FCA 5k Race Report

Last Saturday Mike and I ran the FCA 5K which is an event put on by one of my best friends Allison and her husband Tim in support of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the not-for-profit organization that Tim works for. It’s a fun, small race with a great community vibe. It’s un-timed and casual, but there are prizes for first place female and male in the student and adult category as well as a stroller division! There’s also a raffle for an ipad mini and given the size of the race, the odds are in your favor!

The race was held at Crown Point in Mission Bay, the same as last year. It started at 9 a.m. and we arrived around 8:30 to sign in and get our bibs. I was thrilled to see two of my old Vavi Running Club buddies, Jen and Miranda. It was this time of year 4 years ago that we were all training for our first marathon together (Allison and Asia trained with us as well). 4/5 of us girls were unmarried and we were all childless  back in 2011. Miranda had a baby around the same time as Allison, we’re almost all married, and I’ve got a bun in the oven  – so to say that things have changed in the last 4 years is an understatement. It was fun to catch up with them!

Before the race started Tim announced that 3 out of 4 of the division winners were present and called us out each by name. I wore my Running for Two tank so I’m sure any competition realized I wasn’t going to be claiming the prize for first woman again! I’ve been loving these out and back 5ks (same as the Fast Times 5k) because I can cheer for fellow races on the course. This was me and Baby Doby’s third 5k together – that’s more 5ks than I have done in the last few years combined! I’m typically not a 5k girl but it’s been fun to do some community events.

As usual, I kept my pace conversational and stopped at the aid station to drink my entire water cup. I finished around 29:40 (I didn’t wear my watch and it wasn’t chip timed so I’m not exactly sure what my time was!). I was happy to hear that Mike had won the adult men’s division and was 3rd overall. The overall winner was a student athlete. I also won a really awesome glass water bottle in the raffle (a student won the ipad mini which was probably for the best!).

After the race and awards ceremony we headed over to one of our old favorite brunch spots in Pacific Beach near our old apartments. Fun fact: less than 4 months after we met Mike moved into a 1 bedroom apartment just 3 houses down from where I lived in Pacific Beach. Apparently he couldn’t stand to be far away from me for long! We moved into together 6 months later when both of our leases ended at the same time and the rest is history!

What is your favorite race distance? How often do you run a 5k?