Race #122 - Bunny Run 5k - Concord, NC - 04/23/11

Since we first ran this race two years ago, it has more than doubled in size. This year 520 runners finished the Bunny Run 5k, the City of Concord's annual Easter race. Despite the name, which reminds me as much of an Easter egg hunt as it does a road race, it's a well organized race and is a lot of fun. The race used to be run on neighborhood streets along with a trip up the greenway, ending at the other park (I don't remember the name of it) about a mile away. That was a little bit of a problem in that when the race was over you were a mile away from your car if you parked near the starting line. This year, however, the course was changed to an out-and-back course up the greenway so that the starting line and finish line were at the same place, which resulted in not only a great improvement in parking logistics, but it eliminated all of the hills except in the final 100 yards or so at the end of the race.

As the race began I was a little concerned that we were running down that short street and getting directly onto the greenway. With more than 500 runners jockeying for position to get a spot on the greenway I wanted to be sure I beat most of the crowd there, which turns out was pretty easy considering I was able to line up near the front of the pack as we started. Going up the greenway was a little crowded but not bad since we had the entire width of the greenway, which was probably 8 or 10 feet wide. At the turn-around point, of course, it became two-way traffic so we only had 4 or 5 feet instead of 8 or 10 feet. Although most of the runners still coming up the greenway were staying on the right side, there were still quite a few spots where runners were taking up the almost the entire width of the greenway, and once or twice I had to go off the paved area just to avoid running into somebody coming the other way. Next year I hope they'll put up a few "Keep Right" signs along the way.

As far as I could tell though, everything worked out well and there were no major mishaps along the route. There were a few issues with timing. Steve Staley mentioned that both of his daughters were listed as 8 years old (one is a few years older). Linda and I were positive we had the numbers they had given us but somehow our names were switched around so the results showed her running 20:56 and me running 33:29. She was kinda happy about that but I was a little miffed. We went to the timing tent though and they were able to fix it right away, much to Linda's chagrin.

The race T-shirts were really great, at least if you want an Easter-themed shirt. Nice tech material and beautiful artwork. The awards were outstanding as well, with the overall winners receiving beautiful trophies and age group winners receiving attractive oval-shaped resin plaques that are among the nicest awards I've won in all my races.


Click Here for Race Results

Race Rating:

7 - 1-10  Website (Information, results, registration, photo links, etc.)
9 - 1-10  Awards (Quality of medals, trophies, etc.) (1 to 10)
7 - 1-10  Awards Presentation (PA system, winning times, etc.) (1 to 10)
4 - 1-10  Food for Race Participants (1 to 10)
9 - 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)
0 - 0/5   Professional Photography (5=Yes and 0=No)
6 - 4/6   Chip Timing (6=Yes and 4=No)
7 - 3/7   Certified Course (by USA Track & Field) (7=Yes and 3=No)
7 - 1-10  Course (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
4 - 1-10  Parking (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
5 - 1-10  Entertainment (1 to 10 with 5 being average)
10 - 0-10  Age Groups (10 if 5-year groups; 0 if 10-year groups)
0 - 0/5   Indoor Shelter from Elements (0 if none; 5 if provided)
6 - 1-10  Bathroom Facilities
0-10  Other

TOTAL - 87

Race Stats:

1st Overall Male:  Kevin Ballantine (17:50)
1st Overall Female:  Cheryl Todd (20:31)

My Stats:

Time:  20:56
Pace:  6:45
Age Group:  1 of 9
Overall:  22 of 520 (4.2%)