2010 Firecracker 5000 - Seattle's Only Midnight Race

   3.25 mi ~ 24:32 ~ 07:32 pace

• Overall: 190th
• Div-F30-39: 5th
• Female: 40th

If you live in the Seattle area or are visiting, this is a must race! Very fun event!!!

The race begins at 11:55 pm July 3, so you are literally running into Independence Day. People really get into the American spirit with red, white, blue, flags, etc. And top off running in the middle of night around the Space Needle, Experience Music Project, and other Seattle monuments in the Seattle Center area, and you are asking for a good time.

Of course I was decked out in my Moeben stars and stripes attire and new Run26 red singlet and socks.
This 5000 race is not a true 5k however. One of the CNW sponsored runners said that when the course changed 2 years ago, the club didn't re-certify the distance and that was somewhere along the lines of 3.2. We mapped it and Kevin was right! It's 3.25 miles. http://www.dailymile.com/routes/223387-running-route-in-seattle-wa

This is an up and down course of hills. In a way, being at night makes it feel less of an effort because you really can't see how big or long some of the hills are.


I got into the 7:00 pace corral w/ Rob because I wanted to start off with him. I didn't belong there...somewhere between the 7:30 and 8:00. After waiting in a long potty line, I was left with a 5 minute warm up.

Gun goes off and Chris Brown's FOREVER (in honor of Rob) started. I was pumped and R-E-A-D-Y to G-O !! Around .5 mile, I found the pace I knew I could sustain and was with this pack of high school kids and some masters. I decided I would stick with this pack until finish. The first mile I was past by many runners, but after that, I was passing them. One guy - wearing no shirt, body paint and some unusual x-mas like decorations around his waist - said to me, "Wow! You are fast!" as I blazed past him. I gave him a look and that look said: "Dude, we are on a downhill and should be going fast." See ya!

I think I was doing about 7:00 min pace the first 2.5 miles - a pace I haven't ran since last August - because at about that mile I started getting nauseous. The kind where one would literally barf. I have barfed from racing before, but that was back in my school days where I would push myself to beat someone. Tonight, as an adult, racing for fun, with many runners and spectators, I did not want to showcase my barfing skills. I kicked the pace down a little and was still hanging onto the pack. If I could just sustain this pace and keep the nauseousness at a level where it won't start creeping up the throat, I am good. LOL

I saw the corner to where we turn to run into the stadium. Yes! Everyone kicked it up and a notch. I was blazing past people. It felt good. I felt good. Finish strong in the stars and stripes as TOP POT donuts are waiting...along w/ Rob.

MEMORABLE SIGHT: Around the first mile, there was one of the guys that was in my running pack in the beginning (but dropped around mile 2) and we took a left corner. I was inside and he outside. Apparently I was in his blind side as he dodged right in front of me. In order to avoid a drastic-falling-collision, I literally had to push him out of the way. It was a safety measure. I did it for us. Not to be mean. But I used my right elbow to do it. Yes, I was one of those runners. Not on purpose. I elbowed him and today I have what feels like a bruised bone. Ouch.