This past Saturday was the wedding of our former running club coach Paul and another good running club friend Laura (So many love stories begin in the Calhoun Beach Running Club – join today! hehe)
I plan to share more pictures from this beautiful wedding in a “Fits on the Road: Sioux Falls” post later this week, but first I want to share with you the awesomeness that was the Wedding Day 5k!
Paul was the mastermind behind the Memorial Day Pub Run 5k, so it was no surprise that his Wedding Day 5k was also exceptionally well-executed. He does not mess around with race planning.
The bride-to-be wore a veil paired with the Sweaty Band I gave her at her bachelorette party. So cute!
Back to the race… It started with online registration for the low, low price of $8.23 (i.e. the wedding date 8/23!) The race fee went towards the cost of the shirts I believe, but who can argue with $8.23 for registration?? Definitely a price that fits the bill!
There was an official website HERE (<–of course there was!) with course information and more.
Course Information from the website:
The Wedding Day 5k features a flat, fast course that runs on the banks of the Big Sioux River. Along the way, participants will see the river, be tempted by an Olive Garden, probably see some geese, and enjoy the fine engineering marvels that are the 41st and 49th street bridges.
The Wedding Day 5k race committee reserves the right to change the course on a whim if deemed necessary due to trail or road construction, getting a bad feeling about this, or other reasons that we make up.
Official Course Map:
The race started promptly at 7 am right behind the Sioux Falls Clubhouse Hotel & Suites (where most of the wedding guests were staying for the wedding). It was extremely convenient to just wake up and walk out the back door of the hotel to the start line. The hotel was located right by the Big Sioux River trail.
Packet Pickup:
Packet pickup was held on Friday in the late afternoon and again later that night (after the rehearsal dinner of course). The gear bags included pens, pads of paper, course maps, and our official race t-shirts. Packet up was extremely easy- no line!
Race morning:
We woke up to overcast skies but temperatures in the 80’s with high humidity.
Like I mentioned in my weekly recap earlier this week, we were up kind of late on Friday and had a lot of pizza and beer at “A Taste of the Big Apple.” It was hard to get up and get moving for the race, but I did get in a very short warmup.
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| At Taste of the Big Apple on Friday night before the 5k |
Then, promptly at 7 am, we were off!
The miles were clearly and accurately marked (picture below courtesy of Meggan at The Yoga Garage)
There was someone calling out mile splits at mile 1 (i.e. the groom’s mom!) and then there was someone calling out your time at the finish line.
Even better, we received “official” results emails within an hour of finishing. And we could tweet or post our results to Facebook with a quick click of a button!
As you can see, I didn’t run a PR at the Wedding Day 5k (my PR is 22:46). I wouldn’t recommend lots of pizza and beer the night before a 5k. But let’s be honest, the Wedding Day 5k wasn’t about racing- it was about starting off this special day with running. Running was what brought Laura and Paul together, so it was only appropriate that all of their running friends celebrated by running on their wedding day. Nearly 50 people finished the 5k that morning, with more than that doing a shorter walking option. So fun!
Even though I ran slow (for me), Dustin and I still won a trophy for fastest combined time for a married couple. #proud
Great job to the race directors and planning committee. By far, the best Wedding Day 5k that I have ever done!
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