Lakefront Loops 5K (and other 5Ks) Star Posts (2023)

Story

What a beautiful morning for a Lakefront run! I ran my first attempt at a pretty good clip but was confused at the turnaround as RunGo said to turn just before the electrical box on the wooden post…the question is how much before??? When I finished the course my watch and RunGo said I had run 3.33 miles rather than 3.1. On my second attempt, I turned around a wee bit earlier than the first time giving me a total distance of 3.17 miles on both RunGo and my watch. Wanting to make sure the distance is fair for everyone, I walked back to the confusing turnaround spot. Using RunGo and matching myself up with the little turnaround circle on the map in the app, it looks like the turnaround is actually 0.1 miles before the electrical box, just about exactly at the little 1 mile stone marker in the ground.


It wouldn’t necessarily matter as long as everyone is turning around at the same point, but if we are competing against people doing actual 5K races running 3.33 miles instead of 3.1 miles makes a big difference in time. Maybe @adamengst can comment on this? Thanks!

1 Like

The official turnaround spot is about 15 feet before the post with the green box, as illustrated by the photo on the course page with the race wheel at the exact point. There are some cracks in the pavement right there.

I’ve been hoping to get a turnaround sign on that post, even if it’s a touch too far, but the City of Ithaca guy hasn’t responded to my request for that yet.

Don’t believe your GPS watch distances when extreme accuracy is desired. I wheeled this course carefully, so I’m confident that it’s 3.1 miles when you turn at the pavement cracks.

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Thanks for the clarification. I guess I should have looked at the course photo more closely before my run this morning​:upside_down_face:. I hope the sign comes through in the end but in the meantime will keep a close eye out for those cracks! :joy:

Yeah, fingers crossed on the sign. The City is adamant that there can be no painting of the trail surface; hence my use of the identifying cracks. :slight_smile:

1 Like

Sorry, folks, just got confirmation that the City can’t give us permission to put our sign on that post because it’s a NYSEG post. You’ll just have to keep looking for the cracks right before it.

Story

I love to run by the water, but this week, I was nowhere near the lake. Instead, I ran along the sea on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, where I’m on my first proper European vacation in 15 years! The 5K is generally my least favorite distance because it just hurts the whole way, but since I’ve been walking about 15 miles each day, I decided to take this one relatively easy before we hiked an alpine peak to a Medieval city in the afternoon.

The weather was perfect: low 60s and sunny, with the bluest water I’ve ever seen. The French runners are all over the map in terms of attire: I saw many folks in puffy jackets or vests, long pants, headbands, and multiple layers. For an Ithacan, it was definitely shorts and tank top weather! There’s a half marathon here in two days, so I saw some folks doing shakeout runs in their official race shirts.

The beach is made up of smooth pebbles that make a beautiful clinking sound as they tumble in the waves. I saw hundreds of tiny blue jellyfish washing up on one section of the beach. Perhaps one of the FLRC resident scientists knows what they are called or can explain this phenomenon?

I missed my running buddy, Lola, and made friends with as many dogs as possible on this trip. This sweet Frenchie even gave me a kiss!

In the evening, we hiked to the top of the city at the ruins of a castle and caught the sunset. It’s truly hard to believe that a place this beautiful exists!

It’s been a wonderful trip, and one thing that makes coming home a little sweeter is looking forward to tackling all the new challenge courses (with friends!) I must say, though:

7 Likes

Story

@Iris - I loved reading your “nice” post. Today I raced a 5K at Stewart Park. It was put on by the New York Farm Bureau to raise money so that local food pantries can offer local milk. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and I enjoyed the blow-up plastic cow and cow balloons that made the event festive and thematic. I also enjoyed seeing FLRC-ers @patrickmilano and Caroline Rasumin, and Josh the timer, and other fun folks.

I brought everything from a tank top to a winter coat, because I wasn’t sure about the weather, but I ended up wearing shorts with a wool long-sleeve shirt and a t-shirt. My race times are still coming down after my back injury/operation, and I was pleased with my 27:11, which is yet another run on the ladder of progress! (PGXC, I’m looking at you!) I mostly felt like my molecules were pixelating in and out of time while I floated along, and it took a lot of mental self-coaching to keep the effort strong and even.

