Nice Hat - Inaugural Pumpkin Run 5k

I think I've talked about this before, but if not... the Gainesville running scene sucks. There's not a lot of races, not a lot of GOOD races, and most races don't give a lot of swag for what they charge. So... I usually leave town to go to a race.

I took my chance on this race, and I'm kind of happy I did. It was affordable (I think $30?), it came with a medal, and I liked the beneficiary of the race.

Since it was local, I was able to do early packet pickup on my lunch break. It was at a local church, which - awkwardly - was holding a funeral inside. I was able to get my shirt and bib, but I had to come back at another time to pick up my free pumpkin (spoiler alert... I never got my pumpkin).

Nice shirt (not technical)

On race day, after I took hubby to work, I parked at the Bus depot close to the park, which gave me about a 1/3 to 1/2 mile warm-up walk to the start line.

I was near the P at the bottom, where it says Lot Opens...

Since I didn't have to worry about getting my bib and stuff, I could relax and enjoy the morning. I've run here before, but I've only done a few races here, so I was interested to see what the difference would be.

Beautiful lake for being a storm water runoff retention pond!

A lot of people complimented me on my dorky fascinator hat (note to self... no braids with this hat... I looked bald!)

It stayed on well, while I ran, too!

It looked like a great turnout (they had over 400 finishers, which is great for an inaugural Gainesville race). We all gathered around the start area (though none of us really knew which direction we'd actually go...) and headed off!

LOTS of bodies!

The route was really confusing at first.  We ran around the park, back towards the start line, then we went down towards the Gainesville-Hawthorne Rail Trail. Luckily, I'm never the leader, so I just followed the people in front of me.

The Mile 1 Sign isn't awake yet

The "back" of the park (near where I parked, actually)

Not yet! We have to go all the way around first...

"Fish only for compliments" sign (no one wants to eat three-eyed Simpson fish)

The park is beautiful in the morning (I've only been here previously in the afternoon), with lots of wildlife.

Soon, we made a full circle and headed onto the Depot Trail (this leads to the G-HRT. It's a lovely 16 mile paved trail that connects the city of Gainesville to the City of Hawthorne, utilizing old train tracks that have been re-imagined into a pathway. The history is really cool and you should read it!)

You can just see a parking lot through the trees

Thankfully, this trail is mostly shaded. In the summertime, it's brutal out here in Florida!

These folks are already on their way back!

Cool race route markers

Our route took us over SE 4th Street, and then the 5k turned around at Williston Road. We returned back to the park and made a final half-circle around the lake.

Headed back towards the finish line

Wow, holy crap, look at my time!!!

That's my best time EVAH!!

Okay, so... it's tiny... but it's bling!

Oh, wait... no, wait...

The course wasn't a full 5k? 

Nope, not according to a lot of other runners at the finish line. And not according to my Garmin. 

Aww, man...

Well, crap...  

The pace, in the official results, was listed wrong, since they calculated it for 3.1 miles. Garmin shows that my pace was actually 17:06/mile. Still not BAD, but it's certainly not 15/mile! With my Garmin pace, I would have finished at 53:07. Still an OK time for me.

Oh well. 

Since this was a local race, I didn't stick around very long. There weren't any fun after-race events, or raffles, or anything, so I just made my way home, threw on some comfy lounge pants and vegged out for a few hours, then hauled myself off the couch and went grocery shopping.