Latest reviews by Allison

(2016)
"Bowerman 5K"
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This past weekend Peter and I ran the Bowerman 5K at the Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon with over 700 other runners. The Bowerman 5K is listed as one of the seven must-do 5K races in the United States. After running it we’d sure agree that it’s a must-do.

We loved the race because…

You get to run through the Nike World Headquarters.
The race doesn’t start bright and early in the morning.
The course is relatively flat.
It was a beautiful night to run.
Added Bonus: The race tee was cute!
Being that I hadn’t ran more than 2 miles at a time since we moved to Portland (we moved in April) I was more than nervous that I wouldn’t be able to finish this 5K without walking. Even though I was nervous I laced up my shoes and decided that I was going to rock this 5K.

Turns out there’s something about running on the Nike campus that will give you endurance like you’ve never seen before. I didn’t walk once, nor did I even feel like I needed to walk! It sure helps that the entire course was relatively flat.

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(2016)
"Big 12 5K"
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When I signed up for what I thought was going to be my first half marathon I knew that I’d have a training run to complete while I was traveling to visit family in Kansas City. I began exploring the races in the local area and found out that the Big 12 Run was going to be happening the same weekend I was visiting. As an Iowa State University and University of Kansas alum I couldn't wait to sign up and immediately I began convincing my dad to run his first 5K with me. After a bit of encouragement, he agreed to run with me!

This was the first time both of us had run in over a month. For me, concussion recovery had left me sidelined in rest and recovery. I’d already came to terms with the fact that I will not be running the half marathon due to being sidelined majorly from the concussion. Since this run was my first in over a month my goal was simply to finish. It definitely wasn’t my best time, but we made it!

As we crossed the finish line the announcer was encouraging all the runners. To my dad and I they said: “there are two Cyclone fans coming in strong.”

Race Highlight: As we were about to mile one we passed Iowa State Athletic Director Jamie Pollard and his family running. It’s definitely my new favorite running highlight (and yes I took a selfie while running!). And we found him again at the finish line and took another selfie. Go Cyclones!

I plan to travel back to visit family next year on this race weekend simply because the race was incredible! While I wasn't a fan of the race t-shirt baseball t-shirts aren't flattering, I did enjoy every other aspect of this race!

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(2016)
"REI Worst Day of the Year Run"
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The REI Worst Day of the Year Run 5K was my third 5K ever and my first “official” 5K with my hubby. Note: I walked a good portion of the one I did in the fall of 2006 (didn’t train) and walked up the final hill at the end of the one I did during graduate school in the fall of 2012 (if you saw the hill you would have walked too). This race I ran the entire thing!

The weather conditions were far from “worst.” Typically a race held in Oregon this time of year would have lots of rain. We had a beautiful dry and sunny day to run. It sure makes training for a half marathon that much more appealing the more dry runs we’re blessed with.

The course is where “worst” was defined. I’ve done all of my training runs so far on very flat loops. After this rolling hill course I’ve learned that it’s time to add some hills into my training. It was by far the hardest run of my life, but I made it. Midway through I really found my spark and stride and enjoyed every step until that finish line. The course was gorgeous and the swag was great. I love that they gave runners a Columbia omni-heat fleece stocking hat instead of a t-shirt.

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(2012)
"Jayhawk Jog 5K"
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As a graduate student at The University of Kansas I couldn't pass up the opportunity to run a 5K through campus during Homecoming. At KU students joke that you earn your "KU Calves" because of the hills. I ran the entire race until the final hill near the Journalism building. The race t-shirt was wonderful because it was spirited with that year's Homecoming theme. It was a great race and I wish it was still held yearly!

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