With Halloween approaching, I decided I wanted to run the Spirit Run 5K again. Last year around the same time I did the Lemieux 6.6K here in Pittsburgh (and got to high-five Le Magnifique and see the Cup fairly up-close!), but didn't sign up this year. That worked out, since both races ended up being on the same day.
About a month prior I started mentally running through ideas for a costume, because if you're going to run a Halloween race you gotta have a costume! Two years ago I did a Captain America outfit (complete with shield!) and decided that this year I could, with not too many new acquisitions, go as a unicorn. And so I did:
What I did have to get: A horn, obviously - this one was super cheap on Amazon but absolutely perfect: lightweight and didn't budge an inch thanks to a good grippy elastic band. Then, since two years ago it was absolutely frigid down there on the river (this race happens on the South Side river trail here in Pittsburgh), I also ordered a pair of brightly patterned abstract leggings in fairly neon/pastel colors. Unfortunately, as race day approached, the forecast was for 70 degree, sunny weather. So with a last-minute assist from Poshmark, I took the opportunity to acquire the ridiculous pink/purple/blue patterned shorts from Nike that are the same style as all my other running shorts (I've had my eye on this for a couple years now but they're so ridiculous that I could never quite justify the purchase, but with Poshmark the price was right and the shipping was fast!). I also bought some rainbow tie-dyed fleece and made my own mane and tail based on the tutorial I found here.
Everything else was something I had or could easily borrow! Hat - is my normal 2nd running hat, with the fleece mane pinned to the inside. Singlet - this is the one I got for the Pittsburgh Half this year. Spibelt is rainbow spatter print, though you can't really see it above - tail was pinned to the back of the belt. Socks are by Pro Compression and I hadn't run in them before, but since it was a short race and I wasn't planning on pushing it, I wasn't concerned. Shoes - you know by now these are my race shoes, and they just so happened to match the color scheme. Arm warmers - borrowed, and probably the least good choice of the day (it was HOT, and they fell down) but they looked good. And the wristbands and beads are gathered from various years of attending Pride. The beads made a ridiculous amount of noise while I ran but I couldn't resist.
Breakfast was a pretty usual Clif bar and espresso doubleshot, with a banana for closer to race time. Mike and I hit the South Side early since we needed to do packet pickup, and boy did I feel silly walking from where we parked to the place where the race started (especially since he didn't end up in costume at all this year). Even though it was only about half a block away, there was a hotel and a decent amount of street traffic along the way, and we were early enough that other racers really hadn't showed up yet. After getting our bibs, chips, bags, and shirts, we checked out the raffle area! Two years ago we both came home with a raffle basket, so I was prepared to buy some tickets and hopefully get lucky again - they had some really good ones this year!
After getting that sorted, we took our extra stuff back to the car and I ate my banana while we ambled around the riverfront, found a couple good spots to watch the water, boats, and barges that passed by, then made our way back to the starting area to hit up the portajohns and do a quick couple of warmup laps around the block (beads jangling all the way). I was checking out the competition, too; the costumes didn't seem quite as impressive as the previous time we'd run this (I think turnout overall was lower since the 6.6K was happening at basically the same time), so I was hopeful that I might snag the best costume award for sheer ridiculousness if nothing else.
Soon enough it was time to line up and run! It was chip timed for the finish, but no starting mat, and there was a walk option, so we set up pretty close to the front, though I kept reminding myself that I was there to run, not race. The sun was out and strong, so that was another point in favor of taking it easy, especially since I was wearing tall socks, arm warmers, and extra material on my hat that, spoilers, was fairly good at trapping heat. Nonetheless, as we set off I felt pretty comfortable, was ignoring my watch, and at the one mile mark saw I'd done it in 9:36. Whoops - that's only about 20 seconds off my 5K PR pace.
The heat (and my fatigued legs, having just done 8 the day before and 20+ in the previous week) got to me pretty quickly though, and as we turned around in the color park (where I wish I'd been able to get a photo since it would have looked great with my outfit!) and headed back to the start I could tell I was slipping a bit. That was fine, though - run, not race. Second mile was 10:01, which was still not bad! My glasses were sliding down my nose constantly from sweat at this point and so I was pretty much ready to be done. We split off from the way we came to head back on a slightly different path and I just kept it as steady as I could for the finish, kicking a bit as I came in for a final mile at 10:19 and a finish of 30:48. My previous time on the same course, in the bitter cold and wind, was 33:11, so a respectable improvement nonetheless!
There was a little wait while everyone finished up; we took full advantage of the delicious bagels, cookies, and candy provided, and sat down to soak up the sun while we waited for results to be announced.
Mike wasn't sure but thought we both might have done well in our age groups since it was a pretty light turnout. He'd finished at 24:14 but they were only doing prizes for first place in each AG, and it turned out there were a couple in his division who were faster (but only by 14 seconds for 2nd, and 1:02 for first). He ended up third in the age group and sixteenth overall out of 77 finishers. And somehow, despite being in the largest group (11 people out of 77!) I pulled off second in my age group (though 42/77 overall), but I wasn't even close to the winner, who had a finish of 27:02. So that was a bust!
Then they were announcing the costume winner, and... I lost out to someone in a store-bought bumblebee costume. Oh well! There were still the raffles, which instead of drawing individual numbers and calling them, were just posted, so as everyone started to leave we went up to check... and strike three, unfortunately. Just not our day.
That said, I really enjoyed my outfit, the pretty day, and a nice run. Not sure when/if I'll run this one again as there are so many choices this time of year, but I might come back to it again eventually, since it's a speedy course and a nice atmosphere if nothing else.
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