Last weekend, Lil WO and I headed out to his second 5K – the FroYo Run. It was a fun a Mother-Son Bonding day, even though he beat my butt again! He PR’d and placed 3rd in his age group! I also PR’d… so it was a good day. So let’s get on to the race recap…
The race was at Tempe Town Lake, the most popular place for these types of races it seems like. There was a 5K and 10K race, but since Lil WO really hasn’t been doing longer distance runs for training, and my being careful of my hip we only signed up for the 5K. Start time was 9am, but since I am ME, we were there bright and early. But it was nice because it gave Lil WO some time to get comfortable (translation – goof around)
The race only had on-site bib pick-up (one reason I was so early) It went rather smoothly. We had our (poorly) printed tickets and ID which was checked, and then scanned (thank goodness I watched the “What to Do” video they sent out – I had also saved our tickets on my phone) Scanning the tickets tied our bib numbers and timing chip to our names. We then gathered our swag – sunglasses and a hat. I was actually pleasantly surprised with the quality of both! I ended up wearing them throughout the race. Pre-race also featured warm ups lead by a local gym. Good music and easy moves – enough to really get you moving.
Corral assignments were on the honor system – based on your anticipated pace. Lil WO wanted a PR so when we headed to the start line, I sent him up to the 8min – 10min mile group, which was the 2nd group. I stayed back 1 corral in the 10min – 12min mile group. It was very laid back, which I really appreciated, no one was really trying to be at the very front of each corral, and everyone was very respectful of personal space. Each group was sent off pretty quick as well… just enough time to get a bit of a gap between the groups so the pack could spread out.
The course was good. A few rolling hills – but nothing that would kill you. Plenty of volunteers to point you in the right direction as well as cheer you on. Honestly I was more impressed with the volunteers and support at this 5K than I was for the Rock n Roll 5K. Plenty of water (2 stations, with decently sized cups that were full). That was a good thing since the weather was warm – even for Phoenix in February.
Of course – the medals were adorable (one of the reasons I signed us up) and we got free FroYo after the finish, as well as a coupon for more free Froyo later. Huge shout out to ZOYO Neighborhood Yogurt who was the sponsor. The volunteers and the set-up for the free FroYo was outstanding – we just circled the flavor and the toppings we wanted on our voucher, and they grabbed it for us. No super long lines for it – hooray for organization. There were also photographers that were shooting the event – and they posted them on smugmug so we could download them for free!
Check them out at Fryo5K.com and if they are coming to your area, sign up! They really did put on a fun race!
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