Race Review: Red Shoe Run and Walk

Quintessential race crowd pic

I know many of you didn't know this but I did a 5k over the weekend. You must be thinking to yourself, "A 5k after you just ran a half marathon a week before? You must be crazy!" But actually, it really wasn't that bad because (insert long dramatic pause here) I walked it! What?!?! Yes, you heard right I walked a 5k.

Look a Hoggette!

About a month ago, one of my co-workers asked me if I wanted to participate in a 5k with her and some of our other work colleagues. I asked her if anyone was running it and she said probably not. Hmmm...walking a race. Since this was unofficial "team building" I figured that I would walk with my co-workers so we could chit-chat and do some bonding. Awwww...how sweet! Anyway, I'm still going to give you my review of the 5k even though I didn't run it. 'Cause it's still a race, right? ;)

My co-workers and I with Ronald pre-race

The Red Shoe Run and Walk was in Herndon, VA and was held by the Potomac River Running Store for the Ronald McDonald House. Compared to the weather we've been having recently, it was pretty cold since it rained the night before. I don't want to say that it was small, so I'll use real estate terms and call it "cozy." It was a much appreciated contrast to the craziness and uber-crowds of the Rock and Roll Half Marathon I did the weekend before. I easily parked in the garage and went to packet pick up which was located on the first floor. How convenient! There were a couple of tables for free goodies. Key chains and tissues from TD Bank, sunblock, lip balm, and of course coffee, bagels, and yogurt parfaits from where else? McDonald's. They even had hash browns! I wasn't too keen on filling up before a race (even though I was walking it) so instead, I grabbed a couple of mini Powerades for the road.


Before the 5k started, there was a Kids Fun Run. That was pretty neat because although I had heard of them, I had never seen one before. The kids were totally cute and you could see their smiles after receiving their finishers medals!


The runners, walkers, stroller-pushers all started at the same time. The one thing that was kind of weird was that traffic wasn't stopped in both directions and we were running alongside traffic. It wasn't that bad, until people realized we couldn't use both lanes to run/walk in (D'oh!). The race course meandered though the nearby neighborhoods and new developments. Sorry, I'm from DC so I couldn't really tell you where I was, but it was pretty peaceful.


At the last mile there was a hill (isn't it always like that?) where my co-workers and I picked up the pace. One of my colleagues exclaimed, "Let's wog!" At first I didn't know what she was talking about until she told me what "wog" meant. Walk + Jog = Wog. Funny, huh? She cracks me up!

Another pic with my co-workers and my co-worker's daughter at the starting line

Overall, whether you ran, walked, or "wogged" I would say that this was a pretty good race to participate in. It was small, well organized and except for the hill at the end it was a relatively flat course (PR potential!). It will definitely be a race I'll consider running next year.