Green Lake Gobble Volunteering & 5k Race Recap

Hey Girl (or Boy) Hey!

Over the weekend I met up with some friends to volunteer/participate in the Green Lake Gobble 5k. Normally I’m beyond stoked when I can drag my friends out of bed early on the weekend for a run, but it was torrential downpour status in Seattle on Sunday morning, so the thought of spending all morning outside in the cold, wind and MASSIVE rain wasn’t the least bit appealing to me. I’m guessing Jenica (behind me) wasn’t excited either by the look on her face in this photo! I wasn’t expecting it to rain, since it was dry out when I left to head up north to the race (which was about an hour away from where I live), so I didn’t have on the most appropriate clothing for the weather either. #fail

I ended up wearing a dri-fit t-shirt, long sleeve pull over, reflective rain jacket and a fleece jacket over the top. Thankfully I had my light rain jacket with me so I wasn’t completely drenched! If I had known it was going to rain as much as it did, I would have worn a heavier rain jacket with a bigger hood! Oh well. I managed to survive without drowning to death and I ended up getting my third red cup of the season thanks to Katie‘s boyfriend, Anthony, so that made the couple hours of rain soaked work a little more enjoyable! There’s just not a lot that a soy hot chocolate in a red cup won’t fix!

Jenica, Katie and I all volunteered at the registration booth handing out shirts for a couple of hours and it was actually kind of fun being a part of the volunteer team, despite the rain, mud and extra early morning alarm!

All of the runners were really nice that came to pick up their packets from us on event day. It was fun to greet them and meet some fellow runners before the race. Too bad we were too busy to talk to some of the cute runners that came through our line because you know what they say about runners making the best dates! *wink wink* (inside runner joke)

The only casualities of the day were a few shirts we accidently dropped in the mud when pulling them out of the boxes to hand out (whoops!) and our shoes that were covered in mud by the end. Mine ended up taking a bath in the washing machine when I got home!

My only complaint with volunteering is that we didn’t have enough time in between to get our bibs on, use the restrooms and get to the start line on time. We were running around like crazy people with bibs and Starbucks red cups in hand looking for the porta potties. It was quite the sight! That was our fault though because we lost track of time and didn’t leave the registration booth until the very last minute.

The race went around Greenlake, which is really pretty, but I usually don’t enjoy races there because it’s impossible to find parking with a ton of people in such a small area. Greenlake is also a really popular place among runners, so there were a ton of people on the course that weren’t part of the actual race, adding to the already crowded race course. The good thing about races in this area is that they are flat for the most part, so if you start at the front so you don’t get stuck in the crowd, this is a great race location if you’re shooting for a PR or are a beginner runner.

I really like this new trend that seems to be popping up of full color race bibs! I’m not loving the white race shirt trend lately, but the turkey design is super cute!

One of my favorite parts of the run was this smoothie making booth at the end. I’ve heard about these blender bikes before, but have never been at an event where they had one, until last weekend.  We got to choose our smoothie flavor from three listed flavors: mango, berry and strawberry banana (all of which were FREE!) and they strapped the blender on to our bikes so we could power the blender by riding the bike. The awesome girl in charge of the booth let Katie and I race each other which was super fun.

I was a little skeptical of the quality of these smoothies since I’m a smoothie lover and they were offering them up for free, but it was one of the most delicious smoothies I’ve ever had! (I chose strawberry banana, in case you were wondering!)

After we made our smoothies, we met up with Jenica in the beer garden. I couldn’t go in though, because I forgot my id in my car. Second fail of the day.

After we were done at the race, Katie, Anthony and I headed over to Patty’s Eggnest for one of the best brunches I’ve ever had.

I ordered the Bell Town Scramble with an English Muffin and hash browns and it was amazing. Like seriously the best scramble I’ve ever had. The portions were so big that I took half of it home and ate the rest for dinner! YUM! I’d highly recommend checking this place out if you’re in the area!

Questions of the Day:

Did you run a race last weekend?

How many more races do you have left in 2014?

Have you ever volunteered at a run?

Linking up to The Fit Switch, MCM Mama Runs, Peas and Crayons, Healthy Diva Life, Running Rachel, Her Heartland Soul, Life of Meg and MCM Mama Runs.