Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Frosty 5 Mile Race Recap (Guest Post)

On Sunday while I was still recovering from the freezing run on Saturday and catching up on old episodes of Pit Bulls and Parolees, my new running friend, Nicole Fritz, ran the Frosty 5 Mile in Channahon, IL. It is a small race put on by the local park district, but a favorite amongst those that have run it. I asked Nicole to do a recap of this race, and her guest post is below! To find out more about Nicole, Maggie at Mag Mile Runner did a great Q&A post found here.


On Sunday, February 12th, I ran the 33rd annual Frosty 5 mile in Channahon. This is the 4th year in a row I have competed in this race, and I just love it! The race is held at Pioneer Path School on Sage St. The course is mostly an “out and back” along country roads… with a few rolling hills!

Race day brought bright blue sunny skies!! The temperature was in the low 30’s with a wind chill in the teens. I chose to wear 2 layers on top and my winter hat from last year’s Frosty 5. No race shirts at this race… runners receive a cute winter stocking cap every year!! Pre registration costs $28 and race day registration goes up to $35.

Pre race photo with friends

The Frosty 5 mile begins at 1pm on a Saturday afternoon… I love the late starting times of winter races!!
Right after the race started

For the first mile of the race, we had the wind at our backs… I had agreed to help pace my friend Amy for the first mile… she has a tendency to start too fast and she didn’t want to make the same mistake at this race. I felt like we were on pace for our 7:20 first mile goal time… but Garmin told us we were at 6:50 pace!! I was so confused…apparently the wind was really pushing us!! The first mile is just a little loop around residential streets.

Mile 2 brought us to a left turn onto Front Street, which is where the majority of the race happens. Again, the wind was at our backs, but the rolling hills began! The hills caused me to slow my pace a little bit… my second mile was 6:58. The Des Plains River is on your right side during this part of the race… great scenery!

The 3rd mile was basically the same as the second… There is a large downhill at mile 2.5… I tried to pick up my pace and take full advantage of it since I knew I would have to run back UP it in a few minutes!! The turn around point for the race occurred just before the 3rd mile marker. Also, after we changed directions… we were greeted with a strong head wind! What I love about out and back courses is seeing all the other runners too…I heard lots of encouragement from those runners and I tried to cheer them on as well! :)
My goal for the 4th mile was just to keep moving! My pace unfortunately slowed to 7:20. I knew I was still on PR pace, so I just kept putting one foot in front of the other.

The last mile brings you back into the residential area where the race began. Except on the return trip… the wind was not in favor! :(

Here I am fighting the wind in the last 1/4 mile

The finish line was such a welcome site!! I sprinted as fast as I could to get the bright red inflatable finish line! I received a light pink carnation upon finishing, which was a cute surprise! :) I even earned a personal best time!!

Almost immediately after finishing, my friend Amy and I, snapped this quick picture…
2nd and 3rd overall females!

…and then we headed out for a cool down run. Our friend’s dad was running the race, and we wanted to head back to help him finish. We ran along the course and cheered all the runners in! It was fun!! When we found our friend’s Dad, this is how he looked… he was having so much fun!!
Ray Wertelka

This race has a great post race party!! They serve pizza in the cafeteria of the middle school. I’m not sure where the pizza is from… but it sure is delicious!! The post race scene is simply a great atmosphere to chat with fellow runners and make new friends!

Awards began at approximately 2:40pm in the Gym. They award trophies to the top 3 overall men and women, as well as medals to the top 3 in each 5 year age group. I was lucky enough to earn 3rd overall female… which meant I earned a cute little trophy and even an embroidered scarf. Sweet!! This year’s race had 232 finishers. :)
My race swag!!

This race is one of my favorites… I love small town races and I will continue to run the Frosty 5 for many years to come!! :)

Thanks so much Nicole for a great recap! This race sounds like a great one and one to put on the list for next year! 

4 comments:

  1. Awww, i love it when people go back in a race to help others finish! The hat is a nice idea too!

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  2. I really like the race swag for this one! Definitely worth the price!

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  3. Awesome! Great job Nicole! She forgot to mention she achieve a PR the day after placing second in her age group at a 5K :)

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