On Saturday I ran the 2nd Annual Pound the Pavement Friends of the Wentzville Parks 5k/10k. Here is my review of the race.

Packet Pick-up

Packet pick-up was held at Big River Running Company off of Hwy K in O’Fallon. Those guys are generally pretty on top of things. One thing I really liked was that leading up to the race, the organizers sent out TONS of communications via email. They also hosted several pre-race clinics, which was something new. And they were free which was really nice. I didn’t get a chance to attend any of them, but just the fact that they offered them was a definite plus.

Now back to packet pick-up.

I didn’t have to wait in any lines. unfortunately, I had emailed the organizers prior to the packet pick-up asking to be switched from the 10k to the 5k since I didn’t train hardly at all. And the race organizers had me switched, but Big River didn’t pull that info over so I had to do some finangling and fill out some different info on my bib. No big deal.

Race Day

There wasn’t much to the start. They had tons of portapotties, so there wasn’t really much of a line for those. And there weren’t many people at all. Maybe 100 folks total? But it was nice because you didn’t feel packed into an area like sardines and it gave you plenty of space to stretch out.

The race started pretty much right on time. A big plus in my book, since nothing is worse than just standing around waiting. The course was on all paved roads, not super scenic but course support helped make up for that a bit. It was also mostly flat, with only a couple little rises. There were some cheerleaders from a local high school there, and then lots of volunteers. One main water stop on both sides of the road about halfway through for us 5k runners, and the 10k runners would hit it a total of four times on their course, which was basically a double loop it seemed.

The Finish and Post Race

The finish corral was nice. It kind of funneled down and you gave your bib tag to one of the volunteers standing by. Then you headed away and grabbed water/soda/beer and some snacks. They had a couple of chiropractors there give post race stretching and massages, and there was lots of space to sit in the shade or in the sun, which ever you prefered. The local YMCA was also putting on a pancake breakfast for a discounted price for race participants.

Overall

Overall, this was a very well put together race, for it being in its second year and being so small. I expect that if they continue doing it, that it will only get bigger each and every year. The course support was awesome, as well as the pre-race and post-race areas. With the only snafu being a miscommunication between Big River and the race organizers, I give this race a 9 out of 10 and mark it down as one to do next year if it’s available.