Margarita 5k

I recently participated in the Margarita 5K in Mission Beach and it was definitely a blast!  I used a coupon code for this race so I paid around $28 for this event.  Packet pick-up was the day before at Movin Shoes in Pacific Beach.  It’s a tiny store, so I was in and out pretty fast.  Here I picked up my bib number, swag bag and tshirt.  They were also offering a discount on merchandise purchased at Movin Shoes that day.

Race day parking was simple – there were a ton of open spots up close to where the event was held.  The race itself was pretty small – probably around 200 people – so it definitely wasn’t crowded at all.  Since this was a beach event, it started at 7:30am in order to catch low tide.  There was a lot of energy prior to the race start, including a Zumba instructor getting the crowd warmed up with some dancing and fun music.  The early start time combined with the previous day’s rain made it a nice and fairly cool run.  I also did this chip-timed run with a few of my Stroller Warrior friends which made the day even more enjoyable.

The race course was on the flat, packed sand and there was water/Gatorade at the halfway point.

At the finish line we received our medals and were offered water and snacks.

There were a few vendors at the event and we were required to get their signatures on our bibs in order to be entered into a raffle.  Race times were posted pretty quickly and awards went out to the first place winners of each age category.  There was also a DJ pumping music and keeping the party going.  Besides the Color Run, I would say this is the most energy I have seen at a race in quite some time.

So what was the SWAG?!

• The vendors all gave out a few coupons, but nothing crazy
• A nice medal (although no date or location)
• A tank top – I do prefer tanks over tshirts, although these seemed to run kind of big as if they were men’s sizes.
• Orgain protein powder
• Bear Naked granola
• Vegan Perfect bar
• More coupons
• And most importantly…A coupon for a free margarita from Café Coyote! Yippee!  I hold a special place in my heart for margaritas, so the free margarita is what first drew me to the race.  The only downfall was that the restaurant offering the free margarita was located in another part of town about 10 minutes away.
• Beautiful beach scenery

Overall, I really enjoyed this race and found the volunteers and race director to be friendly and generous.  Besides the obvious free margarita, it was fun to run a race on the beach in beautiful weather (although the water was a bit cold.) I do have a few suggestions:

1. Add the date and/or location to the finisher medal
2. Offer the free margaritas immediately after the race or from a restaurant that is within walking distance of the event
3. Either offer women’s and men’s sizes in tanks or inform participants that they run big

But I really did enjoy this event and I hope to see this race grow in the future!  See you at the next event!

You can learn more about the race organizer and future events from TogetherAs3pointone here.

~SM