Run4Life with Angi: EA Sports Riverside Dash Review

Love the medal

Well, I'm a little late on a few race reviews. Not really on writing them, as I always write them pretty much right away after the race so that everything is fresh in my mind, but getting them up on here has been a bit of a challenge as I have been really focusung on getting my running group up and running. I'll tell you more about that in another post. This one is about the EA Riverside Dash!

On Sunday April 7th, I ran the EA Sports Riverside Dash 5k in Sanford Florida. The race was both a 5k and a 15k option. The race was put on by Final Mile Race Management. The Packet pick up was held at Fleet Feet Orlando which made it very easy for pick up.

Mom's Run This Town

This was the first race that I ran with several of my Mom's Run This Town members. Well, I actually didn't run WITH them as they all did the 15k. I was still nursing the sore knee from the knock down at the Disney Princess 1/2 in February. I'm really glad that I made that choice though. It was nice to finish the race & be there at the end to cheer in my MRTT Mama's. See. I'm the slow one, so usually everyone is done and cheering me in at the end, which is an amazing feeling. There was something special though about being there at the finish line to cheer each member in and to see the faces as they accomplished goals. Like Erin, placing in her age group, and Shelley making a PR, and Sunshine going against all odds and finishing strong. It was an honor to be there to cheer them in.

Richelle and I before the race

I have to say that this race definitely places in my top 5 races. The course was flat and went mainly along the waterfront. At mile 2 I took an amazing picture of the sun rising over the water. It boosted my mood greatly and helped me to keep going.

This is a great course for anyone wanting to PR. The only part of the course I didn't like to much was when it went through the main street of town. The roads there are brick, and that tends to be hard on both my shins and knees. This stretch was not too long though and the beauty of the old town buildings were a nice distraction.

Dawn-Marie, Me & Tyler

Then before you know it you are back along the water front for the return to the finish. There were 2 water stops along the 5k course, but you actually went by them in both directions so you had a total of 4 stops. LOVED that. I loved even more that the water stops were manned by fellow teammates from Team in Training. The race benefited the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. It was great seeing so many of my past teammates on the course cheering me along, as well as having all three of my children there helping at the water stop as well. It was so nice to have them be a part of this.

Once I crossed the finish line I was handed my medal. It was really cool, looks like a stop watch. They also had A pancake breakfast & for those that wished to have one, an ice cold beer. I admit I took a sip of beer, but yeah wasn't quite feeling it, so switched to an Irish coffee ( non-alcoholic) courtesy of my friends at the Team in Training booth, who were signing up participants for the Dublin 1/2 coming up.

Erin with her award!

I was pleasantly surprised that they gave out awards to the top 5 (yes 5!!) finishers in each age group for both the 5k and the 15k. Even with my messed up knee and not being able to run it at all, I still managed to finish 51:09 Definitely not my best, but not my worst either.

We had a lot of fun at the finish area as well. There were a good amount of vendors with swag to give away, but my favorite was the photo booth from EA Sports. FREE photo. It was great. As you can see from the smiles on the faces of our fellow MRTT members we all had an amazing time.

I am looking forward to running this race again next year. This time the 15k. Thank you to Final Mile Race Management for putting on a top notch race.