Stache Dash 5K Recap

How did everyone feel waking up this morning?  Hopefully you didn't have too many margaritas yesterday for Cinco de Mayo!  I celebrated with some fajitas, Dancing with the Stars (too bad it wasn't Latin night!) and some Tequila.

The dog, not the liquor ;)

So on the way to work last Monday, a local radio station was advertising a 5K run they were hosting, the Stache Dash 5K Beach Run, and giving away two entires.  Well, I love to run, so I called in.  I had trouble dialing and didn't expect to win, but I wound up being caller #10!  Woo hoo!

Each race entry came with a shirt, a mustache/mustache whistle, AND a free margartia!  Most definitely not turning that down.  Katherine, my sister-in-law, already planned to come to town on Saturday, so I offered the entry to her.  So glad she could join me!

We were a little worried about if the race would be held, considering the weather when we arrived at the beach.

When we got to the registration table, they told us they'd delay the start until 7:15pm and that the rain should be gone by then.  Sure enough, the pouring rain stopped around 7:10, so we walked to the beach to get to the start.

The course was an out-and-back, out-and-back route.  I originally thought the course would be silly, but it actually did a good job of breaking the run in half and keeping us motivated throughout the race.

Katherine paced us, and her goal was to finish in under 36 minutes.  Neither of us brought our Garmins or phones because of the rain, so we didn't really know what pace we were running.  We did know that once we got back to the finish before the second half, we were just over 16 minutes.  I knew if we kept it up, we'd come in well before Katherine's goal time.

And, we did!  Our official time was 31:40!  Katherine also got 4th in her age group!  We were so pleased with the way we finished.  Plus, I realized I was just 1 second behind my previous 5K time.  Not too bad!

Afterward, we grabbed our free margarita tickets and redeemed them at Mai Tai Bar.

These were REALLY GOOD margartias, and the atmosphere at the bar was great.  Katherine and I listened to the age group awards while enjoying our beverages.

Overall, this was a fun race!  Good turnout despite the rain, well-run even during the bad weather, and the post-race festivities took place in a really fun area.  If they have the Stache Dash next year, I'd definitely run it again!  Who can resist a free margarita after an enjoyable run on the beach?!?

Question for you: What's the best post-race freebie you've gotten when running a race?