Each year we put on our own race called the Sole2Soul Scoot. It is a 5K and a fun run and it benefits an awesome organization in our community called the Ransom Cafe. This Saturday was our 3rd annual race...the Sole2Soul Sweetheart Scoot. We love having a theme and this year we chose Valentine's Day!
It is a lot of work to put on a race!!! You have to do paperwork like the sponsor packet and race application. You have to get sponsors. You have to decide on food and paper products. You have to organize water stops. You have to get a venue, porta potties, race insurance, awards....my list can go on and on! It's a lot of work...but also so much fun! And when you have a great group of ladies helping you do it...it's awesome!
Sole2Soul Sisters Officers!
Race day me and my hubby woke up at 4:30 AM. My body thought it was getting ready to go run but really we were just getting ready to go set up for the race. We made it to the venue at 5:15. It was windy and chilly! I was glad to have on tights with my normal running skirt, 2 shirts, and a jacket. I also had gloves and a hat on. It was the perfect temperature for running...but not fun when you weren't exercising. We got everything set up and the first people started arriving around 6:45 AM. One of my jobs was to work the pre-registration table. I love this job because I get to see and interact with all the runners! But it can also get a little stressful when you have a line of people waiting to get their race bibs and shirts! But I had an awesome team of ladies helping me out!
Finally all the hard work was about to pay off! The runners waited for the gun to go off so they could start the race!
And then they were off!
I cheered for the runners as they went by. And then it was time for my other big job...I was in charge of door prizes! We found in the past that the easiest way to do door prizes was to write them down on a huge board and write the winner's name by the prize. Once they claimed their door prize I would draw a line through their name. Our MC called for the runners to come check the board for their prizes...and he called out some of the prizes and their names too.
We had some awesome door prizes...including a Sweat Pink Swag Bag! And Fit Approach not only donated the Sweat Pink Swag Bag but also pink shoelaces to go in the runners' race bags!!! Thanks so much Fit Approach!!!
A special thanks goes out to my friend Larisa from Zero to Twenty Six Point Two. She came to support our race and also donated 3 pairs of Swiftwick socks as door prizes! My friend Melanie also came...and her husband Ali won the race with a time of 17:20!!!
Larisa, me, and Melanie!
Ali finishing (and winning) strong!
While we waited for all the runners to come in we also had a little fun! Me and my best friend Paige had to take a few pictures together...it's tradition for us to take a picture together at every race! It didn't matter that we weren't actually running this one...it was OUR race!
We also had several Famous Friendz at our race! We had Buzz Lightyear, Phineas and Ferb, and Dora the Explorer! And the funniest thing...it was our preacher's wife that was in the Dora costume! And she was a hit!!!
I didn't get a picture of the food but we had tons! We had grits with sausage from the Ransom Cafe, Champy's Chicken, and bananas. We also had tons of water and coke products thanks to donations!
For our awards ceremony we had engraved medals for the age group winners and stainless steel bottles plus a medal for the top finishers.
This year we also had tech shirts instead of white cotton shirts. The sizes ran bigger than we expected but everyone seemed pretty happy with them.
Of course there were some things that we learned and know we need to improve on for next year. One of those would be a way to make our pre-registration line go quicker. We are already brainstorming ideas to help improve that.
The Sole2Soul Sweetheart Scoot 5K and Fun Run was a SUCCESS!!!
I want to give a special thanks to ALL our wonderful sponsors and people who donated door prizes and supplies to our race! We couldn't do it without you!!!
Also I want to say thank you to my friends Larisa, Paige, and Susanne for letting me use some of their pictures in this post! :-)
QOTD: Have you ever put on your own race? What is one of your pet peeves at races?
