I didn't really have much expectations for this event. Just that it was a 5K on a weeknight that supported a good cause and started late enough and was close … MORE
I didn’t really have much expectations for this event. Just that it was a 5K on a weeknight that supported a good cause and started late enough and was close enough to Rochester that I could get there after work. I am trying to run at least 100 races this year so I can’t say no to any weeknight races that work with my schedule. I really didn’t know much about this event or the city it is in. It is located in Auburn which is East of Syracuse and about an hour from Rochester. I loved that the race started at 7pm so there was plenty of time to get there after work. This 5K raises money for a local organization called Nick’s Ride 4 Friends which is a local non-profit dedicated to helping the opioid addiction and helping people struggling with addiction. I arrived at the race at about 6:15. There was parking by city hall. I was pleasantly surprised that along with packet pick-up there was sort of a mini-expo. There was a table to pick up packets, a table for day of registration and a few booths. There were 2 booths with organizations helping with addiction, a booth from a wellness center offering 5 minute reiki sessions, and a booth from the local chiropractor school that was offering free sessions. Packet included bib, race shirt and a small goody bag. Shirt is just a grey, cotton T-shirt with the race name and charity organization. It’s nothing special but as it’s a cause I’d like to to support I will wear it. The goody bag had a couple pens, a magnet calendar, a sample of biofreeze and most importantly a granola bar to eat after the race. While this wasn’t an official Willow Running event, Willow Running was there to help with race production. This was a small event with about 100 participants. The start area was not the best. It was just a really old cone but I did like that the race announcer joked about how old and terrible the cone was. This was manually timed. Someone gave a quick introduction and we went. The course was super nice. You could not ask for a more scenic race in a small town. The race start at the Equal Rights Heritage Center and the looped downtown and then went through this really cool street did another little loop through a neighborhood, back to the cool street and ended at city hall. The cool street was cool because it had historic mansions and many historic sites. I honestly had no idea there were so many interesting things in Auburn. I may have to come back and visit. The road was closed to traffic and there were police and volunteers who made the course easy to follow. The course while full of really interesting sights was also full of hills. This was a pretty hilly 5K. No hills were too bad but there was like 100% humidity and humidity is the thing that affects my running the most so I walked some of them. They said the course would only be open for 30 minutes and walkers would have to use sidewalks. Since I didn’t think I would finish in under 30 I was worried they may divert me to the side walk but they did keep the roads closed for the slow runners who finished a little over 30 minutes like me. I haven’t seen the official results yet but I did see the timer record my time at the end so I assume they got an accurate time. We will see. But my time was pretty meh. It was my usual, humid 5K time which is 1 to 2 minutes slower than my usual 5K time. The finish line also could be improved. There was like just a line on the ground. At the finish we were handed water bottles and there was a nice after party area where registration was. There was no beer or alcohol for obvious reasons but there was a live band and there was an ice cream truck and the people from Nick’s ride were selling hot dogs. I obviously passed on the hot dogs and found a local pub that served vegan burgers. I did get some ice cream from the ice cream truck on the way back to my car even though it’s not vegan since ice cream is delicious. Overall this race exceeded my expectations. The course was much better than I expected and it was nice having the small expo and after party. I did think some race production things like the start and finish line could be better but it was a well done local race and worth a bit of a drive. This was the inaugural year for the race. I would do it again next year as long as it didn’t conflict with the Run585 or Dirt Cheap series that are also on Wednesday evenings. Also if you were wondering this is race #50 for me in 2021 so I am halfway to my goal of 100 races this year!
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Better than I expected
I didn't really have much expectations for this event. Just that it was a 5K on a weeknight that supported a good cause and started late enough and was close … MORE
I didn’t really have much expectations for this event. Just that it was a 5K on a weeknight that supported a good cause and started late enough and was close enough to Rochester that I could get there after work. I am trying to run at least 100 races this year so I can’t say no to any weeknight races that work with my schedule. I really didn’t know much about this event or the city it is in. It is located in Auburn which is East of Syracuse and about an hour from Rochester. I loved that the race started at 7pm so there was plenty of time to get there after work. This 5K raises money for a local organization called Nick’s Ride 4 Friends which is a local non-profit dedicated to helping the opioid addiction and helping people struggling with addiction. I arrived at the race at about 6:15. There was parking by city hall. I was pleasantly surprised that along with packet pick-up there was sort of a mini-expo. There was a table to pick up packets, a table for day of registration and a few booths. There were 2 booths with organizations helping with addiction, a booth from a wellness center offering 5 minute reiki sessions, and a booth from the local chiropractor school that was offering free sessions. Packet included bib, race shirt and a small goody bag. Shirt is just a grey, cotton T-shirt with the race name and charity organization. It’s nothing special but as it’s a cause I’d like to to support I will wear it. The goody bag had a couple pens, a magnet calendar, a sample of biofreeze and most importantly a granola bar to eat after the race. While this wasn’t an official Willow Running event, Willow Running was there to help with race production. This was a small event with about 100 participants. The start area was not the best. It was just a really old cone but I did like that the race announcer joked about how old and terrible the cone was. This was manually timed. Someone gave a quick introduction and we went. The course was super nice. You could not ask for a more scenic race in a small town. The race start at the Equal Rights Heritage Center and the looped downtown and then went through this really cool street did another little loop through a neighborhood, back to the cool street and ended at city hall. The cool street was cool because it had historic mansions and many historic sites. I honestly had no idea there were so many interesting things in Auburn. I may have to come back and visit. The road was closed to traffic and there were police and volunteers who made the course easy to follow. The course while full of really interesting sights was also full of hills. This was a pretty hilly 5K. No hills were too bad but there was like 100% humidity and humidity is the thing that affects my running the most so I walked some of them. They said the course would only be open for 30 minutes and walkers would have to use sidewalks. Since I didn’t think I would finish in under 30 I was worried they may divert me to the side walk but they did keep the roads closed for the slow runners who finished a little over 30 minutes like me. I haven’t seen the official results yet but I did see the timer record my time at the end so I assume they got an accurate time. We will see. But my time was pretty meh. It was my usual, humid 5K time which is 1 to 2 minutes slower than my usual 5K time. The finish line also could be improved. There was like just a line on the ground. At the finish we were handed water bottles and there was a nice after party area where registration was. There was no beer or alcohol for obvious reasons but there was a live band and there was an ice cream truck and the people from Nick’s ride were selling hot dogs. I obviously passed on the hot dogs and found a local pub that served vegan burgers. I did get some ice cream from the ice cream truck on the way back to my car even though it’s not vegan since ice cream is delicious. Overall this race exceeded my expectations. The course was much better than I expected and it was nice having the small expo and after party. I did think some race production things like the start and finish line could be better but it was a well done local race and worth a bit of a drive. This was the inaugural year for the race. I would do it again next year as long as it didn’t conflict with the Run585 or Dirt Cheap series that are also on Wednesday evenings. Also if you were wondering this is race #50 for me in 2021 so I am halfway to my goal of 100 races this year!