This past weekend, I ran the Burn Your Half Off 5K, which combined my race for June, as well as my eleventh state! So exciting.
About The Race
The Burn Your Half Off event is put on by Awesomesauce Events. This is a group that focuses on the fun more than the competition, and I loved the welcoming, inclusive vibe. The event offered a half, 10K and 5K, and we opted for the 5K. Runners would receive a beach towel and a finisher medal, and could pay for a custom shirt if desired. We opted out of the shirt, but figured we could purchase merch onsite if we wanted.
Packet Pickup
Runners could pick up their big and towels at an REI in Chattanooga the night before, or the morning of at the race. There was a multi paragraph email with race instructions, one of which talked about the lack of parking. Rather than stress, we got our things the night before. I laid out my flat runner in the hotel room and we tried to get some sleep.
The Morning Of
Instructions said that packet pickup would start at 6:30 AM and all races would start at 7. Since we were unfamiliar with the area, I wanted to be there earlier rather than later due to the parking warnings. We packed up some snacks and water and got to the venue around 6:15AM. This was plenty of time to use the restrooms, and check out the area.
Music was pumping, and volunteers worked hard to stock the aid stations with everything from snacks, drinks, sunscreen, and medical supplies. So fun!
Again, since we were running the 5K, the aid station wasn’t super crucial, but I loved how everyone was welcome to partake of all the options and so much attention was paid to ensuring everyone had the fuel they needed to get through their race.
Time To Go!
At about 7:30, the race director gathered up the 300ish participants. She talked about the day’s expectations, the various routes, and how to register our finish time and get our medals. Also discussed were protocols for the heat and requests for people to not be afraid to ask for help if they started not feeling well on the course.
And then we were off.
Miles 1-2.5
We ran in one direction away from the start area, along the river. The course was marked with chalk arrows and encouraging messages, which was super cute. Since we were only running the 5K, our route included about 2.5 miles on one side, returning to the aid station, and then another little loop in the opposite direction.
Despite the heat warnings, I was pleased to find things weren’t bad. There were plenty of trees, and even though we started late, the day was decent. To be honest, my plan was to walk, but once we pulled up to the start line, i felt good and broke into a run. I’m glad I did. There were a few moments where my heart rate went up and I had to slow down to get it to calm down, but that was fine.
All the runners made it to the appointed dead end, where we looped around and headed back to the start.
Miles 2.5-3.1
When we hit the start area, this was the time to grab fuel or hydration. I opted out, because I was hot and wanted to finish, so out I went on the second leg. This time, we really had to pay attention to the chalk markings, as the 5Kers would turn around before the 10K and half marathon runners.
Fortunately, the end came quickly, and I was able to claim my medal!
The Finish Line
So this race was a little different in that there was no mat or scanner to record your final time. Instead, there was a clock, and a designated recorder. When you finished, you gave your bib number to the recorder, who wrote it down, and then you presented yourself to the race director (or whoever was filling in for her), and she put your medal around your neck.
This was a big priority: no medals in hands. And honestly, that was kind of sweet.
5K runners got to choose a more generic medal in a variety of colors, while the cooler medals went to the runners of the longer distances. Had I known, I might have gone for the 10K, but now i know for next time.
When I claimed my medal, I went back on the course to find Mr PugRunner, who was coming back from the second leg. I ran with him to the finish and let him claim his bling.
After Party
I love a good after party, and this one was great. There were plenty of people and spectators in the park, and we grabbed some snacks from the finisher’s table as a little treat for a race well run.
We went to a few spots on the river for photos, and cheered on some of the runners still out there. Everyone looked like they were doing well, and that’s all anyone can ask.
Final Thoughts
Y’all. This was FUN. The event reminded me of a Park Run, with so many supportive people and a sense of community. I loved that vibe. There were no winners or AG awards… in fact, the only award at these events is the Sloth Award, given to the last person to come in (honestly). At that moment, I wish I had been doing the half, because I wanted that award!
Swag was great. I loved getting a beach towel. The race had a lot of last minute signups, so they were short on towels, but they worked hard to make it right (if you didn’t want a towel, you could trade it for some merch at the race. If they didn’t have enough towels, they promised to get you one after the fact).
The races are walker friendly, stroller friendly, dog friendly, and just friendly in general. You can’t ask for more than that.
Were the finishing times accurate? Meh. They weren’t Inaccurate, exactly, but maybe not as precise as other events. Not a huge deal. This wasn’t a PR for me, regardless, but that’s ok. I’ll get back to speed when things cool down.
If you are in Chattanooga and have the chance to run an Awesomesauce race, I highly recommend it.
Have you ever run a casual race like this? What state should I do next?
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I felt like Burn Your Half Off was the perfect first or community race. Everyone was out there for the love of running. No one took themselves too seriously, and it felt like family.
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A Sloth Award!! I think that says everything about this friendly race. This sounds like so much fun, I’d sign up for this immediately.
And I love the amount of snacks that you had at the finish line. Am I seeing that correctly that they offered pickles and olives? I think I’d prefer the crisps!
YES! They had pickles, olives and pickle brine! So good for endurance sports. I do social media for a pickle company, so of course, I’m biased, but I loved the selection of snacks. Everyone has different things they love, so it was good to see it all represented. They even had frozen bananas!
Sounds like such a fun race! That sounds like a lot of work to manually record everyones time. But I guess maybe for a small event it makes more sense than using chip timing? Congrats!
There weren’t THAT many people, so it was only an issue if there were a bunch of people finishing together. I don’t know how they worked it all out, but it seemed to work for them.
This sounds like a really fun race! I like the focus on fun since I was never a fast runner. Love the beach towel instead of a shirt too. Something different!
Yes! It was very cool and very fun! I wish we had more like it!