech shirt!
Local Historical Weather (Aug 01):
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
| H (°F) | 72 | 88 | 72 | 85 | 68 |
| L (°F) | 51 | 69 | 54 | 63 | 59 |
Find Nearby Lodging (hotel, rental, etc.):
The smell of cabbages
This is a 5K or 20K located in Phelps, NY a town about 40 minutes outside of Rochester. It coincides with the town's sauerkraut festival. I was initially signed up … MORE
This is a 5K or 20K located in Phelps, NY a town about 40 minutes outside of Rochester. It coincides with the town’s sauerkraut festival. I was initially signed up for the 20K. There is an early start if you are under 12 min/mil for the 20K which is great for the slower runners and walkers to not be in the heat as much. However as I had another longer race the next day and my training hasn’t been what I have wanted with the extreme heat and humidity I decided to drop down to the 5K. It was extremely hot and humid again today so I am very glad I dropped down. The 5K starts at 8:30am which is a little late for the heat but I get wanting to space it from the 20K so runners don’t overlap and it is definitely better to have the 5K last. The start is a few blocks away from the finish. There is packet pick-up the day of the race or you can get it at the running store in Rochester Friday. I got it Friday. It included a pretty nice tech shirt along with bib. There is no timing mat at the start but it is otherwise well organized. It was a hot day and it is a hilly course so it’s unlikely to be a PR (while it could be a 20K PR since there aren’t many races that distance) so didn’t really bother me to lose a few seconds. The course is quite nice though nothing special through neighborhoods and farmlands. It was kind of fun to see the different crops but less fun to smell them at least less fun to smell the cabbage farm. The course is quite hilly with over 100 feet elevation gain. With the heat and the hills it was a rough day. I ended up walking most of it to make sure I saved energy for tomorrow and as a result was super slow. The finish line is well done and participants get a ribbon with the race name. There were also hot dogs with sauerkraut (which I couldn’t eat) along with granola bars and other more vegetarian friendly snacks. Overall this was a solid race. No big complaints besides the weather. I would do it again if in town but would not go out of my way for this race