Race #15 – YMCA Frostbite 5k – Kannapolis NC – 12/20/08


The Frostbite 5k in Kannapolis, North Carolina, provided a nice change of pace from last week’s massive Thunder Road, and instead of 7,000 runners there were maybe 150. Thunder Road was by far the biggest race I’ve been in over the four months I’ve been running, and now that I’ve done the large and the small I definitely favor the smaller ones — issues such as not having nearly as many people to trip over and the convenient parking and small-town charm are appealing, at least to me.
As you may be able to tell from the photo, the weather was beautiful, unseasonably mild with temperatures in the low 60s, so “Frostbite 5k” ended up being a bit of a misnomer, but that’s fine by me.
As far as the course goes, what Concord giveth, Kannapolis taketh away (they’re neighboring communities). The Santa Scramble in Concord a few weeks ago featured more downhill running than any other race. The Frostbite 5k today had more hills than I’ve seen in any of the previous races. I had to rely on the Jeff Galloway run-walk method quite a bit to get these old bones over some of the steep (and not so steep) hills and was glad to see the finish but it was a lot of fun.
The awards ceremony was really nice, held inside a large meeting room in the YMCA. There was plenty of polite clapping and cheering for the age group winners and for the most part it seemed that people hung around right up until the end. There were also some good door prizes given out before the awards.
>>Click Here for Race Results.<<

Race Rating:6 – 4/6 Number of Participants (4 for less than 100; 6 for 100 or more)
5 – 1-10 Awards (Quality of medals, trophies, etc.) (1 to 10)
10 – 1-10 Awards Presentation (PA system, stating winning times, etc.) (1 to 10)
3 – 1-10 Food for Race Participants (1 to 10)
6 – 1-10 T-Shirts (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
4 – 4/6 Part of Race Series (Grand Prix, etc.) (6=Yes and 4=No)
6 – 4/6 Online Registration (6=Yes and 4=No)
4 – 4/6 Chip Timing (6=Yes and 4=No)
3 – 3/7 Certified Course (by USA Track & Field) (7=Yes and 3=No)
4 – 1-10 Course (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
8 – 1-10 Parking (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
3 – 1-10 Entertainment (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
7 – 3/7 Age Groups (7 if 5-year groups; 3 if 10-year groups)
5 – 1-10 Bathroom Facilities
0 – 1-10 Other
TOTAL – 74

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