Support your local YMCA: with the Harrisburg 5K!
Hard to believe, but this is the 8th running of this 3.1 mile jaunt through Harrisburg. All proceeds go to the Y Cares campaign of the Harrisburg Branch of the Cannon YMCA and to the SW Cabarrus Rotary charities, and the Town of Harrisburg joins in to provide a fun family day and health expo.
As of April 6th, just 5 days before the race, 320 registrations had been received. This is about where the run was last year at this time. It's really incredible, as the number of races in the area continues to grow and the Harrisburg 5K is holding its own in a crowded field of events.
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| 8 races within 25 miles on 4/11/2015 Courtesy RunningInTheUSA.com |
Charlotte Racefest is the largest of the area events, with 2,072 finishers in 2014 across the half marathon (1,305) and 10K (767) distances. For contrast, there were 401 finishers at the Harrisburg 5K last year. Oh, and this year Racefest decided to add a 5K option.
I've joined the board of managers for the Harrisburg YMCA in the past year so I may be a little less than impartial, but I said last year the same thing I'll say this year: this run is about as family-oriented and community-focused as I've seen. Last year the focus was on something called Market on Main, an opportunity for the local community to come out and meet local vendors and businesses. This year this focus was more on health and wellness.
The shirts look pretty good this year! We had construction yellow at last year's race, and this year it's more of an earthy green. Maybe grass green? Here. Judge for yourself.
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| Tree coming out of the earthiness. Attacking a runner. The logo and two others are terrified. |
There is always plenty of parking, and we arrived about 10 minutes before the start of the race. Just prior we had equipped the cheering section with the finest pancakes, milk, sausage and egg money could buy at McDonalds. I was running on two peanut butter sandwiches, and felt like I had eaten too much.
Hugs from the cheering section, little bit of sunscreen, and I'm off to the start line. Chris met me at the start, and I ran into a few others I knew from the community. Time was short, and I started working my way up to the starting line. I didn't make it all the way, as I was busy taking pictures like the one below.
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| I heard "3...2...1..." Didn't make it all the way to the front. |
As I was taking this picture and talking with Chris about what our goals for the race were, I heard "3...2...1...." Whoops! Time to run! I picked up the pace, started Strava, and headed off. There was some traffic early (did I mention I yet again failed to get closer to the start line?), but it thinned pretty quickly after the first 2/10 of a mile or so.
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| Start and finish at the YMCA. |
The course starts and ends in the Harrisburg Town Center, a mixed-use development that includes the town hall, the YMCA, several businesses, and is ringed by medium- and high-density residential housing. The middle two miles or so runs through a more established residential area across the street. It's a fairly flat out and back - Strava says only 92 feet of elevation on the run, and the hills are long and minimal. The USATF certification shows only 57 feet between the highest and lowest points.
The start of the race caught me a little off guard, and I started off faster than I would have liked. Already in the more established residential area and passing the first mile marker I heard a volunteer call out something beginning with the number 6 - much faster than what I expected to be running today. There were only a few runners in front of me, and several of them looked to be under 18 - meaning they would either continue to pull away or would pull up pretty quickly. I adjusted my pace downward a bit and kept going.
Between mile 1 and 2 I heard footsteps, and a group of three runners came by at a little faster pace than me (but still slower than where I'd started). I think they were with F3 Harrisburg. In fact, I'd almost guarantee it.
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| F3 Harrisburg Bringing home the hardware. |
Coming into the last mile I was passed by 3 more people. In the final kick I overtook two of them, but one was long gone.
The cheering section had to step away for a wardrobe change and missed me coming across the finish, but we reconnected in time to cheer on Chris and Rex as they finished within ten seconds of one another, both beating their race goals. Go, Rex! Go, Chris!
With everyone across, it was time to check out the Health Expo. There were some great sponsors, vendors, and community organizations, including: Bank of North Carolina (brought its mascot and provided the goody bags), and the Zaxby's mascot. And the fire department was out there with an American flag flying high.
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| On the extended ladder of the fire truck. Sunlight in the background. Land of the free. |
One of the highlights of the health expo was the Kid's Fireman's Challenge, an obstacle course that included tires, bales of hay, a balance beam, sand bags, and a rolled fire hose for the kids to carry.
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| Why is this only for kids? WHY???? |
Part of the cheering section decided this would be good to try just before running the one-mile fun run.
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| Easiest part of the challenge. Not pictured: heavy stuff. |
Speaking of the Fun Run, I got to run that one as a pacer and had a great time. It was great to see the team out there, and they definitely earned their medals along the way.
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| Flashing the hardware. |
Unlike any other runner there, I had the opportunity to run in THREE races! First was the 5K, then the 1 mile Fun Run, then a special second Fun Run for a member of our cheering section that decided she wanted to run that day as well.
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| Second Fun Run. Little feet were flying. Hey! That's MY bib! |
Even though I didn't get a medal for the Fun Runs, I did get one for 2nd place in my group: yay! I earned a 15th place overall finish as well, so I guess I wasn't passed too many times at the end.
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| 2nd place in group. 15th overall. Nice. |
The unofficial results show a gun time of 22:43 (official results were adjusted up by a second to 22:44), which is just under a 7:19 pace. I like my Strava results even better. :)
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| Unofficial results. Really like getting these right after the race. 22:43 unofficial time = 7:19 pace |
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| Strava results. See how much better this looks? |
At the end of the runs and the expo I helped break down a few things at the end of the run. The volunteers and YMCA staff were all awesome as always. Thanks to the YMCA staff, Kristel Swayze of KS Image Solutions and the rest of the Southwest Cabarrus Rotary, and Harrisburg Parks and Rec for making this a great event. Special thanks to law enforcement and all of the terrific volunteers, including the Hickory Ridge High School Key Club. Extra special thanks to the Key Club member that patiently helped a particular 3-year-old over bales of hay on the Fireman's Challenge obstacle course!
In all it was an excellent morning and great to connect - and reconnect - with people in the community. Hope to do it all again next year!
=== RACE DAY ===
Race: Harrisburg 5K
Location: Harrisburg, NC
Shoe: Saucony Guide 7
Date: 4/11/2015
Distance: 5K
Time: 22:44
Pace: 7:19/mile
Overall: 15/379 (4.0%)
Gender: 15/164 (9.1%)
Group: 2/29 (6.9%)
=== LINKS ===
Website: Cannon YMCA
Registration: Active.com
Results: ItsYourRace.com
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