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On Memorial Day, my cousin and I had the opportunity to run the Judicata 5k Race in Naples, Florida. As soon as we booked our flights to Florida, we both independently (without having ever talked about it to the other person) googled races close to Marco Island (where we were vacationing), and this one popped up! We’ve been talking for the last few years about running a race together, so when this one came up as an option, we were really excited.
Packet pick up was open on race morning, which I appreciated since it was a 45 minute drive from the Island. The race started at 7:30 (which I also appreciated due to Florida heat), but that meant that we had a really early morning ahead of us. We left the Island around 6:10 and headed up, enjoying the sunrise over the ocean on the way.
We parked around 7 o’clock and walked to packet pick-up, which took about 5 minutes to get through. We were able to get back to the car to drop our shirts off (they ran on the small size, and while mine fits, I wish I had gotten a size up) before heading to the starting line.
race tanks
It was almost 80 at the race start, with high humidity, and my body was not at ALL used to running in that temperature. I knew it was going to be rough, and told my cousin, who is faster than I am, that she could go ahead if she wanted. She said she’d stick with me, and off we went.
pre-race. not so sweaty yet.
The race was at a city park, and it was fun to wind through paths of palm trees, which is absolutely something that I don’t run around normally. By mile 1.5 sweat was dripping into my eyes- something I’m not used to when running. There was one water stop, but I had brought my handheld with nuun (unusual for a 5k, but necessary with the heat!). My cousin and I talked as we ran, and as quickly as it started, it was over.
It felt like I had just stepped out of the shower due to sweat. We walked over to the water area, AND THEY WERE OUT! I grabbed a little container of mandarin oranges to drink the juice, and that was good.
We took some pictures and headed out to a gas station nearby, where we had seen Key Lime Pie Donuts on the way into the race.
Any holiday needs delicious donuts, so we picked two up to enjoy later as we hurried back to the island- we had a morning and early afternoon boat ride to get to (where we saw some dolphins jumping completely out of the water! It was like our own private dolphin show! I’ll tell you more about that next week, and I’ll share some pictures with you as well).
So now I’ve run a race in Florida, and can add that to my “states I’ve raced in” tally (6). Overall I thought the race was organized well, and I wish I could be part of the Golf Coast Runners- I’ve heard great things about their other races.
For more race recaps, check out my race recap page.
Yes, it is so freaking hot down here. Way to power through.
Thanks!