Lately I have been dealing with 2 sore feet, a sore right hip, and a sore lower back. So I was not looking forward to running this race. Also this race was in Downtown LA. Couldn't I have picked a turkey trot closer to home? I drove out to the Sierra Madre Villa Metro station to take the gold line into DTLA. Apparently my TAP card had expired, so I had to pay $1 for a new card. Once I got to Union Station, I took the red line over to the Civic Center station which brought me within a block or two of City Hall which was the location of the start and finish line.
Starting line
It was a good thing that I remembered to bring one of my mylar blankets since there was a little bit of chill in the air. On my way to pick up my race packet in front of City Hall, I bumped into one of my friends that I had last saw in Las Vegas. Instead of the usual race t-shirt, they gave out boxers. I guess anything is better than yet another race shirt! As I milled around Grand Park waiting for the start of the race, I saw KTLA's Gayle Anderson getting ready to do a news piece. It was pretty cool of her to dress up as a turkey!
Boxers
KTLA's Gayle Anderson
At about 5 minutes before the start of the 5k, I walked down to the first turn to watch the start of the race. There was a lot of 5k participants! I tried looking for some of my friends, but I couldn't spot them. Even after the majority of the corral had emptied, there were still stragglers crossing the starting line almost up to the start of the 10k race which was 30 minutes later.
5k start
I started near the front as I didn't want to be stuck behind walkers and joggers. The first mile felt a little awkward, but eventually I got into a groove. During that first mile, we ran up some of the steepest climbs that you can find in DTLA, especially the climb going up 1st St. After that, the hardest part of the course was over. I kept the pace hard, but not too hard. The large office buildings and running on lower Grand really produced very inaccurate GPS readings, but my pace was around 7:40 - 7:55 minutes per mile for the most part. The last out and back was a bit of a grind. I focused on pushing, but not to the point where something hurts too much.
Last few steps to the finish line
Finish line
Finish: 44:58
Click here for my Garmin data.
Most people measured the 10k as 5.8 miles and the 5k as 3.5 miles. We can pretty much deduce where they screwed up with marking the course. The missing .4 miles unfortunately went to the 5k race. Even with the short course, I was pleased with the race in general. The course was challenging and I was happy with the way my legs responded and how they felt for the entire race.
After getting my medal, I grabbed a water bottle, a banana, and an orange. I said goodbye to one of my friends that was working the New Year's Race booth before heading to the Metro station to go home.
City Hall
Post race goodies
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