It’s been a long time since I’ve ran a 5K and there is this Make Tracks at the Zoo 5K at the St. Louis Zoo that I’ve done a couple times in the past. Since Nathan enjoys running as much as I do, we decided to sign up for it together. It turned out to be a very unseasonably cold morning and I think that helped us to both do really well! Ha, ha! This was the first time the zoo had done this race since 2 years off from it due to Covid. I am so glad that even though stupid Covid is still around, things are starting to go back to whatever normal is now and we are just learning to live with it.
We got to the zoo quite early, because I was worried parking would be a headache. However, there were plenty of spaces in the parking lot. We had a little time to chill and I drank some water and had a caffeinated Verb bar.
We used the restrooms (they were indoor, how nice!) and then headed out to the start line. We got there quite early, so we snapped some photos. They had a guy lead everyone in some warmups before the race. Then, we got ready to go!
Nathan did really well, he finished at 22:50, which was a 7:21 pace. He didn’t PR. I finished at 27:38 with an 8:53 pace and I didn’t PR. However, we both ran fairly close to our PR’s and we were happy with our times!! Especially since neither of us is really training for anything specific right now. And, I’m more of a long distance runner than a sprinter! Plus, this course was ALLL hills! If you’ve ever been to Forest Park in St. Louis, it is very hilly. So, it was definitely a challenging course.
If you haven’t been to the St. Louis Zoo, it is one of the top (free!) zoo’s in the United States. I am writing this before our trip to San Diego and I can’t wait to see how the San Diego Zoo compares! I snapped this photo of some of the peonies (my favorite flower) in bloom on our way out. We did get to run through Forest Park and part of the St. Louis Zoo and all of the animals were wide awake as we ran past them.
Here is a photo of the 5K medal. They used to give out just ribbons, so I was excited to receive something much nicer. We may do this race again next year if it works out for us!