5 Likes

Story

I ran the 10 Gallon Challenge 5k this morning in Stewart Park as a tempo workout. I did a short warm up jog and my legs did not feel good (probably still sore from lifting and sprinting the day before yesterday). Once the race started I felt better. Pinning a bib to your chest somehow makes it easier to run hard. I finished in 18:09, good enough for 3rd place (Strava link).

3 Likes

Story

The group run this morning on the Lakefront Loops 5K course was a big success, with 23 people braving the forecast to run in extremely comfortable and not particularly rainy weather.

I was only cleared to do 7 reps of 90 seconds of running and 1 minute of walking, so I had to resort to walking after the first 1.5 miles or so. But still fun to be out with everyone on the trail and get back to share bagels and cream cheese and chocolate milk with the group.

A lot of people’s watches claimed the course was 3.3 or 3.4 miles, including mine, and while I wheeled it carefully to the 3.1 mark, it’s always possible that FLRC’s wheel isn’t very accurate after all these years (and that’s the newer one). I may see if I can get the older one and confirm it’s accurate on a track before wheeling the course again.

1 Like

I ran it yesterday and also got 3.3 on the nose.

Story

Don’t let Adam’s post fool you, it was rainy and chilly, but the company kept it enjoyable! @dianahackett was my unintentional rabbit, and helped me pull off a pace I haven’t seen in quite some time. Honestly, I think she was just trying to get away from me. :joy: Joke’s on her, I’m tapering and have ALL THE ENERGY!

1 Like

Story

Did my 7 by 90-second run/1-minute walk workout on this course again to confirm my suspicion that my instructions were wrong, increasing the course distance by .2 miles. That was indeed the case, so I fixed all the instructions on the Lakefront Loops 5K page. Oh, and I wrapped some blue flagging tape around the post that’s just past the cracks in the pavement where you turn around. Really! Cracks! Pay close attention!

(Red arrows require augmented reality glasses. Glasses not included.)

2 Likes

Realized that I forgot to post my heron shot from the Group Run - where, @heathercobb3, I’m fairly sure your speed was due to you trying to escape from me… - anyhoo, here is a lovely heron!

3 Likes

Story


beautiful morning for a run and nice to go slow and have conversation

2 Likes

Story

I ran the Cayuga Heights Elementary School 5k this morning to pick up a fast 5k time and spice up my training with a race effort. I lined up next to High Noon teammate Chris Halsey, hoping I could hang with him for a little while. Chris, however, set an opening pace that was a little too hot for me and made a comfortable gap early. I finished 2nd in 17:32.3 (Strava).

1 Like

Story

I participated in yesterday’s Cayuga Heights Elementary School 5K and posted results this morning to count for the ‘other 5K’ option, which I wasn’t aware of until I bumped into @adamengst and @Dave_K while they were setting up the timing and finish line for it. Good thing I met up with them! So, here’s the question: the race was yesterday so how do I edit my results to show that it was yesterday - not this morning?
Back to the CHES 5K: It was a gorgeous spring morning. So many flowers and trees in bloom. So many families and young children running either the 1 mile fun run or the full 5K. Seeing so many elementary school age children out running kept me smiling. The best moment was having passed the 1 mile marker of the 5K and there’s this little 1st grader running in front of me and a few other adults - and he only has one sneaker on! He lost his other sneaker at the start line and kept on running! Hahaha.
All in all, a fun morning with lots of families.
Here I am pictured with a colleague, Sarah, who ran the 5K with her 7 year old son.

1 Like

Alas, there is no way to edit the date and time of results in Webscorer. It doesn’t matter much, but it is important that you post a story on the same day if you want to get a community star.

1 Like

That’s fair! :smiley:

Story


it was a hot one today for running. Before running the course we first ran down past the bridges to the end of the path then on the way back to start the course we paused under a bridge for a moment to enjoy the cool shade

2 Likes