Light the Night 5K
Posted on Nov 04, 2012 under Race | No Comment
The Light the Night 5K was the 3rd race in 3 weeks and was actually the hardest of the 3 races that I ran. Initially, I thought I’d do really well since it was a night race. Results: 21:21 (6:52 min/mile), 19/71 AG, overall 76/1353. The time and placing isn’t bad, per se, I just didn’t feel good throughout the entire race and almost puked at the very end. But it was definitely all my fault. I had a late lunch (Thai noodles, around 4PM, race at 7PM) and I didn’t have much water prior to the race. I actually like running at night, when I used to train after work, I would always run a lot faster than when I ran before work. I’m pretty sure it was because my body was not fully awake in the morning, so it took a while to really get into the run. For night runs, on the other hand, I’ve been awake all day; I’ve had food and may even have stored up energy/stress to release.
Like the color run, the Light the Night 5K was for a good cause (SD Crime Stoppers). It was a night time run, which I’ve never done before and they handed out glow sticks to wear during the race! It was the weekend before Halloween too, so quite a few people dressed up on costumes. In terms of pace, I started off way too fast which really hurt me the rest of the way: 6:36, 7:05, 7:01. I had a little bit of energy left at the end and was hoping to finish strong, but my late lunch was felt like it was coming back out and I was doing my best just to hold it in.
I think this is one of the first ‘fun’ runs that I’ve ever done and I have to say, it did live up to its name. My cousin had run one of these before and she really enjoyed it. The race is pretty straight forward: you wear white colored clothes (that you don’t mind getting dirty) and you pass through color stations where volunteers throw colored powder on you. And that’s it! It wasn’t even timed, so we didn’t have to worry about pacing either. It really is just a way to get people together for a good cause (Alzheimer’s Association) and have fun walking or jogging for 3.1 miles.
Whenever I tell people I ran a race in New York, their first response is always “oh you ran the New York City Marathon?!” unfortunately, no. And since I’m late with this report, I can actually say that everyone who had planned to run it in 2012 will have the same answer (too soon?). It’s quite unfortunate what has happened in New York with Hurricane Sandy. Outside of all of that destruction and death it has already caused, I really doubt many people in New York are in the mood to run (if it’s even possible in their area…) I am definitely lucky to have made this trip just a few weeks before all of this madness took place. When I came home, I had actually said to myself that it would be my last trip to New York (had already gone 3 years in a row), but I’m optimistic that the city will get rebuilt and be even better than before!
