This is a summertime race series in Rochester with a race on a Wednesday night in June, July and August. The first race is a 5K, second an 8K and … MORE
This is a summertime race series in Rochester with a race on a Wednesday night in June, July and August. The first race is a 5K, second an 8K and third a 5K so it’s 585 which is the Rochester area code. I did the whole series last year. This year the first race was when I was out of town so I was only going to do “85” this year but it ended up being “55”. For the race the swag this year is a beer coozie and bottle opener plus a medal for the individual race with a bag if you do the series. I picked the packet up Tuesday. I was not looking forward to an 8K when I saw the weather predicted it to be in the 90s and really humid. Much to my relief, the day of the race for safety reasons it was switched to a 5K. They also added a water stop in the middle and requested we all carry water as well. The race is on the canal path where I frequently run so not that exciting but it’s pretty with a lot of it shaded, flat and right by my work so I can just walk to the race after work. The race was well organized. My only complaint is it is only chipped timed at the finish not the start. Everyone went through the start line quickly but I wish the runners were more spaced out. I knew the only way I was going to be able to get a reasonable finish time at all was to do 30 second run/walk intervals which is annoying when a course is congested but it thinned out soon enough. The weather was absolutely miserable but the run/walk intervals worked well and I kept it up for about 2.5 miles and then walked most of the rest just running the end. My time was slow at 41:49 but was about the same as Saturday and the running conditions much worse so I was fine with it (I didn’t list my time because I didn’t want it to show as an 8K PR since this was a 5K). At the end you got a medal with an 8 on it. They also had cold water bottles and baked potato bar. I was not in the mood for hot food right after but saved it for dinner. One complaint is they gave a bag with all the toppings which included bacon. I asked them to take my bacon out and let someone have double bacon since I don’t eat meat but it would be better to have some just vegetarian topping bags. Overall this is a fun race series. The RDs can’t help the heat and they definitely made the right call shortening the race this year.
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Run 555 This Year
This is a summertime race series in Rochester with a race on a Wednesday night in June, July and August. The first race is a 5K, second an 8K and … MORE
This is a summertime race series in Rochester with a race on a Wednesday night in June, July and August. The first race is a 5K, second an 8K and third a 5K so it’s 585 which is the Rochester area code. I did the whole series last year. This year the first race was when I was out of town so I was only going to do “85” this year but it ended up being “55”. For the race the swag this year is a beer coozie and bottle opener plus a medal for the individual race with a bag if you do the series. I picked the packet up Tuesday. I was not looking forward to an 8K when I saw the weather predicted it to be in the 90s and really humid. Much to my relief, the day of the race for safety reasons it was switched to a 5K. They also added a water stop in the middle and requested we all carry water as well. The race is on the canal path where I frequently run so not that exciting but it’s pretty with a lot of it shaded, flat and right by my work so I can just walk to the race after work. The race was well organized. My only complaint is it is only chipped timed at the finish not the start. Everyone went through the start line quickly but I wish the runners were more spaced out. I knew the only way I was going to be able to get a reasonable finish time at all was to do 30 second run/walk intervals which is annoying when a course is congested but it thinned out soon enough. The weather was absolutely miserable but the run/walk intervals worked well and I kept it up for about 2.5 miles and then walked most of the rest just running the end. My time was slow at 41:49 but was about the same as Saturday and the running conditions much worse so I was fine with it (I didn’t list my time because I didn’t want it to show as an 8K PR since this was a 5K). At the end you got a medal with an 8 on it. They also had cold water bottles and baked potato bar. I was not in the mood for hot food right after but saved it for dinner. One complaint is they gave a bag with all the toppings which included bacon. I asked them to take my bacon out and let someone have double bacon since I don’t eat meat but it would be better to have some just vegetarian topping bags. Overall this is a fun race series. The RDs can’t help the heat and they definitely made the right call shortening the race this year.
5-(not quite)8-5
This is the second Wednesday evening race produced by Yellow Jacket Racing (YJR) for the Run585 series. 585 is Rochester's area code. This one is an 8K and the longest … MORE
This is the second Wednesday evening race produced by Yellow Jacket Racing (YJR) for the Run585 series. 585 is Rochester’s area code. This one is an 8K and the longest of the 3. Race logistics were pretty much the same as the first with packet pick-up recommended at the store the day before. Today series participants got their large cooler along with beer Kozie, race sticker and bib. The swag is pretty good for the cost of the series. They kept the rolling start. I understand why they did this since it would kind of stink as a participant to plan your evening around the rolling start and have the race company change their plans but it was a little lame after doing so many races with mass starts. Something came up at work so I started this one on the later side of the rolling start window which made it extra anti-climatic as most participants already started. I again walked to the start from work since this was also at Genesee Valley Park. This also follows the canal path. It was beautiful weather tonight which was a relief after last weekend’s terrible weather. YJR can’t get a break and there was also construction affecting this course so they had to alter the course at one point a little bit. I don’t think the part of the canal path used for this race is as pretty as some of the sections we ran through during the first race of the series but this race does include the bridge with really pretty city views and I saw a cute rabbit and some cool birds. It also includes the evil, steep bridge I always walk which added a sneaker to the difficulty but is otherwise pretty flat. The course was well marked but it was kind of lonely. The rolling start and longer race meant I was running alone a lot but I did see some race participants here and there. There were no aid stations but this was told to us. I thought it would have been nice to have a water station halfway through as I just about finished the water I was carrying and had to conserve it by the end of the race. The finish line was set up really nice with loud music and a finish arch and people were hanging around and it felt like a real finish line and made up for the anti-climatic start. However I noticed the course was about 1/4 mile short. As a result I got an 8K PR! But it’s kind of a cheap PR but I was still running at a solid pace and with the right distance would have been well under my goal of 1 hour. I compared the map online to my Garmin and it seems the reroute due to the construction is what caused the shorter course so it appears to be a one off. At the finish line you get your goody bag. It is the same fruit snacks, chocolate chip cookies and chips that have been in every bag this year. I can now no longer eat Famous Amos bite size chocolate chip cookies since I’m so sick of them lol. There is also the medal which is a nice big 8 to go with the series. There was also cans of coke and non-alcoholic beer. The cold can of coke tasted so delicious after. Overall I have enjoyed this series so far but look forward to when it will have a mass start and a party at the end instead of the grab n go bags.