27th Annual Real Florida 5k Race Recap

For this month’s race in my 2014 Running Challenge, I ran in one of the coolest races yet. It’s a 5k held entirely off road within a state park, called the 27th Real Florida 5k, 10k and Fun Walk.

The Location – Wekiwa Springs State Park

This race is so unique because most races that I have run are all through cities on main roads. Not only is this a new challenge for me to run a race completely on a trail, but the environment is such a pleasing change of scenery.

I’ve been to the Wekiwa Springs State Park before to the campgrounds and it’s such a great location. It really feels like you are escaping the craziness of Orlando for a little while to experience all the nature Florida has to offer. You can camp overnight, or spend a day swimming in the springs, hiking, canoeing and so much more.

Weather and Getting There

My Mom came into town to join me this time. I always love when she comes up to cheer me on at my races!

Rylee and Brett were supposed to come and greet me at the finish line as well, but the weather forecast was so bad and we didn’t want Rylee to get caught in the rain. It was scheduled to thunderstorm all day and it poured down in spurts on our entire way to the race. I thought for sure that it was going to be cancelled, but we pressed on anyways just to make sure.

We really lucked out! It cleared up right when we got there and stayed that way for the entire race!

Race Details and Schedule of Events

I love that this race is for charity and the registration fee goes towards the preservation of the park. Funds are used to help keep the park in great condition and to update the park facilities.

When we got there, we checked in to get my race number and T-shirt.

The shirts were so cute, with the otter on them!

There was a 5k and a 10k at this race, and I signed up for the 5k. The 5k runners were called to the starting line about 10 minutes after the 10k runners took off.

I anxiously waited for them to blow the horn to start our portion of the race, wondering what the course was going to entail. I set my playlist and then we were off!

The trail was a winding and small dirt path with some sections of it only wide enough for one runner. The trail went through fields of high grass and had paths covered with pine needles. There was even a detour added to the route that had us heading off the path and around a large tree trunk that had fallen into the course’s path. Talk about keeping things interesting!

At one point, I felt like Katniss from The Hunger Games as I ran down hill, jumping over divots in the sand and darting around large tree roots. It was pretty neat! Especially because I am obsessed with The Hunger Games!

The Race Finish

At the end of the race, everyone got a metal and cheered on the remaining runners. I was really excited to see little peanut butter and jelly squares at the snack table afterwards and enjoyed one along with a banana!

The rest of the day, we enjoyed some family time at home, watching movies as the rainy weather made its way to our part of town.

Family Time is the Best Reward

We made up for our time spent indoors the next day when the weather was much nicer. We took Rylee to the park for the first time. When we put her in the swing, she just loved it!

After pushing her for a little while, she had started closing her eyes because the wind from swinging was making them water! She still laughed through it all and it was too cute!

I ended up grabbing her sunglasses from the car so it would help with the wind. She was chillin’.

The swing was pretty much the only hit at the park. She was way too little for anything else there and was quite confused as to why I was putting her on top of some giant plastic dinosaur.