Emerald City 5k Race Recap

March started out, quite literally, with a race. Will and I ran the Emerald City 5k on March 1. It's a Wizard of Oz themed race that benefits Promise of Brevard, a nonprofit dedicated to helping homeless families find permanent housing. Fun Fact: I was in a production of Wizard of Oz in high school. I really love races with a strong theme because other people will show up in costume so I don't have to be the only one dressed up like some random character.

They had a really fun tornado display out as well as quite a few local vendors with booths out before and after the race. The church that was hosting the race gave out gym towels, which I thought was a nice touch. One of the big sponsors was a jewelry store and they were giving away an emerald necklace but (spoiler alert) I didn't win. Fun Fact: Emerald is my birth stone. The shirt design for the race was actually pretty cute, but, per usual, I ordered the smallest size (youth medium) and it was comically huge. Like the shoulder seams hanging over an inch off of each shoulder. There were a lot of youths running this race and I don't think I saw a single one that would have filled out that shirt. I have had very poor luck with shirt sizes at local races so I usually only keep my runDisney race shirts.

I didn't have any specific goals in mind for this race since I had just finished Princess weekend the prior weekend. I was just going to listen to my body and go with what I felt. The course was mostly on a wide sidewalk out and back in a pretty section of town. It was also my first evening race which was a new feeling for me. I almost always run before the sun is up!

I felt good and recovered by this point in the week so I went out strong. My first mile was a 10:10 min/mi which was way slower than the 9:35 min/mi I started my last 5k at. I had to do quite a bit of weaving but after running at Disney, the crowds at this race were nothing! I slowed down a bit in mile 2 to 10:30 min/mi. By mile 3, I was definitely feeling tired but I kept pushing. One thing I love about the Galloway method is that I only have to run for one minute at a time before I get a walk break. I can do just about anything for a minute.

This was my first race where I tried to keep pace with a random runner on the course. Every time I hit a run interval, I tried to catch up to the same guy. I managed to stay with him for most of the race but when we neared the finish line and both started sprinting, he totally creamed me. I guess he had a lot more energy left than me! Oh, well. I still managed to beat myself coming in with another PR.

Emerald City 5k

Time: 32:23

Pace: 10:26 min/mi

PR: -1:17

I really loved the medal for this race. It featured Dorothy's house and the Wicked Witch of the East's legs on the yellow brick road. The ribbon was a really pretty orange with gold bits woven through it. I ended up enjoying this 5k a lot more than the last one, mostly because I had a better race strategy. I still don't really like 5ks that much but I'll probably sign up for more in the future.

Will also did great and even placed in his age group! We are both moving up an age group at our next birthday so we took the opportunity to scope out the next age group up. We're both in trouble! I don't know if there aren't many 25-29 year old who run or if the slow people just stop running after 30 but the 30-34 age group is so fast! Guess I'll just have to stick to racing myself.