Yeti Chase Review

The Yeti Chase, what a fun race!  It was a bit chilly this morning but sunny and cloud free.  By the start of the 5K it had warmed up quite nicely.  It was in the 20s when I arrived at 8:30 to check in, pick up my race number and fabulous race shirt.  I wore three layers on my upper body, a poly mock turtle neck, short sleeve poly shirt, and a quarter zip pullover, long fleece lined tights, crew socks, gloves, a hat and a neck gaiter that I wore over my mouth for the first mile or so to warm the air as I was breathing.  About two thirds of the way through I felt overdressed but not uncomfortably so.  Since it was only a 5K I wasn't too worried about over heating.  The tights were comfy.  It was the first time I've run in them.  My hands did get sweaty and I took my gloves off close to the finish.  I probably could have gotten away with my mesh cap and ear warmers too.  But, I was ok with my fleece Under Armour hat.  What I worry about the most in the cold are my ears getting too cold.  I get earaches very easily in the cold.

Here I am getting my photo taken with the Yeti!

What I really liked about this race was that there were vendors set up and giving stuff away at the start and finish of the races.  That was cool.  Also, it was limited to 500 participants so that made everything very easy to manage.  No standing in lines for stuff.  Yay!  They also did the random drawings for prizes while the race was going on so all you had to do was check the results board to see if you won anything.  No waiting around for that either!  Very cool.  (I didn't win anything.)

Here is the view from the start of the 5K.

As for my part, well, I did alright.  :-)  On Friday, at my fitness boot camp, we did the 600 workout.  It's a pretty tough one and had me worn out all weekend.  My main issue was that I had very tight hamstrings.  So, I made sure to warm up before the 5K.  Even so, I was tight for most of the run.  I minimized my stride as much as I could and tried to not go too fast too early.  At about a mile in, I stopped to stretch a little but even that didn't help.  Oh well.  I carried on and decided I'd need to just take some walk breaks.  On my walk breaks I tried to keep up a quick pace because if I slowed too much my legs would tighten up and start to cramp.  At the turn around point was the water station.  They also had some electrolyte drink but I'm not sure what it was.  It was not very tasty so I only took a few sips of it but drank more water.  I felt well hydrated so wasn't too worried about that.  I'm not very good about keeping hydrated so I was pleased with myself for that.   

At about the 2.5 mile mark I could see the parking lot where the start/finish was located.  So, I stopped worrying about my legs and pushed on.  My race strategy to push myself at the end, is to find someone I've been keeping up with more or less, try to stay with them and then push past them close to the finish.  There were a few folks who fit into my strategy this time.  I'd passed them early on but as I slowed to take my walk breaks, they'd pass me again.  Once I could see where the parking lot was, I picked up my pace a little.  There was one pair of younger women who were talking and running the whole way through.  They were standing near me even at the start chatting away.  I was certain I wanted to finish ahead of them!  LOL!  Once I had them in my sights, I set myself up to push past and stay ahead of them.  Piece of cake and I felt good picking up the pace.  Then I just trudged on for a while before taking another walk break.

Close to the loop to the home stretch, I noticed a man, about my age, ahead of me.  He wasn't on my must finish ahead of list so didn't worry too much.  But, I pulled up right behind him as we made the turn to the finish line.  Well, I didn't want to be behind him.  How would I get a finish line photo?  So, I pushed past him too but, he was having none of that!  He said, "Oh no!" and started to sprint.  So, I sprinted alongside him.  We pushed it to the finish line and came across at the same time!  It was really fun.  He gave me a high five and a short hug and a smile.  That was very cool! 

Another neat thing I liked about this race is that they called out names and numbers of the runners as we crossed the finish line.  That was cool.  She even said my name correctly!  Sweet!

The post race spoils were pretty tasty too.  Homemade chocolate chip banana nut bread, store bought tasty muffins, cinnamon rolls, and other treats, hot chocolate, hot coffee, water and cold soft drinks.  I picked up another Mix brand protein shake as well. 

I was very pleased with this race.  It was well organized, nice and small, and the folks were all very friendly.  Woot!  It was a good time. My official chip time finish was 36:35.  One of my yearly goals was to finish a 5K under 40 minutes.  My first 5K was last March and I completed it in 42:01.  :-)  Success!