The Scioto Miles two-race training series offered the option to do 5K, 10K or 15K for each race. I did 5K on March 24 and 10K today. The course is a 5K loop downtown along the river — last year it actually went through the new Scioto Mile park.

I don’t typically enter 5K races, but I just did a half marathon March 17, this series was a reasonable price and participants are given a technical shirt for both races. But the real selling point for me was participants who registered early enough received a pair of Brooks shoes. (I wouldn’t normally go out of my way to get a pair of shoes that might not work for racewalking, but I had heard good things about the Brooks shoes offered.)

The reasons I don’t typically do 5K races are: I feel funny spending money to enter a race I cannot win and is such a short distance. At least with half marathons, I feel that the race support and food afterward are worth the entry fee.

March 24 — 5K
It was pretty cold that morning, but the loop course was pretty, going around the edge of downtown Columbus. Since we were doing just 5K, there were not many issues with fast runners passing us on multiple loops.

The first mile marker was in the wrong spot — we reached it in 11 minutes! There was no way I was walking an 11-minute mile. The second mile marker might have been a mile from the first.

There is not much to the race other than loud music at the start and finish and you get to wait inside COSI before the race. Because it was pretty cold, that was nice.

At the finish line we received a medal, picked up a bottle of water and had the option of chocolate milk, bagels and bananas. There was quite a bit more food available than when we did the 15K last fall.

April 7 — 10K (Deb’s birthday)
Today’s race was nearly identical to the last one including the mile markers being wrong. (Seriously! No one told the race directors?) The only differences were the weather and we did an additional 5K.

Though my phone (and Deb’s car) said it was nearly 60 degrees, the wind made it feel quite a bit chillier than that! Deb talked me into leaving my jacket in the car, and as usual, she was right. After about the second mile, I was warm, though I was freezing standing at the starting line.

My Garmin said we averaged 13:40 a mile with my last mile a little ahead of Deb at 12:56. My unofficial finish was 1:23:55.

When we finished, we received our medals, got water and there was still chocolate milk, bagels, bananas and this time granola bars. There was coffee and I grabbed half a cup.

After a couple of minutes being amazed I wasn’t cold, we went to the car and drove home.

Conclusion
This series is OK. It doesn’t do anything wrong, but there is nothing that makes the event special or fun. The shirts are in women’s sizes and they fit (yea!), but all three I have are identical except the color. The medals are nearly identical, too.

If you need some training races, these do a good job. If you are looking for an “event,” or something different or fun, these probably are not for you.

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