Santa's Workshop 5K

Santa's Workshop 5K

Santa's Workshop 5K

( 5 reviews )
60% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Manassas,
    Virginia,
    United States
  • December
  • 5 miles/8K
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

John Niedzwiecki

Florida, United States
63 18
2014
"Fun Little Run at Santa Time"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
John Niedzwiecki's thoughts:

This race, put on by Bristow Tri and Swim, benefitted USMC Toys for Tots program. While the race was a bargain price to begin with ($25) you could save an extra $5 by bringing a toy. Sure, you'd spend more than that on the toy, but it isn't really about the money, is it? It's about toys for boys and girls who otherwise may not get one. That's something always worth giving towards.

I went with a semi costume for the race. Not as complete as my snowman costume for the Christmas Town Dash 8K the week before, but I went with my Grinch face shirt over some long sleeve Under Armor and some Christmas ProCompression socks.

Parking at the race was a cinch. It was held at the Northern Virginia Community College campus in Manassas. This meant plenty of parking and it was located right of of I-66 which means easy access. I did race day pickup, which was simple, as always at a BRATS event. There was a table set up right near the start / finish line. As it has been with every BRATS race I've done, there was a table with one person that would look up your name, another grabbed your bib and a third your shirt. The swag was limited to the shirt, but it was a nice Santa themed tech shirt. Yes, a technical shirt for a $25 5K. Hard value to beat.

The weather started a little chilly. As the race went on, it warmed up quite a bit, feeling almost spring like at the end. The field was pretty small, just 144 people, which felt especially small compared to the previous BRATS race that had just under 700 total. The course wasn't difficult, some slight hills but they were long and nothing too steep. It was an out and back course near the battlefield and I-66. A portion of it ran past some office buildings and businesses, which was less scenic. The turn around had the battlefield on the one side (nice) and the interstate on the other (less nice). The race was structured similar to the Turkey Trot they ran, where there was "one" water stop, but since it was an out and back, you could hit it twice. In the end, the race went by quickly, which I'll fully attribute to having someone to talk to for the race. I had met another blogger for the first time and ran with them for this race.

While my time didn't seem to keep as fast as I had hoped for pace wise on our tracking (Katie's Garmin and my phone), the official chip time was under my goal (12 min / mile) and another PR for 5K for the second race in a row. Hopefully, I can do the same in the last leg of the holiday 5K series in January. Post race, I grabbed my water bottle, free banana and a granola bar and chowed down quickly. I snapped a Nuun in half to drop into the bottle, because that's just how I roll. Great value to get a technical shirt and more than just a banana and water at the end.

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