Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Clean Air Dash 5K Recap

I was not planning on running another race until Thanksgiving morning when I run the 5 miler Turkey Trot. I received an email with a link to half off for the Clean Air Dash 5K. If you know me then you know I am all about a great deal. How often do you get to run a 5K for $12.50? That is half off the normal price of 25 dollars. Say no more I was sold.


When: Oct.  31st, 2015

Where: Southside trail, Pittsburgh

Swag: T-shirt and bag with various coupons to local stores

Course: The course was a very fast, flat out and back course on the trail in Southside that runs parallel to the river. You start on S. 28th St. and run down the trail to the 10th St. bridge and then turn around. The trail is not that wide so at times it got very tight and made passing almost impossible.

Post Race: For such a small race I was very surprised at how much stuff food they had. You had your normal water, cookies and fruit, but then you had pumpkin pie, muffins, and many other different snacks.

My race: I went into this race with no goal or no expectations. I just wanted to run a good race and enjoy a race I have never done.  I started out running a 7:10 for the first mile and then slowed down a bit and ran with a young girl who was about 12 years old. She told me her goal was to run under 26 minutes, a personal PR for her. I decided to let her use me as her pacer. She ran with me for the next mile and half then I told her to kick it into high gear for the final 1/2 mile. She ended up finishing in 23 minutes. It was awesome to help a young runner hit her goal, and it made me remember why I run, not for the times or the bling but for the people we get to meet at every race.

Overall: For a small race I was highly impressed, it may not have all the bells and whistles of a bigger race but it made up for it in other ways. The course is very easy, but if you are planning on going for time I suggest starting up front so you have room. The competition was very good and I was impressed with how fast the winners were going for such a small race.  I plan on adding this race to my list for next year.

Please try to bear with me this week as the post may not come on the normal days I do them. I am in Chicago for work and wont be home till the end of the week. 
 

4 comments:

  1. Wow, what a great story! I remember being that little girl trying to get a PR, so I can speak from experience that you must have meant a great deal to her and gave her a good running experience, which is huge at that age. Sounds like a really great race and I'll have to do it next year!

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  2. You definitely need to put this race on your list for next year. Even though it is a small race it has a great course and they do a great job of putting it on. I remember when I was younger and having someone older help me through the race and I always felt like I was a real runner when someone was next to me trying to help me. It made me think they saw talent in me and wanted me to do good

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  3. That sounds like a cool race. You're right, it's not often you can race for $12.50! Racing is so flippin expensive. You're awesome for helping that little girl too... I bet she remembers this run for a long time. :)

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  4. I honestly had no intentions of running it until I found the half off code. I am glad I did though, like i said it was a nice course and pretty well put on from what seemed like Pitt univ. students.

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