The irony of the race title was not lost on me, as I stood in line for the porta potty with numb feet and cold hands. While the temps may have been frigid, the important work the race does will warm your heart. The Race for Warmth is put on to support Operation Warm Heart, which is a Clark county utilities customer-funded program to help limited income families in a crisis situations that require help to pay their electricity bill.
The pre-race environment, as Alyssa mentioned above, is incredibly (warm and) friendly. My kiddos love to go to races with me, with or without a kids dash, and had a blast with some of the booths available with crafts and snacks. There was a penguin mascot available for high-fives and photo opportunities. My youngest was determined to “learn the real name” of the person inside. I don’t think I did find that information out for her, but the penguin costume-wearer did a great job leading the kids in warm up exercises and keeping up with the pack as they did their kids dash.
The race itself was beautiful and chilly with a few gusts of wind (especially along the Columbia). There were volunteers throughout the course with noise makers to offer cheers and support. The course is well marked with volunteers, but as a back-of-the-pack runner who was walking, I always had someone to follow.
When crossing the finish line, I attempted to jump in the air as the announcer said my name. I love that extra touch when an enthusiastic announcer is happy to see you cross the finish! I then found my adorable personal cheerleaders and headed off to the tent to share my reward of hot soup with them. It’s super tough work to stand around and wait for your runner/walker to come in! Once they were settled with their soup, I proceeded to sneak off to the beer tent and enjoyed my pint in it’s complementary glass.
The event is very well put together and organized with friendly and outgoing volunteers. I felt the race offered a lot of support with pre race warm ups, plenty of porta potties, fun booths for family type fun and a great “after party”. It’s certainly one I’ll revisit (and work on improving my race time) and hope to see some more friendly faces in our running community there. If you were out there January 29th, race results are up and comment below to tell us your favorite moments in the race.
