Carlsbad 5000

This year was my first time ever running the Carlsbad 5000, the world’s fastest 5k!  I am typically a distance runner as far as races go, so I don’t usually do these fast-paced races.

Parking for this race (and the expo the day before) can be a challenge because everything is blocked off.  I actually used Uber getting to the race as it was just easier for the 8-mile trip, instead of spending double that time looking for a parking spot.

I got to the race early, since they have a few different races that happen throughout the day, as well as the Elite racers, who race separately.  I ended up running into quite a few local friends and Insta friends like Sean & Jenny  They are just the sweetest racing dynamic duo and a fun, adventurous follow on IG (@runnylegs and @ultrarunnersd).

I also finally got to meet Anna, Owner of Miles and Pace –  and the responsible party for my Miles & Pace trucker hat obsession.  I mean, someone has to take the blame for that!

This race starts by age waves and there is some strange lengths of time in between the races because they have to start the races around the train schedule for the area.  Nothing kills your 5k time like stopping to wait for a train, so it’s best to just roll with it.

I started mid-way back in the pack for my age wave, because I did not want to be in the way of the faster runners, but it turns out, I should have started a little further up.  I spent my first mile dodging other runners and walkers.

It was was easier to pick up that pace knowing that you were going to be staring down the finish line after mile 3 instead of 13 or 26!  I was able to finish at a sub-7 pace, which was my goal! I even ended up earning one of the special Sammy Kipketer medals that they gave out to the first 250 finishers of each wave!  He holds the men’s world record set in 2000 for the 5k with a time of 12:59:50!  Messeret Defar (who also won this year’s race) holds the women’s record set in 2006 of 14:46. 

The tech shirts given out for the race were brown, which I thought was odd at first for a race shirt color but I ended up liking it once I had it on.

Overall, I would recommend the race, and I will do it again next year, now that I know more about running a shorter distance race, and see if I can get a new PR!  Also, if you ran the race this year you get a special pricing to register for $25 for the following year!  Yay!