The Runner’s World 5K was just the start of the race weekend for me. The start and finish of the race are at the former Bethlehem Steel complex. I found this location to be very ideal to host the race for a few reasons. There were several places with real bathrooms to use, as well as portas. Along either side of the start line there are two big parking lots which were great to get in a warm up jog. Also on that note, parking was very easy to find and use. There was one lot right next to the event, however it gets blocked in during the race, since the course passes right in front of it. As long as you didn’t mind hanging out after the race, this is the best place to park in my opinion. There was another parking lot just a block away with a shuttle running to and from it as well.

The race expo was held at ArtQuest which is right at the event site and easy to access all weekend. Not as many vendors as I expected for such a popular race however they vendors they had were great, Aftershokz, Balega, and The Vitamin Shoppe to name a few.

There was a bit of a delay in starting the race due to a last minute check of the course, to make sure that it was fully blocked off and safe for use to run on. I appreciated that and didn’t mind the delayed start. Originally there was an 8:00am start time and we started at 8:10am, still not bad.

Even for a 5K the race seemed very fast. We made our way to the Philip J. Fahy Memorial Bridge which was the main part of this race. The course takes you up the ramp of the bridge and across which is a steeper hill than you would imagine. Once across the bridge we did a quick loop around the Bethlehem Public Library. On the backside of the library was an aid station with water only. Then it’s all downhill from there – to the front of the library and back across the bridge. At the bottom the course follows Columbia Street down to the other end of the steel complex. There is one minor hill – up and down – by Sand Casino, then you get to the final turn and have a nice straight flat finish toward ArtsQuest.

After the race there was water, pretzels, banana, and Nature Valley bars to snack on.

My overall thoughts are that it is an ideal 5K for a beginner or seasoned runner. The course isn’t very technical but still provides some challenge.