Lifetime Torchlight 5K Urban Run - Race Report

Wow – this race was not quite what I was expecting! Since there are no official results, I didn’t have last year’s results to check out beforehand. I figured it was a little bigger than what I am used to…maybe about 1,000 runners or so. Ummm, try more like 5,000!! But, I stuck to the plan and pushed the doublewide through the crowd. I think it was harder to get it through the registration area to pick up my bib and shirt than the actual race though. But we finally made it through and got to the start. We were about a block away from the actual start line, and there were at least another block of runners behind us (I believe the road is four lanes across).

The course was nice…started out going down Hennepin (major artery through downtown Minneapolis), then cut through some of the smaller downtown streets to the Mississippi River. We ran along the river for about a half mile and then took the historic Stone Arch Bridge over St Anthony Falls. (I really need to go do some running along the river!) I wish I could have looked around a little more, but I was too focused on trying to navigate the stroller and not crash into too many runners. There was one guy that darted right in front of us 3 times! (I didn’t try to avoid him the third time…some people just need to learn a lesson). I haven’t run a 5K since the beginning of May and I was amazed at how easy it felt compared to last time. If it wasn’t so late, so crazy busy and we didn’t have a ride waiting for us, I would have loved to head back to the river and keep going. The weather was beautiful! Best we could have hoped for in July. It had cooled down nicely for the evening, and there was a nice breeze blowing through. Also, the sun was low enough to be behind the buildings.

It was nice to get to see what a big race is like, without caring about my time. Although, there were no corrals, and people were pretty much in the order that they managed to get to the start line, so I am assuming it would thin out a little sooner (it never really did).

Plus, the kids were great! They didn’t fuss at all – even when the line of motorcycle police cut through the crowd right before the start (literally right next to us) with the motors revving and horns honking. They did a little chatting during the run (maybe they were telling people to get out of our way?) and when we got close to the end where we were running on a brick road which was a little bumpy one of them discovered (not sure which one) how to make that shaky voice noise (you know the one). I guess it wore them out though, they slept about 2 hours later than usual this morning!!

Stats
Race: Lifetime (Aquatennial) Torchlight Urban Run
Date: July 23, 2008
Distance: 5K
Official Time: 34:30ish (no official times)
Average Pace: 11:06ish
Overall Place: NA
Place in Age Group: NA