Glow Run Fun for the Family

On Saturday I took part in a fun race series called the Glow Run in Oklahoma City.  I was planning to visit my sister and her family to celebrate February/March birthdays and this run happened to fall in the same weekend.  My sister quickly signed us up as a team...The Glowing Maniacs. 

My nephew Gavin has started running 5K's in the past year.  He had done 5 so far and this run would be his 6th event.  He just turned 8 in February and is quite the competitive little runner.  He just loves to run and liked it when we all ran the Color Run together.  My other sister has a 5 year old and she is just getting into races but the 5K distance is still a little long for her so she was wheeling it in the race via the Bob stroller!  All together we had a group of six participating. 

Packet pickup was held the day before at a local running store and it was a hot mess.  It was one of the worst packet pick up experiences that I think I have ever been to.  They didn't have a very good system of checking people in and giving out bib numbers.  I waited for about 30 minutes and finally had to cut the line and ask for help since we were going to be late to pick up Gavin from school if we didn't leave then.  I felt awful for cutting the line but just couldn't wait any longer. 

I left packet pickup with our bib numbers, gender specific shirts (loved that ladies got v-necks!), glow necklaces, and glow glasses for all of us.  They also had merchandise for sale including fun LED dreadlocks and mohawks but I passed on that. 

On Saturday, the run was slated to begin at 7PM near the zoo in Oklahoma City.  We left the house in Norman around 6 ready to get our glow on.  We were all decked out in our neon outfits and I had a bag full of glow sticks and goodies for us to accessorize with. 

The Glowing Maniacs! 

We added some LED light up balloons to the stroller and that proved to be a good addition because it helped make it easy to spot in the crowd.  My brother in law Tim also sported the most awesome glow ninja costume.  He was super easy to spot in the crowd! 

We were properly attired to Glow! 

We arrived at the park and it was full of crazy glow runners!  We saw every kind of outfit and everyone was in good spirits and ready to have fun.  The race started a little behind schedule.  We jumped in after the first 1000 people got started and it was crowded.  Gavin held my hand for the first few turns just to make sure that he didn't get separated from us.  It was surprising just how dark the course was even with all the runners in their glow gear.  For most of the race, Gavin and I ran ahead while Tim, Lindsey, Kristen, and Lily Cate in the stroller stuck together.  I had to persuade Gavin every so often to pull aside and wait for the others to catch up.  He just wanted to compete and I had to remind him that we were doing a family event together...not racing. 

Glow Zone

Around the first mile marker, we came up on a glow party zone.  They had tons of blacklights set up and the music was pumping.  Gavin didn't want anything to do with it...luckily there were a couple more and we eventually wore him down so that we could take some pictures. 

Me, Tim, and Lily Cate

Gavin's rocking moves in a Party Zone! 

The course seemed to be more downhill than uphill and we just kept a steady pace.  Around the halfway mark, Lily Cate got out of the stroller and ran for about 1/2 mile with Tim by her side.  He's a good uncle and held her hand the entire time.  I don't know how but she also got him to carry her on his shoulders.  Lindsey, Tim, and Kristen all took turns pushing the stroller which really upped their workout load since a 5 year old is heavy! 

Here's Tim, Lily Cate, and Kristen...but somehow only Tim's costume shows up! 

The finish of the race was down a short, steep hill along the horse track in the park.  We were all surprised by it since we were expecting to finish at the start line.  The finish area was a crowded mess...you could barely move once you crossed the line.  There were volunteers on one side passing out water and medals and then on the other side was a DJ dance party zone. 

Finish line celebration! 

We were all surprised to receive a medal especially a glow in the dark medal!  We eventually made our way through the maze of people and then headed out for a celebratory ice cream. 

Lindsey and her ice cream

Overall, I enjoyed the Glow Run experience.  It was a lot of fun to do with my family and we all had a good time.  I would hope to see improvements in packet pickup and the finish area for next year. There are two local glow runs coming up in Northwest Arkansas this spring.  They are locally organized but I'm hoping they will be just as much fun as this one was.

Glow Run 5K Race Recap

The Children's Advocacy Center hosted a revamped 5K last Friday.  They have had a 5K fundraiser for a couple of years but this year they changed things up a bit and it was a lot of fun to participate.  The 5K was previously held on a Saturday morning just like every other race.  To spice things up, they hosted their race on a Friday evening and called it the Glow Run. 

I signed up to participate with some friends from the Rush Running crew.  About a week before the race I got an email from the race organizers that the start time had been delayed to allow for maximum glow! I met up with my friends after work and there were lots of activities for everyone at the race.  There was a BBQ cookout going on next to the registration tables.  They had some great bands playing on a stage in another area of the parking lot.  They had a firetruck for kids to visit and also a couple of bouncy houses.  My personal favorite were the mini-ponies.  There were dressed up 80's style for the occasion and had glow bracelets on their hooves. 

Several of my friends opted for the fun walk so we split up around 7:00 when their event started.  Jody and I were both doing the 5K run and we had our own fun walk to the start location for the run.  This was my only real complaint for the run was having a separate start and finish location.  It was almost 3/4 mile walk away but it I won't complain too much since it was an uphill walk which meant a nice downhill start for the race!

There wasn't much organization at the start location.  Just before 8:00PM the organizers brought out some lighted balloons to launch.  Well, right at 8:00 they launched the balloons with a small starting whistle and the race was off.  No one realized that it was the exact start of the race so there was a lot of confusion about whether to go through the parking lot, on the sidewalk, or on the road.  Gladly everyone figured it out eventually but Jody's fiance Shannon was quite surprised as the mass of runners came after him on the sidewalk. 

The race course went back down our warmup hill towards where we were parked and the finish line festivities were. 

You can see Jody and I in the middle with the black and red jerseys with white writing on the back. 

It then went onto the local trail system for an out and back.  The trail system was very nice but had a few rollers along the way.  As I was nearing the turn around point, the light was diminishing and it was quite trippy.  The organizers had given all of us fun glow necklaces and bracelets to wear and they also put glow sticks in the trees and along the path near the turn around point.  It was a fun way to light things up!

Nikki, Jody, Me, and Jon...representing Rush Running!

My goal for the race was to avoid walking and have fun.  I don't really feel ready for race season so I'm working my way back into that race mindset with non-time oriented goals.  I did really well and kept myself from walking the entire race.  And more importantly my glow necklaces stayed in place as did the glow mask that I had on like a headband! The race was a little short but my time was 30:55 for the distance.  Not a bad start for the season...definitely plenty of room for improvement!

Cathy, Maja, Rhonda, and Tammy...awesome volunteers!

And my friends who had done the walk ended up getting roped in to volunteer at the finish line cutting chips off shoes.  It was a great finish line to run up to with friends all around cheering me on! From there we headed to a nearby restuarant and had some snacks, drinks, and lots of laughs.  It was a great Friday night with running, friends, and fun!