Fits Do Race Reviews: The Athleta Esprit de She 5k

By Jess in Minneapolis

The Athleta Esprit de She 5k debuted last Thursday night at 50th/France in Edina. It was a very fun and exciting running event that just happened to correspond with “Ladies Night Out” at one of my favorite shopping destinations!

The 50th/France shopping area has several great boutiques and stores- Anthropologie, Athleta, Hot Mama, Prana, Fringe, Il Vostro Boutique, Title Nine, and so much more!

For Ladies Night Out, there were so many business offering discounts for participants in the race (full list below) Each runner received two coupons for glasses of bubbly after the race! How fun is that?

Packet Pickup: Packet Pickup was held at slightly random times at the Athleta store at 50th/France. It was on Tuesday from 5-7 pm, Wednesday from 10-12 am, and then Thursday before the race started.   I picked up my packet on Tuesday after work at the Athleta store, which just happened to be having their semi-annual sale…so of course I also picked up a new bikini as well…I couldn’t resist!

Apparently, a few of my older swimsuits are now a little saggy in the bottom, so I was sure to buy one that fits pretty snug in the bum. Athleta’s suits a made for someone with a more athletic build- I felt like I could do some serious paddleboard yoga in this one! 

Back to the race…
I liked that I could also pick up packets for my friends, without having their driver’s licenses, etc. which was helpful. Unfortunately, though, they ran out of size small singlets, and wouldn’t let my friend Meggan switch to a medium, so she still had to pick hers up at the race. And then at the race, they ran out completely! They did say that they will be shipping her a singlet once they get more in stock, so hopefully that little snafu will be remedied, especially since the singlets are really cute.They are a bright yellow color and a unique style- not just your standard race t-shirt. 

These singlets are actually fun! I give the race swag a 10/10! The goodie bag also offered coupons for $25 off at Prana (a yoga/athletic apparel store) and a free appetizer at the Edina Grill. The bag itself was a nice reusable bag, and it also included a simple workout watch/timer. Sweet!

Race Start: The start time for the race was 6:30 pm. Since the race location was only about a mile from my house, it was easy for my girlfriends and me to run to the start as a warmup. 

We decided to take quite a round-about way, and got in 4.5 miles before the race as a warmup. We did get some crusty looks from the other runners when we arrived at the start line already sweating. I would have expected a little more girl power/female commaderie, like I found at the Women Run the Cities 10 miler a few years ago. That was the only other women-only race I have done, and I remember really loving the energy there. Maybe it was because of the shorter distance of this particular race, but it didn’t seem to have the same energy at this event…Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about wearing matching outfits for a run (fitness fashion is the name of the game!) but I’m also not afraid to sweat! So maybe others just thought it was odd for us to arrive already sweaty. 

Overall, this wasn’t the most competitive 5k out there, though the winner did run a 16:25 (holy moly!).  Yet even with a few faster runners, the three of us “average” runners were pretty comfortable moving up close to the start line, though we didn’t quite put our toe on the line, so to speak.

Parking: If you weren’t able to jog to the start line, there did appear to be plenty of free parking at the ramps at 50th/France. I would still suggest parking in the Linden Hills or Morningside neighborhoods and jogging to the start so you wouldn’t have to worry about getting stuck in a ramp after the race.

Course: The race started and finished at West 51^st Street and Halifax Avenue South right near the 50^thand France business neighborhood. There were a few rolling hills. It was an out and back course, which actually made it go a little faster, since you knew what you were in for, and you knew where the finish line would be, as the start/finish were at the same place. There was limited crowd support- just a few families out in front of their houses cheering, but that’s to be expected for a small 5k. The “back” part of the out-and-back course did get a little crowded at one section, when those of us who were running collided into the large groups of walkers going the other way. We ended up squished a bit up on the sidewalk, as the walkers didn’t really move to the right to make way.

Post-Race Party: Similar to the Torchlight 5k from last week (read about that race HERE) this 5k was all about the post-race “rendezvous”! There was the aforementioned two glasses of bubbly at the finish and all the shopping and discounts for Ladies Night Out. There was also a photo booth available for funny pictures with your girlfriends. There was Greek yogurt, Starbucks iced coffee, cold towels, water, Gatorade, banans, etc. It was an impressive set up!

I actually finished over a minute faster than last week’s Torchlight 5k. The cooler temperatures definitely helped as well as the less crowded start line. It was a nice reminder that a 5k can serve as a fun tempo run as a change of scenery. I ended up with 7.5 miles total for the day, with 3.1 miles at tempo pace, which was almost exactly the workout on my schedule.

Overall Rating: I think I would give this 5k a rating of 8/10. The issues they had weren’t that big of a deal, especially considering it was the first year of this race. They’ll figure out those little quirks for next year, I’m sure. I’m guessing they had a lot more late registrants, which is why they ran out of singlets. I’m not sure what caused the fifteen minute delay at the start, but again, it didn’t ruin the event. I loved the SWAG.

I thought the course and the finish area were very well-organized. Packet pickup was easy, even though the times were a little odd. I love a chip-timed 5k- there are plenty of 5k fun runs out there, so it’s nice to do one with an official time. There was quite an impressive list of sponsors as well. I could tell a lot of effort went into planning this event, and I hope to see it continue on in the future. I definitely recommend this one to my running girlfriends!

Discounts At The Esprit De She: