Run for CHIPS 5K

Name of the race: Run for CHIPS 5K

Where: Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY

Date: November 5, 2016

Time: 10:00 am

Distance: 3.11 miles

Terrain: Small rolling hills of Prospect Park, with Zoo Hill (the big one) at the last mile

Entry fee: pre-race $30; $35 day of

Swag: None

Post-race Food: Chips, mango coconut water, candy, granola bars, orange slices, smoked turkey deli meat, Swiss cheese

Time: 24:13

Performance: Overall 27/265; Gender: 6/167; Age (1-99): 5/166

Weather: 48 degrees, 57% humidity

Girls just wanna have fun!

I signed up for this race at the last minute. In an effort to encourage running and racing in Brooklyn, my running club PPTC offers a prize to members who run 6 or more races in Brooklyn. I race all the time and I realized that I needed one more BK race in order to be eligible for the drawing to win $100. I found Run for CHIPS 5K, which fit my schedule and it had a fun 80s theme.

I probably had more fun making my costume than actually running the race. The race was fine, but I really really love my 80s running costume. I went to a fabric store to buy some tulle to make my tutu. After seeing a number of tutorials from other runners on how to make a tutu, I thought making one would be easy. And it was. I sat on the couch and watched TV while I tied tulle around an elastic band. For my leg warmers and top, I took a long-sleeved hot pink top that I had been planning on using as a throwaway top. I cut off the arms for my leg warmers (I probably own the only leg warmers with thumbholes) and then I cut way the neck line to make an off-the-shoulder top. For my hair ribbon, at the fabric store I bought a length of zebra-striped and hot pink ribbon. I made a side ponytail and secured the ribbon onto my hair. I had a bright pink visor and wore a sports bra with pink straps. Underneath the tutu, I wore a white running skirt with pink print on it. Basically if it were pink, I wore it that day.

Run for the CHIPS only gives out prizes to the top male and female runners. I knew based on past results that I had no chance of winning, but I thought I might have a chance of winning best costume. I didn’t win that either because Tom Cruise of Risky Business did. I loved her costume so much (including her running socks!) that I didn’t care that I didn’t win best costume either.

This was my first time running in a tutu and I have to say that I LOVED IT! It was so much fun that now I’m kinda obsessed with tutu running.

I had a very solid race. The 5K course is a bit different than the usual 5K course in Prospect Park. When PPTC does their summer series, the start is right at the base of Zoo Hill, so you get it out of the way in the first mile. For Run for CHIPS, we started on the other side of the park, so Zoo Hill was in the last mile. By the time I hit the hill, I was gassed. Still I ran just over 24 mins and I was happy with my performance.

Ben and Bandit were there to cheer me on. Or rather Ben was. Bandit was upset because she wasn’t out racing with me, so she howled and barked in protest the entire time. As much as I love racing, Bandit loves it even more. She actually knows the difference between running and racing because her behavior is totally different.

After the race, we went home with tons of deli meat and cheese. They were just giving them away and encouraged us to take as many packages as we wanted. We took enough meat and cheese to pay me back for my race entry.

Run for CHIPS was a fun themed race, but it’s quite clear that this isn’t a runner’s race. The focus of the race is less about the runner’s experience and more about raising money for charity as most 5Ks are. This is fine, but there were definitely some disappointed runners who had been expecting top 3 overall awards and age groups awards and were shocked to find none. I read the description of the race so I knew not to expect those things, but as I do more races, I definitely notice a difference between a runner’s race and a non-runner’s race.