Carlsbad 5000

It was another long, beautiful day.

This was my second running of the Carlsbad 5000, a race that boasts that it is the "World's Fastest 5k". The course is a pretty simple loop that runs along Pacific Coast Highway with some great water views. The small hills and occasional winds means it isn't the fastest course, but the event attracts many elite runners, and several world record times have indeed been set there.

The weather was great for Sean and I in the morning, slightly overcast and cool. Sean was still fighting a chest cold and I was nursing a sore back, but neither of us were smart enough to bow out. The event is so large that it is actually six separate races, and by the time Marci ran at 10:20am, she was fighting warm temperatures Sean and I avoided at 7:00am.

I managed to shave off a minute and 44 seconds off my Carlsbad time last year, and set a 37 second PR compared to the Oceanside Turkey Trot last November. Marci also set a 28 second PR and walked away with a medal for finishing in the top 250 of the 30-39 year old bracket. Sean beat us all to the finish, but his chest cold kept him from breaking any of his own records.

We stuck around to watch all six races and spent some time in the beer garden celebrating with others. We ran into one of Sean's customers again this year, and he has run in each one of the 26 annual events. At 68 years old, he routinely wins or places high in his age group and had some great stories to tell.

The race only took a little over 22 minutes to run, but we were down there for about eight hours start to finish. There are marathons where I have spent less time. There is definitely something special about this race.