Happy Haunted 5K Trail Run - 2013

[cewait]

I thought the race went well. I started in the A corral and took off with the rabbits. After hitting mile 1 in a 8:49 I hit the walk button quite often from that marker; especially along the sandy areas. Leaning to preserving the legs for the night's activities.

Pre-race, I saw several friends including Flatlandcycle, again, Don G and a few that I only seem to know by face. The K-9 folks were out looking about an hour pre-race. They were attempting to sneak past the DJ when he queued up Who Let the Dogs Out. I noticed that they were hitting hard spots where it would be obvious that a sick mind would attempt to hide things, but also I saw them head to the baggage claim area and during the race, they set up along the 400m track - just at the point where runners came out of the woods for the final time.

It's funny, while on line for the expo, we were discussing Disney race snafus. One was the 95 or 6 race starting 30-40 minutes late. We were all in agreement that the mouse learns and rarely repeats issues. Today, we started about 3-4 minutes late. Not bad, but to the point the folks around me were growing a little restless.

I thought the course was well taken care of for a trail run. There was little in the way of poor footing that I noted; with the possible exception of the outer ring of the far away baseball field. I saw a hip in front of me bobble and I hit a small hole in the higher grass but nothing like any trail run I have run. I am sure that for the last corral, the first stretch of the course on the well manicured field was a little sloppy. It felt like the sprinkler had run during the night and I am sure that a few sloppy spots opened up. The only comment I have on the course was that the forested area seemed to last for ever. I thought entertainment was better than expected, though there was a couple stretches where I could see folks not liking it. The bee tender (AK Cast member) baby setting the insect or bee sound loop had zero personality. Most of the group I was with at that corner were all mimicking bee swatting... he just stared looking like he was missing his smart phone.

Off to a mid day nap. I hope all the first timers were pleased with their efforts and please report !!

 

[renes]

This was my first disney race and only my second 5k. With everything I read and all my research I was not disappointed. I have never done a trail run and I thought it was a nice change. I am signed up for the 5k during the PHM. I am very much looking forward to that race. The first 5k I was in had 40,000 runners and our corral started 1 hour and 20 minutes after the first so starting off 20 minutes after the first corral(I was in E) was not bad. I had an expectation of ruining my running shoes but except for some dust they are in good shape. Off to watch DD and SIL run tonight.

 

[dreams91]

I thought the race went well. I started in the A corral and took off with the rabbits. After hitting mile 1 in a 8:49 I hit the walk button quite often from that marker; especially along the sandy areas. Leaning to preserving the legs for the night's activities.

Pre-race, I saw several friends including Flatlandcycle, again, Don G and a few that I only seem to know by face. The K-9 folks were out looking about an hour pre-race. They were attempting to sneak past the DJ when he queued up Who Let the Dogs Out. I noticed that they were hitting hard spots where it would be obvious that a sick mind would attempt to hide things, but also I saw them head to the baggage claim area and during the race, they set up along the 400m track - just at the point where runners came out of the woods for the final time.

It's funny, while on line for the expo, we were discussing Disney race snafus. One was the 95 or 6 race starting 30-40 minutes late. We were all in agreement that the mouse learns and rarely repeats issues. Today, we started about 3-4 minutes late. Not bad, but to the point the folks around me were growing a little restless.

I thought the course was well taken care of for a trail run. There was little in the way of poor footing that I noted; with the possible exception of the outer ring of the far away baseball field. I saw a hip in front of me bobble and I hit a small hole in the higher grass but nothing like any trail run I have run. I am sure that for the last corral, the first stretch of the course on the well manicured field was a little sloppy. It felt like the sprinkler had run during the night and I am sure that a few sloppy spots opened up. The only comment I have on the course was that the forested area seemed to last for ever. I thought entertainment was better than expected, though there was a couple stretches where I could see folks not liking it. The bee tender (AK Cast member) baby setting the insect or bee sound loop had zero personality. Most of the group I was with at that corner were all mimicking bee swatting... he just stared looking like he was missing his smart phone.

Off to a mid day nap. I hope all the first timers were pleased with their efforts and please report !!

Always great to hear your words and encouraging thoughts. . Yea, the dj cueing that ong was funny. See you out there tonight!

 

[Mikelly1221]

This was my first 5k ever, and I thought everything went ok for me for a first-timer. At the end of the 2nd mile I was feeling great, then coming out of the woods, I misjudged where the finish line was and lost momentum a bit because I increased my speed too soon. I walked a bit and ended up with a time within my range but not my best. All in all, pretty respectable for me!

My daughters ran the kids race and both of them had times faster than me...I was so proud of them! I'm trying to encourage the older one to go out for track so maybe today helped in that direction.

Overall, this was a fantastic experience, one I hope to repeat in the future!