As registration was scheduled to start at 7 am, I timed it so that I would arrive at the UCLA parking structure 4 at about 6:30 am. Even with a slight detour, I arrived and parked at just after 6:30 am. At first, I attempted to pay for parking using the ParkMobile app. However, it was a hassle with there being very cell service inside the parking structure. I ended up getting in line to use the kiosk where I entered my license plate and opted to pay $13 for 3 hours.
UCLA Parking Structure 4
$13 for 3 hours
Lot 4 East Parking
Everyone was still setting up their booths in the Wilson Plaza, so I headed south along Westwood Plaza to go get coffee at the nearby Starbucks. It was a nice walk, but I came across more homeless people than I would have liked. I placed my order for my usual blonde vanilla latte before going inside to wait for my drink.
Grande blonde vanilla latte
Back at Wilson Plaza, I started looking for the registration table. They had a separate table for runners versus walkers. I believe the only difference was that runners received a bib with a timing chip. As for my race shirt, I had to show the girl my fundraising site that showed that I had raised at least $75 in donations. Once I did that, she gave me a ticket coupon to exchange for the shirt at another table.
Wilson Plaza
Race shirt
Back of race shirt
I went to each of the vendor booths to check them out. Most of them were giving out freebies associated with their company. They all had some sort of connection to autism. Besides getting a couple of useful tote bags and stress balls, I also got a picture with Chuck E. Cheese.
Chuck E Cheese
Kaufman Hall
Student Activities Center
After listening to most of the opening ceremony that began at 8 am, I went back to my car to drop off the swag and to shed some layers in preparation for the race. I used the restroom inside the Student Activities Center building to empty the bladder one last time before heading over to the start line.
Start/finish line
The race was scheduled to start at 8:30 am. There ended up being almost a 10 minute delay. I started the race at about a 7 minute/mile pace. I was a bit surprised to see everyone sprint out as if it was a 100m dash! I would catch and overtake most of them before reaching the first mile. There were some that I didn't overtake until during the second mile. I had forgotten how hilly it was around the UCLA campus! I ran out of steam during the third mile as it had a decent steep climb.
Finish: 24:00
Click here for my Garmin data.
The last time I had run a 5k on the UCLA campus was back on 11/11/2012 for the We Run The City 5k UCLA vs. USC. I wasn't wearing a GPS watch back then, but it looked like the mile splits were about the same. It wasn't my fastest 5k as I don't have as much speed these days, but it was good enough for first place in my age group!
After crossing the finish line, I received a finisher medal and a bottle of water. I had to let my watch continue to run for a little bit. I needed to make sure that I had at least 3.1 miles to post a 5k result on Strava for the Virtual NYRR Run for Thanks 5k. That completed my 9+1 which guaranteed me a spot in the TCS New York City Marathon for 2026.
Finish line selfie
Finisher medal
Water bottle
9+1
I didn't stick around for too long. I kind of wanted to get ahead of any traffic from other people leaving. Along the way home, I stopped in at the Starbucks near home to get some breakfast. My order was for a bacon sausage & egg wrap, Italian sausage egg bites, and a grande salted caramel cream cold brew. This order was larger than what I would normally get solely to earn some bonus stars. I received 20 stars from spending at least $15 pre-tax and 100 stars for buying a latte, a hot breakfast item, and a salted caramel cream old brew within a 3 day period. I gave the Italian sausage egg bites a try to see if they were any better. Yuck! Boy, were they pretty disgusting! They still tasted like watered down eggs.
Schnauzer!
Bacon, sausage & egg wrap, Italian egg bites, salted caramel cream cold brew
Italian egg bites
Bacon, sausage & egg wrap
Starbucks challenge completed
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