Heart & Soles 5k

I’ve never ran in the rain before… And certainly not with 1000+ other people. But that is what I did this morning. The weather didn’t hold up but the intermittent sprinkles didn’t stop people from coming out.
This was my first time participating in the Heart & Soles 5k and it supports a good cause– providing kids with healthier food choices and adding 60+ salad bars to schools in the area, woohoo!
In terms of size, it’s a very small race (about 1,000+ participants total) and it’s only in its 2^nd year. Getting here was not exactly ideal. It was congested getting into the Hellyer Ave exit from 101-​S and I BARELY made it to the race in time (fyi, I had left an hour in advance and live ~15 minutes away). Maybe they could have organized it better and have policemen directing traffic. Anyway, the start time ended up being delayed 10 minutes to allow people to get to the starting line.
The Heart & Soles 5k was an out & back course that was well-​marked, mainly flat, and had a good amount of water-​stations. I liked the energy and heart put into this race. Even Mayor Sam Liccardo laced up to run and he showed up in a healthy snap-​pea costume too. Of course it’s not easy to organize an event like this. But I do feel like post-​race festivities were lacking in terms of vendors + grub and hope that is something they can improve on next year.
Unlike other races, I got a race beanie on top of the normal race shirt so that’s cool. Since it was a small event, I placed in my age group and got to take home an additional medal as well. Not a bad way to start my morning and I’m glad to have been a part of it!