On 19th August I took part in the Track Shack Celebration of Running 5k in Orlando FL.

No plans or goals for this other than just to run hard and enjoy it. We arrived in Florida from the UK on 17th Aug and spent yesterday at Magic Kingdom clocking up the steps and time on feet. Not really a concern for a 5k and first and foremost we were here for a family holiday, not a race weekend. I had a look online to see if there were any races in the Orlando area to do as a bit of fun and this one jumped out at me.

I had spent the summer training for a 10k PB attempt at Colshaw Hall 10k and or Wrexham 10k but fell well short, so having the opportunity to blast out a 5k was more appealing than a 10k right now. Being English, my main concern was the weather. We hadn’t had the warmest or driest of summers so racing in the Florida heat and humidity would be a challenge. Thankfully the race starts at 7:30am to miss the full heat but still the real feel temp at that time was pushing 38’c.

The event was really well organised. Race bib pick up was a breeze, it did take me 5mins to find the pickup tents but that was only because I had gone into the fan zone at the opposite end and missed the tent on my first pass through. After a quick 2km warm up and strides I was already dripping with sweat, one of those days where the term warm up really wasn’t needed.

One thing I do enjoy about running in the US is the national anthem before any race, it really builds the atmosphere and gets you pumped up for business. Today’s anthem was accompanied by a stunning sunrise over Downtown Orlando.

Splits: 5:52, 5:59, 5:58, 5:08

As I mentioned above, today wasn’t about running a set pace or pushing for a PB, it was to run as hard as I could given the heat and humidity and more than anything, have fun. Once this race is over we are off to Disney’s Hollywood Studios so the fun starts here.

I went out at a pace that felt really challenging and was near the front pack early on but they pulled away quite quickly. I had a few battles with a couple of guys, jostling for position and pushing each other on. Around 2 miles when we were coming back past the Track Shack store I started to pull away from them and catch a few others in front of me. I do love using other runners down the road as targets to chase down and pass in the latter stages of races. This tactic worked well today, I picked up 4 more places in the last 2km.

I crossed the line in 18:26 in 18th position out of 1,362 so I felt really happy with that. Almost a minute slower than my 5k PB but I still felt very happy and proud of that achievement. I would highly recommend the Celebration 5k to anyone in the Orlando area looking for a super well-organised and family-friendly event. It is a race for all abilities, from those walking the full 5k, to run/walkers or those pushing under 15mins, it’s a fantastic event.