I enjoy exercising when I’m out of town. I looked for a race in north Mississippi and the Memphis Hungry Turkey 5K Run Walk was the nearest. This year, they supported the Mid-South Food Bank. The registration experience online was easy.
The website gave me all the information I needed. I thought about registering my kids because they offer a kids race option. I ended up only registering myself. I was really interested in the race swag: a grey long sleeve shirt with the race logo. I picked up my packet the day before at Academy. The race organizers sent several emails ahead of time to be sure we were ready for race day. They get an A+ for communication. I picked up my bib and my shirt. I’m looking forward to wearing it for cold runs this winter!
The weather on the day of the race called for a 100% chance of rain. Another interesting thing was that I thought the location was around 1-hour drive but it was closer to 1 hour and a half. Still, I was determined to get to this 5K on Thanksgiving morning. I drank a cup of coffee, and off I went. It rained during most of the drive. I occasionally train in the rain. It is not my favorite thing to do but I know I need to know how to run in the rain in case it rains during race day.
The race started and ended at the Memphis Pyramid. There’s a Bass Pro Shop there now. I parked for free on the other side and walked to the start. I used my umbrella and wondered if I needed to park closer. The rain stopped 15 minutes before the race started. I took a photo with Hank the turkey, did my usual stretches and off we went. There was a huge incline at the beginning of the race. I decided to pace myself and run the entire thing.
I kept telling myself “everything that goes up must go down.” Once we went down, the course was pretty flat. I had never been to Mud Island before and it is lovely. We had a great view of Harbor Town to our right and the Mississippi River to our left. We even saw some pretty big vessels transporting cargo during the race. The course was out and back so before I knew it, I was on my way back to that incline. Again, I thought about how I wanted to pace myself and not stop. I usually run intervals but I decided to run the entire thing for fun.
My goal was to pace myself and enjoy my first live race experience since before the pandemic (I need to do a better job recapping my races as you can see and I will!). I encouraged the offegating runners around me. A lot were walking up and I don’t blame them. I encouraged them to go on as I was breathing hard and focusing on finishing strong.
My official time was 32:38. My goal was to run the whole thing and enjoy it, which I did! You can see a video of me finishing here.
I went to get my medal, which came in a small cutesy plastic bag. There was a place where you could get your official time but I did it online. They also had donuts for the finishers but donuts are not my things so I passed. I took a few more photos and went on happily on my way. Check out this nice medal! One of the best 5K medals I've ever received.
I really enjoyed my race experience and I wholeheartedly recommend you to sign up if you are in the Memphis area.
Post a Comment