Race Report: Harrisburg 5K (2014)

The 7th annual Harrisburg 5K and Family Fun Run continues to grow every year.  Harrisburg is a community that's grown almost 20% in the past four years or so, and continues to experience development and attracting businesses along the way.


The last time I ran this race, my time was just under 9:00 minutes / mile.  While I'm still not burning up the pavement, I had set my expectations a little higher this year and was looking forward to the run.

This run is about as family-oriented and community focused as I've seen.  Sponsored by the YMCA and Rotary, the start/finish is at the Harrisburg Town Hall, and the Market on Main festival at the same location includes local vendors and fun things for the kids to do.

The Fun Run was flat, fairly straight, and confined to the surrounding neighborhood.  All of the kids seemed to have a good time, and it reminded me that adults often mirror what we see in children.  Some of them shot out of the gate like a rocket then burned out, others were slow and steady all the way through, and a few decided that it was really more of a walk than a run.  Good fun at any speed, and medals all around.

Just like the big kids.

The 5K added about 40 runners from 2012, and the crowd was super friendly.  Lots of teams, great volunteers, and large groups of families clustered throughout.  There were several younger runners at the start.  They looked to be between 10 and 15 years old, and were ready to run fast!

Not pictured:  younger runners

I started a little closer to the front, but not too close.  After the welcome and the prayer, we were off.  The younger runners were really fast out of the gate, but after the first quarter mile or so some of them started to slow and a few were walking.  A pack of the fastest runners started moving away at a nice clip, and it was good for me to remember that I needed to run my race, not the race of accomplished folks that weigh 20-50 pounds less than me.

I found my rhythm, and started to really enjoy the run.  The course has a lot of turns, but is well marked and volunteers were always there to ensure we ran the right direction.  From time to time I would pass runners, but for the most part I just chugged along and enjoyed the day.  It's hard not to have a pleasant time at this one.

The final quarter mile is a straight shot in, so I picked up the pace and waved to some family on the way in.  It is wonderful to have support at a race, and means so much to share moments and memories.

When the awards were announced, I was shocked:  I won first place in my group!

Picking up the hardware :)

Post race was a few food options, and milling around the Market on Main.  Wonderful relaxing atmosphere - had a great time.  Looking forward to 2015!



===  RACE DAY  ===
Race:  Harrisburg 5K
Location:  Harrisburg, NC
Shoe:  Avia Austin
Date:  4/12/2014
Distance:  5K
Time:  23:16
Pace:  7:30/mile
Overall:  29/401 (7.2%)
Gender:  22/186 (11.8%)
Group:  1/20 (5.0%)

===  LINKS  ===
Website:  Cannon YMCA
Registration:  SportOften
Results:  Active.com