Pleasant Hill Firecracker 5K Run

Always a fun event. Not super competitive or anything special. But great way to start off the 4^th of July. Pleasant Hill does a great job with the 4^th of JUly festivities. LOVE the parade, been going for last 5 years. 3 laps around the downtown area and you’re done. Fleet Feet is a great store in downtown and always has other great weekday and weekend group runs going, if you need help training for the event.

From a participant’s standpoint, the 6^th annual event was pretty well organized. It is a great event for beginners. If you don’t mind running around a lap 3 times, it’s an event for you. The course is flat and easy that starts and ends in Downtown Pleasant Hill in front of Fleet Feet Sports. The upside of this type of course is that you can gauge how far along you are and how close you are to the finish. Unlike some 5K events, you only get 1 water stop; however, at this event, you get 3. Although it is the same one since you run the lap 3 times. The downside is that after your 2^nd lap, it makes you want to give up since there are people who already finished. Also, you don’t get goodies like you would from other events. In fact, you only get a T-​Shirt. Bottled waters, watermelons and bananas are waiting for finishers at the finish line. They also start that Kids’ Dash before the 5K, which I think it’s pretty cool so little kids don’t have to wait until 10:30am or so to start their races while the sun gets hotter. Lastly, the event is followed by the 4^th of July Parade and Celebration. The event may not go all out as other bigger events, but it’s definitely a great way to start of your Independence Day.
[TIP] If you register late, you may be out of luck on T-​Shirts in which you have to choose from what’s left and you may not be able to get your size. I registered a week before the event and I had to wait until AFTER I finish to get my shirt and I ended up with a Medium (rather than my usual Small).