Coralville 4th Fest 5K Race Recap

I mentioned in my previous post that I had done a 5K while I was in Iowa. I love to schedule a race while I'm traveling because it forces me to get out and get active, especially when it may be so much easier to just lounge and laze the trip away. This time, I found the Coralville 4th Fest 5K and convinced a few family and friends to do it, too!

Long before we left for our Iowa trip, I had scouted the interwebs for possible 5Ks to run. The best place to look for Iowa road races and active events is on the Fitness Sports website: www.fitnesssports.com. Fitness Sports is a running store located in West Des Moines, where I used to buy all my running shoes back in high school and college and where I always refer my friends. They have, for a long, long time, put every road race they can get info for on their website, organized in calendar form. Super handy when planning your Iowa racing schedule or when looking for a race while traveling!

Anyway, I found the info for the Coralville 4th Fest 5K Fun Run and thought it would be the perfect chance to sneak a race in with some family and friends. Jeff and I had stayed with my friends Wade and Nicole and their sweet kids the night before the race, and they decided to join us for the run. As did my brother Ryan and my Dad. My Mom and Ryan's girlfriend Marissa were there, too, as moral support and photographers. So great to have such a big, fun group to run with!


Start time for the race, which started and ended at the Coralville Recreation Center, was 8:00 a.m. We got there in plenty of time to register on race day and use the bathroom. It appeared as though the turnout was between 100 and 150 people. Pretty small race but definitely bigger than some we've run, especially here in Montana! Signups were fairly well-organized. We got our race t-shirts when we signed up, too:

I don't really understand the design. I don't know why they didn't just use the logo that they had on their signs and on their website:

Instead, these t-shirts are about as silly as it gets for a race tee! The clock is running but it's OK because it's "Lovin' every minute of it." Does that have anything to do with the 4th Fest in Coralville? or the Rec Center? I don't know. Whatever. Add this t-shirt to the stack of other race tees that are ultimately destined to be used in a t-shirt quilt. Besides, I secretly have a fond admiration for 5K race t-shirts that are silly, absurd, tacky, or make no sense. This one definitely fits that bill!

Soon it was time to line up to start the race. The temperatures were in the mid to upper 60's but man was it HUMID! There was definitely a lot of sweating happening. The race website also stated that the course was hilly, and they weren't wrong about that. Click here to view a course map. Almost immediately after starting the race, we rounded a bend and began a long uphill climb. I had started out pretty conservatively on the race because I'd been having some knee pain and I wasn't sure how my knee was going to feel. After I started going, though, it felt mostly OK-- not great, but OK. So, when we got to the hill I really tried to power up it and I passed quite a few people on that first hill.  Most of the course was run on bike paths and neighborhood streets. It was a pleasant course to look at overall, but the hills were definitely tough.

As the race went on, I continued to pass more people here and there and was feeling OK. They didn't have their miles marked and I don't have a fancy GPS running watch (but lately I've been thinking that I'd like to get one...) so I wasn't really sure of my pace. It wasn't until we rounded the last few corners and I knew we were getting close to the finish line that I thought I'd have a chance to get my PR. I sprinted as best as I could to the finish, which was all downhill...and then I forgot to hit the "stop" button on my watch. And, the race event officials didn't time the race. So, as near as I could tell, I finished with a time somewhere between 26:30 and 27:30. I'm not really sure. So, I don't know if I got a PR, but it might have been close. Time to start thinking about getting a Garmin or Soleus or something similar.

Wade and Ryan had both finished ahead of me, and Mom and Marissa were there to greet everyone at the finish line, too. As we crossed the line, they tore off the bottom part of our bibs, ostensibly to take note of finishing order. Mom got some nice finish photos of us approaching the line. We cheered people in and milled around for a bit. Then, there was a "Kids Marathon" of 26.2 yards, which was basically a run from one end of the parking lot to the other, that Wade and Nicole's daughter Addison completed. Super, super cute! She was pretty pleased with her finishers ribbon. 

Ryan, Jeff, Me and my Dad approaching the finish of the race.

By now, we had scouted out the apparent results of the race and it looked like I had earned a 3rd place age-group prize, so we thought we'd wait around a little while longer for the awards ceremony just to be sure. We waited... and waited... an hour came and went and they still hadn't gotten to the awards. Apparently there were some disputes among runners over their finishing order and it turned out that the race officials hadn't kept the bib numbers in the correct order as people crossed the finish line, so they weren't sure of the actual finishing order. But, not to worry, because for some reason, even though they hadn't timed the race, they had someone who was video recording all the finishers crossing the line. So, their plan was to review all the video and note the bib numbers of people as they crossed the line. Then they could be absolutely sure about the finishing order and who won which prizes. They planned to do that later in the day and call the winners so they could come back and pick up their prize. So, after waiting around for quite some time, we finally dispersed and went our own ways.

This event left a bit to be desired in terms of organization, but overall the race was fun and I'm glad we did it. Most of all, I enjoyed the chance to be active outdoors with friends and family I don't get to see very often. Thanks to everyone who came along to join us!

**UPDATE: Earlier this week, on July 1, I DID get a call from the Coralville Rec Center asking when I was planning to come in to pick up my award from the Fun Run. So, I had won a plaque for being the 3rd Place Female, Age 30-39 (It's a major award, guys!) Even after explaining that I live in Montana and couldn't jaunt down there to pick it up, they were disinclined to mail it to me. My brother's promised to pick it up for me so I assume I'll see it next time I see him. :)