Ah, the weekend. I spent last night stressing out about this morning’s Yuri’s Night 5K, which I organized for the third year in a row. The week before the race, I always find myself telling my friends “don’t let me do this again next year, don’t let me take charge, don’t let me commit myself to organizing this race!” But when race day arrives, and especially once the runners have finished and I’m giving out awards, I feel good, and I’m glad that I did it again. I like organizing, and I like being in charge and knowing everything that’s going on and being able to answer everyone’s questions.
We had 94 runners at final count, which is less than the past two years. There’s been a consistent downward trend in the registration, which is directly related to my lack of time this spring (and tangentially related to the glut of races that occur in this area at this time of year). I did a horrible job of getting the word out, and knowing that, I was actually very pleased with 94. I really feel like the ideal size for the race is 150, and if I end up organizing it again next year that will be my goal. That’s enough people to make it a decently sized and competitive race, while not overcrowding the trails at Challenger Park.
We’re a small, bare bones race, but I think everyone enjoys the course and has fun running it. So that makes me happy. Another year, another successful 5K.
Thanks especially go to everyone who volunteered, including Jon who made the trek all the way from the Woodlands. The Houston Running Bloggers were represented on the course as well by Jen.
Don’t beat yourself up over the numbers. Everybody has a race the first weekend in April and some of them are big. You consider moving the race to the last week in March.
Hey Sarah – thanks for organizing the race! Though my finish time was horrible, I had fun with the multi-terrain course. It definitely kept things interesting. 🙂
Btw, I posted an announcement about Yuri’s night at houston.metblogs.com
I, for one, was glad that yesterday, especially during the first loop when the humidity factor was yuck!, I was volunteering instead of running competitively.
Yes, it was multi-terrain, but it seemed like it went on forever too as I ran the “multi” part a couple of times myself. I was as soaked as the runners, but I agree that everybody had a great time. I don’t think that I ran into one runner/walker on the portion that I monitored that wasn’t. I’ll mark it on my calendar next year to help and hopefully we’ll get more bloggers to help and run it!
Good work Sarah, your energy and ability to juggle a hectic work schedule, trips to Patagonia (lucky you), race photography and your own running is beyond us mere mortals. Sorry I was out of town or I would have been number 95.
Congrats on the race! I can’t even imagine how much work it must be to organize and put on a run. It looked like a really neat course, but I had already committed to another race that day, as some friends of mine were involved in the sponsorship. Hopefully next year I’ll be able to make it down there.
Sarah,
So glad to read a good race report. I had wanted to make it out, but had my Time Trial on my schedule, but I’ll plan on it for next year for sure. As Putty would say, “Gotta support the team!” 🙂