Although they have race day packet pick-up, I always come out to Chinatown on Saturday to take care of it. Per the usual, instead of driving all the way there, I drove out to the Sierra Madre Villa Station to take the Metro Gold Line. It only took about 30 minutes to arrive at the Chinatown Station.
From the Metro station, I walked over to the Chinatown Central Plaza. The packet pick-up was really quick. They gave me my bib, a drawstring bag, and a pink 'year of pig' t-shirt.
Schedule
Bib pick-up
Race shirt
After that, I got in the carbo-load line. It was the usual little portion of chow mein in a take-out container and a fortune cookie. They didn't have a seating area nearby, so I had to walk around a bit to find a spot to sit down. Eventually I found a bench to sit down near the Bruce Lee statue. I ate the chow mein and the fortune cookie before walking around to check out the vendor booths.
Carbo Load
Bruce Lee
"Seize from every moment its uniqueness."
During my walk around the plaza, I picked up a few bottles of drinks: coconut water, Monster energy drink, and a Suja organic probiotic fruit juice drink. I also came across Burgerlords which made the claim that they have Chinatown's #1 hamburger. They're probably the only burger joint in Chinatown, but I think next year, I'll give them a try.
Expo haul
Chinatown's #1 Hamburger
After I was done walking around and visiting each of the vendor booths, I hopped back on the Gold Line to get back to my car. Along the drive back home, I stopped at the McDonald's at the corner of Fairway Dr and Colima Rd to pick up lunch. However the parking lot was completely full as it shared the same lot as the 168 Market. It took me a while to even exit that lot! I drove further down Colima to my usual McDonald's near the 57 freeway. I put my order in with the mobile app. I ordered a Quarter Pounder with cheese and a Filet-o-fish with their 'buy 1 at regular price and get a second sandwich for 25 cents' deal. However when I tried to check-in, it was having issues and told me to see an employee. I thought it would be best to just cancel the order and place my order at one of their kiosks. As I was done placing my order, the employee calls out that a mobile order was ready. There wasn't anyone there claiming the food, so I peaked inside the bag to find that it was my order. Shortly thereafter I got my second order. I came out of there with twice the food that I wanted! I made sure to eat less for dinner. :)
Sunday 2/17
I drove out to the Sierra Madre Villa Metro Station and arrived at about 6:30 am. After I went through the turnstile, I bumped into a few of my brother's friends. They were also running the race, but was waiting for another person to show up before they got on the train.
I got there in time for the opening ceremonies which included the lighting of the firecrackers. I bumped into Marathon Mitch and watched it with him. Once the firecrackers were lit, it was super loud and very smoky! As soon as the smoke started blowing our way, I quickly moved out of the way of the smoke.
Light the firecrackers
So loud and so much smoke!
I watched the start of the 5k run which started at 8 am. It was pretty cool to see the 1st place male and female come flying through for the finish line. The runner that would've been 2nd place male actually stopped at a timing mat just a few meters before the finish line. By doing so he was passed by the runner behind him instead putting him in 3rd place. Well, at least he still made the podium.
5k 1st male
5k 1st female
It was then followed by the 5k walk at 8:30 am. This kind of baffled me and my friend. The 10k race was scheduled to start at 8:45 am and that definitely didn't give the last walker time enough to keep the course clear when our race started. As the start of the 10k approached, I went to go use a portapotty one last time before getting into the corral. I got near the front so that I didn't get stuck behind any walkers.
Where's Waldo?
I wasn't sure how fast I could run this hilly course this year. All I wanted was to finish in under 50 minutes. Roughly the first half of the course would gradually get steeper and steeper before it becomes a fast downhill run down to the finish line. Unfortunately my legs and lungs weren't quite in shape to handle the climb, so I had to resort to walking at about 1.5 miles into the race. My legs felt dead and heavy! I took about 7 walk breaks before I reached the peak. Then it was off to the races! I was able to crank out mile 4 in about 6:58 min without much effort. I couldn't run the next two miles as hard as there were some rollers that slowed me down.
Finish: 50:20
Click here for my Garmin data.
I was a little bummed that I didn't break 50 minutes even with the course being a bit short. However I was glad that my left foot and ankle didn't feel like it was going to fall apart during any part of the race.Relive 'LA Chinatown Firecracker 10k'
After receiving my medal, I continued through the finisher chute where I picked up a bottle of water, a bottle of Aloe water, a GoGo squeeZ Applesauce, an apple, and a fortune cookie. After I ate the apple and the fortune cookie, I waited near the end of the finisher chute so I could give my friend my free beer ticket. It was cool that I bumped into a bunch of familiar faces while waiting. It was nice to catch up with my friend for a little bit before I hopped back on the Gold Line to head on home.
Finisher medal
"Newer isn't always better."
Next year, the zodiac goes back to the beginning with the year of the rat. God willing, I plan on running it 12 consecutive years for a full zodiac cycle.
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