I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and stayed warm! I had a great time celebrating with my family in Maryland.
Logo: SOME
This year I decided to try the So Others May Eat (SOME) Trot for Hunger 5K in Washington, D.C. As the name suggests, the 5K benefits DC’s homeless by providing them with food, clothing, and healthcare every Thanksgiving. I signed up for this 5K last year, but I overslept and missed the start……(yes those are ominous dot dot dots).
Packet Pick-Up
Race organizers offered three packet pickup options the week of the run:
- Pacers Logan Circle Pickup on Tuesday
- Pacers Alexandria Pickup on Wednesday
- Race Day Pickup
You did not have to pre-select an option-if you did not pick up your bib at option #1, you could pick it up at option #2 or #3. I am lucky to live close to Pacers Logan Circle and picked up my bib during my lunch hour-easy!
All you needed to bring was your bib number (emailed to you). We received this cute bib and long sleeved cotton tee.
SOME 5K Trot for Hunger
The course runs through downtown Washington, DC and is approximately 1.7 miles from my apartment-perfect! The 5K started on 12th and Pennsylvania NW at 9:00am. I planned on waking up at 7:30 to get dress and make a banana smoothie before taking a leisurely 1.7 mile walk/jog from my apartment to the starting line….
I slept through my alarm and woke up at 8:00am. I threw on my clothes (luckily I laid out my gear the night before-long tights, tank, Zensah sleeves, Brooks long-sleeved base layer, gloves, and headband) and popped in a few slices of frozen bananas (hence my original smoothie plan). Luckily it was only 3.1 miles, because that would not have been enough fuel for a longer run.
After a power walk (which was a nice warmup for this COLD COLD Thanksgiving morning) I reached Freedom Plaza with 15 minutes to spare. I checked my vest and headed to the starting line.
As I made my way though the estimated 11,000 runners and walkers (it did not seem like that much-that was the race cap, there were close to 4,000 timed participants), I literally bumped into an high school classmate of mine-Jessica! We (and another classmate Tricia) have been informal online running motivators/cheerleaders the past year. It was nice to see her in person.
The run started a few minutes after 9:00am, which was okay… but I was ready to run!
The course follows similar routes to other DC races (ex. Nike DC half, the former DC Tri to name a few). For the first mile you run along Pennsylvania Avenue towards the US Capitol, make a loop and run past the Capitol and back on Pennsylvania Avenue for the final mile. It is flat and fast! See the course below:
My goal for the 5K was to run sub-12 minute miles, doable since I hit those splits during my half two weeks ago.
- Mile 1-sub 12 check!
- Mile 2-12ish bah!
- Mile 3-sub 11:30 woohoo!
I finished with a time of 36:39 (11:48mm), which was a 3 minute plus improvement (1:00mm) from my Baltimore 5K. I felt good and knew I could have run faster (sprint-me?). Although this was not my best 5K time ever, it was a significant improvement from October-around the time I recommitted to running. I will slowly get back to those sub 10 minute miles.
Cool infographic of how I finished relative to my division and other runners (I love data, graphs, and stats).
Final Thoughts
- The race fees were a reasonable $25 (untimed bib) and $30 (timed bib). When I say reasonable, it is all relative (comparing to the half fees, $30 was a week of no Starbucks 🙂 ) They did have an esclating registration fee (but I think it was only a $5 increase each).
- It also went to a great cause.
- Burned some calories before Thanksgiving dinner (yay more dessert for me!)
- 5Ks are nice and quick! What a treat after 3 consecutive half marathons.
- It was cold-but that is nothing that can be controlled. I was able to experiment what worked and what did not work (dress wise) for a chilly run.
As long as I live in DC proper I will continue to run this 5K. An alternative is the Turkey Chase 10K (my first 10K and race ever) in Chevy Chase, Maryland, but I do find parking tricky. After all it is nice to roll out of bed (errrr quasi on time) and walk to the start.
How was your Thanksgiving?
