• Fitness
  • Food
  • Travel
  • Biz
  • My Life
  • Friday Favorites
  • Home
  • About My Blog
    • 100 Life Goals
  • Contact
  • Home
  • About My Blog
    • 100 Life Goals
  • Contact

Always Emily H.

Menu
  • Fitness
  • Food
  • Travel
  • Biz
  • My Life
  • Friday Favorites
Fitness, Running

Witch City 5k {Race Recap}

By Emily
witch city 5k

On Saturday morning I ran the Witch City 5k in Salem. I’ve run this race a few times in the past but it has been a while. I signed up for the race on a whim because I’ve been wanting to get back to running.

witch city 5k
(via my Snapchat: emilyh1020)

I haven’t run since early summer and now that the weather is perfect for running (IMO), I want to get back out there. I went into the Witch City 5k thinking that I just wanted to run and had no goals in mind but to finish and stay in a good head space.

Just for fun, I looked up my results from previous years:

2008 – 25:44 // 8:16 min/mile

2009 – 27:47 // 8:56 min/mile

2010 – 27:01 // 8:41 min/mile

I figured if I finished at around a 9:00 min/mile I would be happy.

Witch City 5k {Race Recap}

I got up early on Saturday morning because SL had class so I much more time than normal to get myself together and make the 30 minute drive to the race.

For breakfast, I had my usual coffee with almond milk and collagen and a Chicken Avocado burger. Totally a weird race day breakfast but it was what I wanted so I went for it.

Knowing the race well, I knew parking would be a breeze but still left my house about an hour before the start of the race. I arrived in plenty of time, finished my coffee in the car then headed to the bathroom line.

After a quick bathroom start, I was at the start line with 10 minutes to spare. I took to the time to take in everyone’s clever Halloween costumes (it is October in Salem so costumes are everywhere) and then we were off!

Witch City 5k Mile 1

The race starts with a hill (ugh) then follows the water of Collins Cove into downtown Salem. The Witch City 5k can sometimes be overwhelming with the crazy October crowds in Salem but the views are worth it.

witch-city-5k-salem

I didn’t get any pictures while running but this is what I was dealing with for views along the first part of mile 1. Not too shabby.

  • Mile 1 – 8:47 min/mile This was my fastest mile and also my favorite 🤗

I felt really good about this mile but my left foot was a bit numb. Not sure if it was because of the cold or because I just haven’t been running at all but it did concern me a bit.

Witch City 5k Mile 2

Mile two is also beautiful but in a different way. All of this part of the race is through downtown Salem. The decorations are amazing. Everywhere you look you see Halloween oozing out of both the houses and the company buildings. 🎃 👻

  • Mile 2 – 9:09 min/mile

Somewhere during mile 2 my foot stopped being numb. Know I am thinking it was due to my tootsies just being cold.

Witch City 5k Mile 3

This is my least favorite mile of the race. You begin to leave the downtown area and run down a boring road filled with nothingness.

  • Mile 3 – 9:18 min/mile

I was not surprised to see that this was my slowest mile. It was all flat and nothing interesting to look at.

And to finish…

  • Last little bit – 8:58 min/mile

This is a fun part of the race because you run through the Salem Willows and see all the spectators and other racers. I could feel my jets turning on a bit as I neared the finish line.

witch-city-5k-course

My RunKeeper stats were: 3.12 miles | 28.16 mins | 9:04 min/mile

My official race time, which got texted to me seconds after crossing the finish line (love that) was 28:06.

witch city 5k finish line

Needless to say this wasn’t one of my faster races, no PRs to be had on Saturday. But it also wasn’t my slowest. The best takeaway is that I felt good running again. I hope there are more fall 5ks in the near future.

Related posts:

Chase the Gorilla Down Argilla 5kChase the Gorilla Down Argilla 5k – Race Recap sprint into spring 5kSprint into Spring 5k Race Recap pete frates 5k bibsPete Frates 5k {Race Recap} flatbread fiery pizza 5kFlatbread Fiery 5k Race Recap
Tags: 5k race recap running witch city
Posted on October 18, 2016 3 Comments
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest
Friday Favorites
Previous ArticleFriday Favorites #67: October 14
Next ArticleA Quick Stop at Dunguaire Castle in Ireland

About Author

Emily

I'm Emily and I am a 32 year-old MBA graduate, full time marketer, wifey, blogger, and fitness enthusiast. Welcome to my blog! Always Emily H. chronicles my crazy life focusing on fitness, food and fun!

Twitter

Related Posts

  • Chase the Gorilla Down Argilla 5k

    Chase the Gorilla Down Argilla 5k – Race Recap

    April 17, 2018
    Read More
  • Ali on the Run – Sprint to the Finish

    April 12, 2018
    Read More
  • sprint into spring 5k

    Sprint into Spring 5k Race Recap

    April 10, 2018
    Read More

3 Comments

  1. Nicole @ Fitful Focus
    October 19, 2016 at 4:25 pm

    I did a 4-mile race in February in NYC and I couldn’t feel my feet for the first 2 miles! I was nervous I was going to land on it wrong because I had no idea where they were landing haha.

    • Emily
      October 19, 2016 at 5:00 pm

      I felt the same way! But it certainly wasn’t as cold as February in NYC, my foot obviously doesn’t realize its no longer summer.

  2. Annmarie
    October 20, 2016 at 9:52 am

    What a fun 5k!!! Way to push it at the end! 🙂

Welcome to Always Emily H.

Connect with Me

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

NASM Personal Trainer

NASM Personal Trainer

I’m Certified

Email Messaging Certification Program Value Proposition Certification Program

Follow me on Bloglovin’

Follow

Insta Life

No images found!
Try some other hashtag or username

Recent Posts

  • What I Ate Wednesday + Day in the Life
  • A Taste of Tuesday
  • Friday Favorites #116
  • Weekend Recap
  • Friday Favorites #115

The Archives

Categories

© Always Emily H.
Back to Top
Wordpress Theme by Tinselpop