Race Report: Dairy Aire 5K [Triple Crown Race 3]

I've been the super slacker lately... hoping to get back on this blogging bandwagon - I kinda miss y'all! That being said, this weekend we completed the Chino Triple Crown race series. This started back in December with the Reindeer Romp, February with the Run for Russ, and Saturday concluded it all.

With that... my super short race report. I love this course - fast and flat, though not the most scenic, it certainly allows for some substantial PRs. My current 5K PR is from this course at the Reindeer Romp, so I was excited to run this one again and see what I could do, despite not being trained... whatever.

Dairy Aire (say it aloud for some giggles) 5K

Chino, CA | March 1

In case you weren't paying attention, you know that Southern California got a LOT of needed rain this weekend - so, naturally, it poured all night before the run. I'm not one to shy away from running in the rain, especially just a 5K, but I was relieved when it was not actually raining as we drove to the race.

Doug and I, pre-race!

Just before the start though, it started misting, and sprinkled pretty good almost the whole way through. Whatever, I like running in the cold, truth be told.

At chip-timed 5Ks lately, I've started following Doug's tactic of allowing everyone to start first. That way, the walkers get moving and start to spread out so you don't spend the first half mile dodging a wall of them all. It works! Trust me. So I chug along and hit mile 1 in an 8:28. Oops, that's going to suck later. Onward - I said if I could run solid through mile 2, I could walk the loop they take you through and then chug onward into mile 3 and getting to that finish line.

Dug hard through mile 2, as there were some large lakes on the bike path to avoid, so got to run in the grass for a nice little cushion to change things up a bit. Mile 3, walked another 15 seconds, and then pushed hard into the finish to come in at 26:38. That PR from December is a 26:12, so for walking twice (my former self would hate me for walking in a 5K), and only being 20 seconds off that, I'm pretty stoked. Not bad for not being in racing shape. I'll take it.

Oh! Did I mention that got me an age group award? 2nd in my group, also like the Romp. I think it was meant to be.

So, with that sad little recap, we're at the end of our Triple Crown challenge. I need to be frank and say I'm really disappointed that the PRIZE for running all 3 5Ks was a water bottle. A water bottle. Now, I don't think it would be as harsh hadn't it been for the fact that TWO of the 5Ks gave medals to all finishers. So for someone who ran all 3, a water bottle is ... well, lame. Try again, Chino. #disgruntled

All 3, done and done!

What was the silliest prize you've ever gotten for completing a race 'challenge'?