Red Rose Run recap

My goal is to add a few smaller races through the summer in order to help me with my speed. This past weekend I decided to run the Red Rose Run- a 5 mile race in Lancaster, PA. My running club was offering a discount so I signed up with them. This small race has been around for 38 years and had about 500 participants (or so I heard).

Expo:
Very small. With such a small race, the organizers had a table before the race at a plaza right in front of the starting line. There were a few tables of vendors. 

Race Day:
The race started at 8 am, but my alarm was set for 4:45 (ugh). My running club and I wanted enough time to get there, park, and get out packets. This meant I was eating breakfast and having my ritual pre-run drink three hours before the start. Not ideal. We ended up parking in the Prince Street parking garage which was right next to the starting and finishing line. It cost us $6 to park there for over 3 hours. There were 6 or 7 porta potties which had a huge line. We debated looking around for a store or mini market to go to, but at that hour nothing was open. It was predicted to be 62 at the start and 68 by the finish. A touch warm for my liking, but the course would be mostly shaded due to the tree lined streets and the park. 

Shortly before 8 am everyone finished up their warm ups and started to gather around the starting line.

My race:
I came into this race really only wanting to improve on my Hibiscus 5 miler time. The conditions were a little better- less humid, in the 60s, not as large of a hill to climb. Unfortunately I did not realize that this course was all hills. A minute before 8 am, my running club went up front and I went to the back. There are no corrals for a race of this size. You line up wherever you want, but since I knew I would be slow I made sure to stick to the back. It is really annoying when people who are slower are at the front clogging up the course for faster runners. 

ready to go!

The first mile and some was through downtown Lancaster. It was actually scenic going through tree lined streets with cute little shops.

About a mile and a half in we hit our first water station. The cups were filled really high. I had to actually stop to drink it and even then I couldn't finish. I never thought I'd actually complain about too much water.... Right before the 2 mile marker, we entered into the Lancaster County Park. 

Sadly this part did not last long and we were out back on a road around mile 3. We passed the same water station and hit mile 4. I heard there was a large hill around mile 4, but I never noticed it. The whole course was up and down so it was hard to narrow in on one hill being the 'big one.' I was excited since the clock at mile 4 read 44 minutes. I knew I was going to beat my Hibiscus time! Unfortunately my high did not last long. While going up a hill, an older guy on the course ran up next to me and said he was following me the whole race. He said I was slowing down and I guess tried to offer words of encouragement. 1) I was going up a hill. I tend to go slower up hills and faster down hills. 2) my mile 4 was faster than my average and my second fastest mile. So thanks old guy! Shortly before the last turn before the home stretch I saw my running club cheering me on. They sort of knew my situation so they understood I would be finishing a solid 20 minutes after them. The last part I had a nice talk with a 64 lady who was running. She was saying how she did half marathons and ever since she retired loves to do races. Hopefully I'll be able to keep running and racing into my 60s (and beyond). Crossed the line around 54 minutes and changed. Official time was posted: 53:55.8! Pace of 10:48 seconds which was a huge improvement on my 11:27 pace of the Hibiscus 5 miler. 

My Garmin and Nike Plus app were not too far off the official time.

oh Garmin how I missed you!

The finish area was in the same plaza. It included bananas, oranges, chips, water, green tea, and some juices. They were spread out in boxes in crates.

A band played the whole time and after the 5 milers were finished a kids mile (I think) run was done. Overall I was on a nice runners high from doing well and making good progress. 

The course:
Rolling hills. Like much of Pennsylvania, it was full of gently rolling hills. There were any bad hills but it felt like a constant roller coaster. I am not sure which I prefer- constant rolling hills or one large hill like the Hibiscus 5 miler. The course took you through downtown Lancaster then through Lancaster County Park.

There were clocks at each mile marker. Even though I had my Garmin (yea!), it was really helpful knowing about where I was and my time. There was one water station which you passed by twice. It was spread out enough that I felt the need to take water both times.

Final thoughts:
I probably would not do the race again unless I was really looking for a race to do. Maybe it's materialistic of me, but I like a finishers medal or at least something at the end. I like having something concrete to say hey you finished! The course however probably good training for races in the Mid Atlantic. It also was not too expensive- $25 which included a shirt. The race itself was pretty well run especially for being such a small race.


Next up: Maryland Women's Sprint Duathlon