Firecracker for the Troops 5k

Last week I was in Virginia visiting my best friend, Darby, and helping out while she recovered from having a baby. I had no expectation to get any runs in because my focus was to be there for them, but I took stuff just in case it worked out. I managed to get a couple runs in, one being a last minute decision to do a 4th of July 5k. I've always wanted to do one, but have never made it a priority. When our friend, Denise, mentioned she was doing a race on the 4th, Darby encouraged me to join her.

We left in time to hopefully get to the course with enough time to park and get out packets. It wasn't until we were on the way that I found out packet pick up closed at 7:30. Our GPS was telling us that we would arrive at 7:26, and we knew we would still have to walk to the main area. Oops!! Turns out the parking garage we used was fairly close and they didn't actually close the packet pick up line right at 7:30. We got our bibs pinned and then I got a little warm up while running our shirts back to the car while Denise tried to meet up with another friend who was also running.

By the time I got back it was about time for the race to start. There were so many people. I have never participated in such a large 5k! Aside from Race for the Cure, which in the past has been in the top 5 in the country :-D Even then though, the competitive run is a few hundred. The Firecracker for the Troops 5k had over 1600 finishers!!! It makes me wonder if this is normal, or if I feel like it's huge because of where I live.

The race started on an uphill. Having lived in Virginia, I knew the area somewhat, but not well. I definitely was not expecting this course to be as hilly as it was. Denise has been dealing with an injury, and I knew I wanted to stick with her throughout the race, so neither of us went in with a finish time expectation. Our running pace was not bad, but we did walk a few times in the last half. I was more than ok with that! It definitely felt like the race directors tried to squeeze in as many hills as possible. It was also a pretty muggy morning. For all the hills and humidity though, the course was beautiful and I had a really good time. I probably rambled on too much, subconsciously hoping to distract Denise from her pain. The geese that joined us on the course were a fun distraction as well. :)

The last half mile was pretty much all uphill. Walking still happened, but we did cross the finish line running, picking people off (passing them with a good kick in the last tenth. :) ) as we went along. We finished with a time of 38:44.

After finding the water we found a shaded area to sit for a few minutes. There were many vendors so we decided to walk around for a few minutes before leaving. While doing that we found FOOD. Lots and lots of food. Along with the number of participants at this race being more than I'd ever seen, there was also more food than I had ever seen at a 5k. Tables and more tables full of different kinds of bagels, cookies, goldfish and fruit snacks. I've done half and full marathons that had less at the finish line. It was amazing!

This was a really fun race with lots of excitement before and after. It would have been easy to stay and hang around for a long time. However, I had a little baby waiting for me back at the house, so we headed out. I may have a summer race bug now though. I might make it more of a priority to sign up for one near me next year! :)