Saturday, February 9, 2013

Race 5 of 40 - Hamtramck Paczki Run

Race 5 of 2013 was easily my favorite so far this year. I seriously cannot say enough good things about this one! It was SO fun! I ran this with my cousin Melissa and her brother-in-law Ian and we had an absolute blast!

This was the first year for this race and the organizers did an amazing job - it was very well organized and they really did everything they could to showcase the city of Hamtramck. There were several bars and restaurants offering "race bib discounts" and they really encouraged everyone to stay in town and make a day of it.

The course was nice and flat and clear of snow, for the most part.  But hey, it's Michigan in February, there's gonna be some snow! It was cold too. But not nearly as cold as the Super Bowl 5k last weekend. Again, it's Michigan, it's February, it's cold.

The best part was the finish - cross the finish line and boxes and boxes of delicious paczki were waiting. If you're not familiar with paczki, it's a Polish tradition on Fat Tuesday. It's basically a jelly donut, but SO much better. As far as fat and calories, it's in the category of "you don't wanna know". Which is why they're only around just these few days. The concept of the Paczki Run makes sense, really. Burn 400 calories running a 5k, take in 1200 calories eating a paczki. It's really all about the math. ;-)

So after we demolished our paczki, we strolled to the beer tent for a post-race beer. I strongly believe that every race should have post race beer. It's got everything you need for proper recovery. And again, can't say enough about the organization here. They had the parking lot of a strip mall blocked off so there was plenty of space for hanging around. Drinking beer. At 10:30 in the morning. ;-)

Next up is the Riverview Winterfest 4-miler - tomorrow! I don't think I've done races on back-to-back days like this before. But, I've got a half marathon in 11 weeks, so running 3 miles then 4 miles is all a part of training for 13.1!

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