#HF13509‬ Review:

After hearing about this race from a few runners who ran it in 2014 in their inaugural year and hearing about the medal I was willing to take a trip to PA to run the race.

In terms of SWAG, when registering for the race the default was a long-sleeve cotton shirt, however you have the option to upgrade to a tech shirt, which is what I did, however I was pretty disappointed with the tech shirt itself. I would have hoped for the 10K the tech shirt would be included in the price. However, what made up for it was the medal. The race medal was absolutely gorgeous for those who collect medals. However the 5K recipients received the same medal as the 10K runners, so it would have been nice for a bit of differentiation between the races. Unfortunately there was no race-day pickup unless you paid for same-day pickup. However that still resulted in long lines as many people paid for same day pickup.

In terms of getting to the race, parking was limited to street parking. Not being familiar with the area and after recommendation from friends who were, we parked near the Drexel campus and took an Uber ride over. Luckily the race organizers provided Uber coupons for first-time Uber users. It was easy enough to get to the race once we hoped into our Uber.

In terms of the race itself, the 5K race was first and then the 10K race started. They had timing breakouts for the corrals but no enforcement of those at the start. The wheel chair racers started first and then we started our race (we were a bit delayed but not significantly). The race announcers started us off on waves which was nice to eliminate crowding on the course. It was a nice out and back course with water and aid stations at every 2 miles. In spirit of the Rocky theme, they had music from the movie playing at every mile. The course itself was extremely flat except for the final up hill at the end of the race, which was minor for the whole race. The post race amenities were nice, including bananas, granola bars, and water and were available close to the finish which was nice. Everyone was polite along the course from runners to volunteers which made for a pleasant experience along the course.

Would I do it again, absolutely, but so long as the 5K medal matches the 10K medal, I'll opt for the 5K race.

‪#‎HF13509‬ Review:
Being from PA and having lived in Pittsburgh, I never experienced a race in Pittsburgh till this year at the Turkey Trot. Since my family and I traveled to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving, I convinced them to join me for a 5K if I promised I would walk it.

My sister-in-law said bag check was pretty easy, so I can't comment on that, but in terms of "race swag" I liked what they provided, the long-sleeve tech shirt, the bibs, the timing chip for the shoes, headphones, free parking for those driving, and an Uber coupon for first-time Uber users (if you couldn't drive in). I would have given it 5-stars if they included a medal.

Getting to the race was pretty easy for us coming in from the west. There was a bit of congestion once you got close to the stadiums but nothing too long. We found parking pretty quickly and there was a lot of parking available when we arrived about 30 minutes out from the start of the race.

In terms of the race itself, it is very family-friendly. People were in costumes and dogs were allowed as long as they were friendly and you didn't mind starting out closer to the back. It was a bit confusing at the start since there were no corrals, but we followed the crowd to the area that seemed to be at the start. The race started on time which I really appreciate. Along the course, the race was pretty sparsely staffed, but for volunteers on Thanksgiving day, I can't complain. There were two water stations along the 5K course, however no clear mile markers (they had them for the 5 mile course), so I used my GPS watch to track where we were. I didn't see any particular aid stations along the course, so I'm giving 1-star as a benefit-of-the-doubt for the race. The course itself was really flat, and a great way to see downtown Pittsburgh. The post race amenities were really nice, including bananas, muffins, granola bars, bottled water. It was a bit crowded in terms of set up but very close to the finish line.

If anyone wants a nice family-friendly 5K, I highly recommend this one!