Much as I hate to say it, I’ve run my last race for 2025. There are a few local events before the end of the year, but the Spiked Apple 5K is where the year ends for me. It would be nice to grab a few more medals, but this was a great finale.
About The Race
The Spiked Apple 5K is definitely not your average race. While there are events held in different locations around the country, ours takes place at the stunning Congaree and Penn, a working Florida farm and restaurant dedicated to agriculture, culinary endeavors, and gathering the community for a great time. Whether you were running for a time or walking to soak up the unique farm landscape, it’s an incredible experience with great swag.
The Night Before
Normally, I take the night before an even pretty easy, but I was doing some last minute drop ins on some great clients. I did a 7:30PM visit, after a homemade French bread pizza, and then took myself to bed. The weather was still a little iffy, so no flat runner. I just made a pile of a variety of options and would decide in the morning.
Race Morning
I was out the door at 5:30AM to go visit the boxers again. With a 9:00AM start time, I had plenty of time to do my drop in, pick up a little something to eat, grab Mr PugRunner, and drive the hour to the race venue. It was cold, breezy, and foggy, but we were committed! I knew from last year that the packet pickup was quite a distance from the parking and that there weren’t a lot of bathrooms, so I wanted to have plenty of time to do all the things. Everything went smoothly and we even had time to check out the animals! The horses were FIRED up and were not being at all social.
The Start Line
After a second trip to the restroom, we got lined up. This year, it looked like the event was reversing the reversing the course, which was kind of cool. I loved a change up. Everything was pretty self-explanatory, so we just waited for the official “go” and we were off!
Miles 1-1.5
While I don’t love the terrain (a lot of chunky gravel and trail), the Spiked Apple 5K is gorgeous. Yes it was dreary and raw out, but it’s hard to focus on that when you’re surrounded by trees, water, and all the crisp air. Because of the uneven ground, we power walked. I have zero desire to turn an ankle. At 1.5 miles, volunteers handed out little bottles of water.
Miles 1.5 – 3.1
Ok, confession: we spent the entire race talking about scaling up my pet sitting and the experience literally flew by. Before I knew it, we were on the final stretch.
The Finish Line
So the finish line was a little chaotic.
We crossed, and it was nice that the announcer read off names of the finishers. However, there was little direction once we got through. We wanted to head over to get our cider and donuts, and then we remembered medals! There was a whole table of them, but no one handing them out, so we helped ourselves to ours.
And then we got in line for our post-race treats.
The cider is made on site, which makes it extra special, and the donuts are fresh, although I preferred last years cinnamon sugar version to this year’s glazed. We hung out by the water, spent a little more time with the farm animals, before moving our car to the restaurant and heading into our brunch. I enjoyed another cider with this delicious BLT.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
The Good: Another solid race. It’s a beautiful course, supporting a local farm, which is really lovely. The swag is great, and while the shirts and medals aren’t dated, they do change annually. Free finish line photos are a great touch. Of course, we love the finish line cider and donuts, and any time I get to pet animals is great. It’s also worth noting that when the race sold out, organizers emailed participants to say that if your plans changed, they would refund the registration to give spots to people on the waitlist.
The Bad: There aren’t a ton of restrooms (four), which is hard for a sold-out race. I didn’t love that no one was handing out medals. The event is enough out of the way that people wouldn’t be banditting or wandering across it, but I would still hate for a paid finished to not get their bling.
The Ugly: Nothing ugly to report. I did have to climb a fence to get back to the start line after taking a different path from the parking area, but that’s on me.
Final Thoughts
This isn’t a must-do-every-year race, but it is a nice race that I would do again if the timing worked out and I liked the medal. It gives us a reason to visit Congaree and Penn, which is about an hour away, and dine at their incredible restaurant. One day, I might even get brave enough to run!
Do you ever run at a brewery, winery, or cidery?
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Oh this sounds fun!!! I love a good cider. And even better if there’s horses to see!