Carrera de los Muertos 5K (3.15 miles)
Let's not talk about pace this time ...
I ran this race three years ago, on it's 10th anniversary.
Three years isn't so long ... or at least, it doesn't seem like it ... until you revisit the recap photos from that year:
Just for reference, a similarly skeleton clad photo from Halloween this year:
Ah! I miss my cute, squishy mushy baby. But he's sure fun to hang out with now, too, when he can tell me stories and funny jokes. Plus there's the no diapers thing. Trade offs ...
Anyway, this is a race recap. Not a mom post. Moving on ...
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As I mentioned in my previous race recap, since I enjoyed this race in 2016, I decided to use the 2019 version as a motivator to get me back into running. Because what better than skeletons and a post Halloween trip to Chicago to get me motivated, right?!
Beyond the excellent race swag, what I remembered liking about this race held true in 2019 as well - a festive pre race atmosphere, a unique cultural immersion, and beautiful artwork on course.
New to this year (or at least, I didn't see this in 2016), a SUPER SWEET hydraulics car display.
Note: this car drove away post race honking its horn, and yes - it played La Cucaracha.
Other items to add into the plus column for this race: an on time race start, well organized race corrals (though, plenty of people thought they could "walk" a 10 minute mile, so there's that ... but race organizers can't fix stupid), and even an on site cotton candy vendor!!!
Not going to lie, I was VERY tempted to purchase a bag to bring back to the hotel for my son. But ... Halloween literally JUST happened a little over 24 hours prior.
I think that's plenty of candy for a three year old, no?!
In addition to other positive race attributes for this 5K, there's also the AMAZING placement awards. While I'll never likely qualify for these skulls, I can still admire them ... right?!
Ugh - I do have to say, I'm never so jealous of fast runners as I am at this race.
Oh - and what else served as a good motivator for me to get back into running shape for this race? Getting someone else to do this with me so we're both holding each other accountable, of course!!
Since my sister is usually game for my shenanigans, together we committed to training for this race ... though we totally spaced and didn't take any photos together to document the experience. And even though I held back this recap about 2 weeks to allow for race day photos to be published, still no luck. DAMN! Oh well.
Speaking of race down sides - though the race had plenty of positives as mentioned above, there were a few negatives as well.
The biggest negative was no packet pickup in the days most immediately prior to the race. I was very confused by this - how is an out of town runner supposed to pick up their bib and shirt when the only dates available for pickup are the Saturday, Sunday and Monday the weekend BEFORE the race?!
Other negatives for this race were a general lack of organization and communication. Using the above as an example - notice the address for packet pickup is the same for both pre race and race day? Yeah ... that's very wrong. Pre race pickup was at a local run shop, but same day pickup was at the school hosting the race. Two totally separate addresses roughly a mile apart. I actually messaged race organizers directly about this twice before they realized the error and fixed it. Which means that all their social media posts for the weeks prior to the race, and the e-blasts for pickup reminder ... were all wrong. Oops.
Another example of the lack of organization paired well (or rather, poorly) with this race day packet pickup issue. Because if you're expecting a fair percentage of your runners to pick up their shirts just prior to running ... you'd think runners might want to know where bag drop is, right? I mean, I myself don't particularly enjoy being a pack mule ...
When I asked at check in where the bag drop tent was, I got a deer in the headlights look and a "Uh ... I don't think we have one, sorry."
Good thing I was really motivated to not run with an extra jacket, a race shirt, and a reusable bag I brought along for bag drop ... which I discovered I didn't need to bring. After a lot of aimless wandering, I finally found the "GEAR CHECK" tent, where they were providing clear bags for drop off. (And yes, when I found the bag drop area, I explained to them the confusion at check-in. I was answered with a very peppy "got it!" and a girl ran off to take care of the issue for others.)
Honestly, the minor negatives of a forced race day packet pickup and a slight feeling of disorganization from event planners isn't enough for me to take issue with this race. So, I won't get too hung up on it.
I can get hung up on the crap weather, though. Yuck! I forgot how nasty a cold, pre-race morning can be. On the plus side, I'm glad I last second panic packed a run cap, a long sleeve base later, gloves, and a bag drop fleece jacket - because I needed ALL of it, and then some. #frozentoes #wishIpackedHotHands
Me, actual race day live stream.
After a melting pot of excitement for the morning - both good (cotton candy, hooray!) and bad (can't find the bag drop, boo!) - it was finally time to settle into our start points. And before we could even get too uncomfortable from standing still in the cold, it was time to take off!!
Overall, the race course felt like what I remembered from 2016. All I noticed was a minor adjustment in start and finish points, which I thought was actually a vast improvement over 2016.
2016:
2019:
Though looking at the maps for comparison now, I see there was quite a bit of difference. But, the "essence" for this course ... at least for me ... are the murals on 16th and 18th. Which you can see in both courses takes up the majority of the route.
Here's some photos (from current and past years) for reference:
With everything to hear, look at, or just mentally process - the first mile cruised past. And even stopping for walk breaks with my sister, with all the local folks offering entertainment on course (mostly DJ based, but also some traditional dancers, etc) the course just flew by.
Here's a video demonstrating what I mean about the stimulus overload:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=430420604341365
At some point, I don't even know when, I saw a bichon frise dog dressed as a unicorn.
Yes, it was running with its owner.
Yes ... it was beating me to the finish. (I'm not too proud to admit this, after all ... I have been beaten to the finish by wiener dogs in the past, so ... breed upgrade at least???)
Of course, there were a lot of other amazing things to process on course as well. But before I could even absorb them all and think about how to express them here, a woman was yelling on the side of the course ...
"Around this corner - THIS IS IT!!! YOU CAN SEE THE FINISH LINE!!! YOU CAN DO THIS!!!"
And then we were there, and that was it. My sister and I logged another race for the books.
But damn it, if I didn't omit my free churro again this year. With a line easily 100+ people deep, and already over 10+ minutes lost trying to get my dropped bag back, I just couldn't handle the cold anymore. So, instead - I dialed up a Lyft back to the hotel and mentally prepared for a steaming hot post race shower ... that I may or may not have had to fight my sister for first dibs on LOL!
Oh well to the churro - thanks anyway Pilsen, it was fun!!
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And that's the story of how race bib #85 joined my collection. Here's to another race soon ... though I doubt it will be in 2019, since I'm a bit of a wilted flower after this cold race. What can I say?! I live in Minnesota, yes ... but I sure hate running outside when the temps get below freezing!
