Race Report: YMCA Reindeer Romp [Triple Crown Race 1]

Chino YMA Reindeer Romp | December 7, 2013

Chino, California

Chino is hosting a Triple Crown race series -- a 5K each in December (the Romp), February (Run for Russ) and March (Dairy Aire). Complete all three and you get some extra award - count me in! Doug and I saw it, were interested, and his sister wanted to do it too. So despite also having a Reindeer Run next weekend, we did yesterday's Reindeer Romp too. 

A cold, 40 degrees and some on-and-off sprinkling didn't scare away 354 runners. Lucky for us, the heavy rain held off until we were done and in the car, minus some sprinkles here and there. We didn't get to the race hardly before 8, but thankfully chip time does ya some good! They were singing the national anthem and yelled 'Start!' just as we were walking up -- I nearly took off, but we took a quick pre-race photo and then I took off.

About that first mile -- 8:35. Way too fast to maintain anything, let alone two more miles at that pace! I felt really good though. It was a gorgeous morning (the sun came out during the run), enjoyed seeing people in holiday costumes (you bet I will next weekend) and enjoying being out. 

Second in AG!

The course is super flat, super fast. Just after the first mile, you double back and Doug said I was probably in the top 50 people at that point. Just about mile two, you come to the top of the course, double a little bit, run past the finish line for the last half mile or so. I hate, hate hate, no matter how short the course, running by the finish line! Mental torture.

I got it back together and sprinted it for a solid, strong finish. 26:12?! Yeah buddy! That's a 58 second 5K PR, not to mention really close to one of my goals for 2013 (sub-26 5K). Who knew that was in me, considering I barely ran a 28:32 a week and a half ago for Thanksgiving?

Race #1 of the Triple Crown - DONE!

A second in age group win, and some major mental boost for the next few weeks. Hooray! Doug scored himself a pretty huge PR (just over a minute off) and his sister (and Todd) are on their way to getting better and better through each 5K of this series. I'm so excited to do them all!

I also need to talk about the adorableness of this race -- so this year's shirts were blue and we were kind of confused, being that it's a holiday race, so why not red or green? So we learned that last year's shirts (and medals, see below) were red. Each year, they'll have a new reindeer featured and a new color to go along with him. Adorable. Sign me up for the next seven years, please.

 

 What a cute touch, right? We bought last year's medals ($2!) just to ensure we had the full collection. Awesome race, awesome day! 

Have you ever run a race as part of a triple crown type series? Or even better, one where the theme goes on year to year like reindeer? LOVE. 

If you're looking for super fast and super flat in Chino, this is your guy. I believe the Dairy Aire 5K runs the exact same course. Check it out!

HOLLERRRRRR.