This is my town race. I've run the 5k 11 times as of 2014--including the last 10 years in a row. It was also my first race all those years ago. I know every foot of the course. I can run it in my sleep. I both love it and...well I don't hate it, but there are some things.

For a town event, the Buffalo Grove Stampede is reasonably well done. The 10k is often a CARA Circuit race, so there are standards. For that reason both the 5k and 10k attract reasonably competitive runners from a wide area, in addition to the people in town who only run their one race a year. And because it's Labor Day weekend, it's not unusual to get some good runners from out of state. You just never know who's going to show up, and a good age group time could easily end up off the podium.

I know the 10k course but have never raced it (all I will say is that there are two relatively steep hills in mile 3, repeated in mile 5), so I'll keep my focus on the 5k course, which is mostly fast and flat. Starts in the parking lot of the Buffalo Grove Fitness Center on McHenry Road (Route 83), runs north on 83 for a few hundred yards then turns into a neighborhood for the first two miles. Few turns, a slight upgrade for half a mile in mile two, then a slightly steeper upgrade for a block into Willow Stream Park, nothing bad at all but you'll notice it. The course winds through the park, past the town swimming pool and out the parking lot at the opposite end, then over the pedestrian bridge that crosses Route 83, at about 2.5 miles. Most runners do not expect this, and they slow down--it's a great place to accelerate past them, explode over the crest of the bridge, and bring it home. The rest of the course winds through some parkland then back to the Fitness Center for the finish, which they could stand to dress up a little, but there are usually some decent crowds.

It's never rained any year I've done the race. Not once. Don't want to jinx it for 2015 by saying that, but its true. It *has* been very hot and humid a few years, but usually 60s and bearable.

Pro-tip on the start: there are two waves for the 5k but lots of kids in both, as you'd expect in a town race. Don't get tangled in them, because they have no sense of line or space. Let them run ahead and run themselves out. Most are walking before the end of the first mile. Except for the ones who will beat you, of course.

The race is managed by the town park district and they're competent enough. Kind of expect more prestigious sponsors for a race of this size, and while there are a number of tents set up around the start line, there should be a more interesting mix. The design on the race shirt has been the same for years, a very large buffalo head that's starting to wear thin no matter what color its in. Packet pickup is available Saturday in-town or at the start pre-race. One year someone wasn't paying attention and affixed the timing strips the wrong way on the bibs, so we all had to wear our bibs turned on end, looked pretty funny. Post-race refreshments are usually decent if not inspiring. Keep waiting for the chocolate milk people to show up. Not sure about the parking situation; I get to park in the fitness center parking lot, but others have to rely on local streets or a remote lot with a shuttle bus.

All in all, it's a decent race and a nice atmosphere. I keep doing it, and will be back in 2015 with a GoPro. See you there.