Running of the Elk Half Marathon & 5K

Updated for the 2015 Race — they added a 10K course, which I chose this time around.
New course and starting location this year, along Longleaf Drive behind Century Laguna instead of over by COHS and the Auto Mall. I was glad to return to this race after a year off, and the 10K distance option was the perfect choice for the price point and my level of readiness. I was probably capable and willing to do the half marathon distance, as I wrote in my 2013 review with zero training, but played it safe. Plenty of parking by the government buildings. The 10K and Half started at the same time and mostly stayed together, but along the Highway 99 frontage road the 10K turnaround came sooner. My strategy was to stick to the Half Marathon pace groups (2:30−2:45) as much as possible. The course went through the Elk Grove Auto Mall for a bit then hit part of the Elk Grove Creek Trail. This last mile or so of the 10K proved the most challenging, since at my pace, we were catching up to the back-​of-​the-​pack 5K walkers who were taking up the narrow trail by walking side by side sometimes. It was difficult to pass on the left especially with multiple groups of walkers. Once off the trail the road definitely opened up toward the finish line, finisher medals provided to all finishers included with registration. You also get a tech shirt (mens or women’s cut) which was black this year; yellow-​green ’13, royal blue ’14. I didn’t stop at all the Kaiser booths this time, but they did have a few photobooths for free which were fun, massage tables, wheels to spin, etc. Lions Club was making pancakes for post-​run breakfast, and I noticed quite a lot of other tents. Not as fun as running a race with a buddy or a team, but the high you get from racing and being surrounded by the fellow local running community is still great. Photos by myEP Events.

Part of me didn’t want to run the race due to a lack of sleep. My main motivation was the medal they give to you when crossing the finish line.
I parked at WalMart where there was plenty of parking and walked over to the Elk Grove Auto Mall. I forgot my bib number at home, but I was given a new number without any problems.
Half marathon started at 8:00am, while the 5K started at 8:30am. I saw signs indicating mileage for the half marathon, but didn’t see any for the 5k. Thankfully it wasn’t too hot, because of a lack of trees. I did feel my face burning a bit though. I thought I was running really slowly, but my time is improving. I didn’t stay too long after, but I did get a pancake that was provided by IHOP.
Relay next year? Maybe. Added bonus– I got a free pedometer at the Kaiser Permanente Thrive Pavilion.