Firefly Run 5K (or 5K #4!)

On Friday, I completed 5K #4 for the year (I’m almost past my 2013 5K goal!). I did the Firefly Run. This was my very first nighttime race, but I loved it!

I first heard about this race from my friend Kate. She saw a deal for the race on Living Social, so she and I both bought deals for our entries in the race

There was no pre-race pickup for bibs and timing chips, so Kate and I headed out there pretty early so we’d have time to deal with traffic and pick up our stuff.

Turns out, we got to the race 4 hours before it started! I picked up my number (my lowest race number ever!).

After picking up our numbers, Kate and I decided to wait out the time in her car. Because we got there so early, we managed to park about 30 feet away from the start/finish line (the banner in the picture).

When it was about 90 minutes until the start time, we decided to get ready. I had gotten a tutu and bow tie at Party City earlier in the week (I also got glow necklaces/bracelets), and I was planning on wearing a plain t-shirt. The race t-shirts were technical shirts, and I’ve never found one that fit me properly.

Until I got the race shirt for this race! It was so comfortable so I decided that it was the perfect touch to my outfit.

Those weird yellow things at my ankles are reflective LED bands. Everyone in the race got them to wear. Right after taking this picture, I decided to use the bow tie as a hair bow. It kept getting caught in my glow necklace and iPhone headphones and I wanted to make sure nothing was in my way from having a great race.

We wandered around the start line where they had some food for sale.

None of those things sounded like good pre-race foods. Besides, Kate and I had made a stop before arriving at 7-11 where we picked up some snacks and water.

We took some fun pre-race photos by the start line and the giant LED wall.

And before we knew it, it was time to line up. Kate was running, so she went to the front of the pack and I hung back with the walkers. But that gave me a great chance to check out everyone else’s glowing outfits.

I seriously loved these guys with full LED suits. They ended up passing me in the race.

They let us go out in heats. I ended up being the very last person to go in the first heat. So I had a pretty odd experience racing. At the beginning, I was almost completely alone. Everyone else ahead of me was running, and I was walking. A few minutes later, a big crowd of runners passed me as the next heat was started. This happened each time a new heat started, so my race was both crowded and empty.

The course was pretty crazy. We went all around the Home Depot Center. We went around the soccer stadium, the track, and all over the campus. There were a lot of places that we went back and forth, and I’m wondering if that was done so we could all admire the glowing people (I personally thought that was cool).

There were only a few negatives for me. First of all, there was no mile 1 marker. That stressed me out. I was curious how on pace I was doing, and until the mile 2 marker, I had no clue. Also, there was about 1/2 mile of the course that was on a dirt track, so I tried to pull my shirt over my mouth so I didn’t breathe in all the dirt. And finally, there was a lot of times we were going up or down a slight incline. For most people, this wouldn’t matter, but with my hips it makes a different.

As I got close to the finish line, I heard someone cheering for me. Kate, who had finished earlier with a personal best time, was waiting about 10 feet from the finish line for me. I’m so grateful that I have a race buddy who is willing to wait for me to finish. I ended up crossing 16 seconds faster than my best 2013 time. I was about 90 second slower than I hoped I would be, but that’s not too bad.

We didn’t stay for any of the festivities after the race because I had to be at work pretty early the next morning. But I did take the time to take a victory photo.

Overall, I’d say this was a pretty successful race! I had a great time, the atmosphere was wonderful and positive, and the weather was ideal! I’m already thinking about looking for more nighttime races (and doing this one again next year!).

4 5Ks down, 1 more to go to meet my goal. And 5K #5 is in 2 weeks!

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