Race Review — Cat Caper 5K
Sunday, September 30 I entered the Cat Caper 5K Race. Because I am not a cat person, I have never entered this race before. However, a friend of mine is the race director so a bunch of us entered this year.
This 5K is such a fun event, I wish I had entered years earlier! There were more than 400 people in the race and a large number were walkers.There were at least 10 Buckeye Striders entered.
The course was challenging! The last mile seemed to be nearly entirely uphill. Despite that, I had a great race and set a new 5K PR!
I walked the entire race with my friend Pat who kept me moving, even up the hills. Our first mile was 12:36, second was somewhere around 12:23 and the final mile (mostly uphill) was 12:57 for a finish time of 39:12. Though Pat was ahead of me up the big hill, I passed her in the final stretch and finished about 15 seconds ahead of her. This is the first time I have beat Pat and the finish was good enough for me to take third place woman walker! If it was possible to win more than one prize, I would have taken first in my age group!
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| After the race with my third place mug! |
The handmade coffee mug was a great prize!
A pancake breakfast was available after the race. Though they looked delicious, I was more in the mood for the bagels. There were plenty of bagels, bananas and granola bars.
Though a good course and plenty of food, the best thing about this race is the support from the community. There was a raffle/silent auction with some amazingly wonderful prizes that were donated — Rossi Pasta, Great Harvest Bread, restaurant coupons, pet toys, tickets to sporting events…. I was stunned. After buying raffle tickets, you were able to pick and choose which items you wanted the chance to win by dropping your ticket in a bag next to the prize.
Unfortunately, I had to leave early and did not get to see who won the prizes.
If you like 5K races, this one is for a good cause, has great community support and gives participants a good value for the entry fee! Mark your calendars for next year!
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Comments
Congrats on a good race. I have two trophies like that, thinking of using them for plants, I really like those type. I was happy to see that Neal won that race(I like looking up race results). I finished right in front of him at the Parkersburg half marathon. I believe it was him and the gentleman from Gahanna who finished in front of me who were so encouraging when my left hamstring completely cramped 10 miles in. I will never forget their kindness towards me, I don’t know if he would remember me, but if you know him and see him please give him my regards. Aric McCreary
Thanks, Aric! Putting a plant in the mug is a good idea. I might do that. Your experience in Parkersburg sounds like Neal — I bet it’s the same person. He is so nice! I don’t see him a lot, but I’ll pass along the message.