Race Recap: Moonlight Beach Run 5k 1/5/19

The Start/Finish line

Saturday night 1/5/19 was the first ever Moonlight Beach Run 5k/10k/15k/half marathon in Daytona Beach, FL. I ran the 5k as my first race of 2019. I had heard great things about the race directors, and you know I'm always up for a night race. I'm currently in this low mileage/recovery mode, so I wanted to take it easy and not go all out. 

Even though this was the inaugural event and they had 4 races going on at once, everything went as planned. Packet pickup was a breeze, no major restroom lines, and the races all went off on time. There were quite a good amount of participants in each race. 

Mile 1  6:32
We were warned the wind would be in our faces for the first half of the race before the turnaround. That was more of a reason for me to take it slow which was a success. I knew I could have gone faster but didn't feel the need. 

Mile 2  6:43
The turnaround point was around 1.50 miles. It was really well marked and at this point I hoped that running out of the wind would be easier but somehow it didn't feel it haha. 

Mile 3  6:46
The beach sand was pretty well packed so no issues there. I gave it a good effort and tried to maintain my pace for the last 2 miles. 

Mile .10  5:52
The last part felt like I was running through quicksand. I was surprised to see my pace under 6:00 for it. 

​Post Race
What a great after party. They gave us pizza, chips, beer, coke, waters, and energy bars. The bandshell is a great location for an after party. I really hope they put this event on the schedule for next year too. Only weird part was the results were over a minute slower than the real times. It was fixed on the final report but the website still didn't change it. Not a huge deal though but I will go with my watch time for the results part. 

I know this was a slower race for me, but I feel great about where I am right now. For this to be a "bad race" and to run under 21 minutes is huge considering this time last year I would have been thrilled to get a time like that in any race (which was rare). So, I am getting there slowly but surely. Now time to focus on a few more races in January and see how that goes. 

Results
Time (according to watch) 20:48
Pace- 6:40
1st Overall Female