About time I got this review up!

Two Sundays ago I ran the inaugural Cinco K 5k race. It benefitted the WIL Foundation, which helps local families who have children with developmental disabilities. It cost $30 to sign up for the run, and they also had a 1 mile fun walk/run option.

Packet Pickup

Packet pickup was available on three separate occasions, once on Friday at the Fleet Feet shop in Chesterfield, once on Saturday at the Fleet Feet in St. Charles, and then on race morning at the site. It gave you plenty of options for getting your t-shirt and bib.

One thing I noticed right away and really liked was the fact that the race director/organizer was the person handing things out and she really made me feel like I was appreciated as a runner. She seemed genuine and excited that I had signed up to do her event. I really liked this, because I’ve been to a few packet pick ups where it was more here’s your stuff, we don’t really care if you show up tomorrow or not. It was also a theme that carried through the entire event.

Race Day: Course

The race was held at Quail Ridge Park, which is a local park in Wentzville that has a very nice paved pathways and then also dirt trails to run on. The race took place on the paved pathways.

The area where you start and finish is great, with covered patios and real bathrooms, EXCEPT for the parking aspect. This is an issue in every race that I’ve done in the park. You park in the lot that is by the start/finish area, but then it can take a while to get out once you’re finished and ready to leave, because there can still be runner’s (or in this case, the 1 mile runner/walkers, a lot of whom were children) coming in to the area to finish. But again, here’s where it differed. The race director and volunteers actually took time to help direct traffic through the area instead of people trying to duke it out to get out of the lot.

The course in Quail Ridge is not a simple easy one by any means. There are a few steep hill areas, and some rollers as well. So it can be a challenging course for most folks, but not something that can’t be tackled by a novice runner or walker. Just prepare yourself for some hills, and you should be just fine.

The race didn’t start on time, which is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, but we didn’t start on time because one of the sponsors was putting a little cheering demo to get everyone pumped up. This went over a little better than just simply not starting on time because of disorganization or just plain not paying attention.

There was once water station on the course, about halfway through, which was nice as well.

Post race there were some refreshments such as bananas, orange slices, coffee, hot chocolate, granola bars, and a food truck that served tacos and the like. I was able to chat a little bit with one of the organizers and she made a point to ask me about my time, and if I enjoyed the race, which made me feel very welcomed and again, it showed that they cared about the people participating in their event.

Overall

I think this was a great race for their first time. They did mention that it might not be in Quail Ridge again (I really think someone should check into having a race near/around the Meadows shopping plaza. They have tons of parking!), but they are planning next years run, so I highly suggest doing it. A few things to take away:

-If the course is again at QR, prep for hills.

-Bring water with you, if you need more than just one stop. The weather was almost perfect, but if it was warmer or sunnier then the one stop might not have been enough.

-Be prepared to wait a little bit to leave, and be very vigilant when you are leaving for runners & walkers still on the course.

I’m putting this race on my calendar for next year because it was such a fun experience. You got the chance to see some of the children you were helping with your race fee, the course was a good challenge, and the race staff really made you feel appreciated.