It has been a strange, strange year this year. I had run one race in 2020 thus far and it was the Hangover Half Marathon on New Years Day. Every other race I had been keeping my eyes on had been cancelled or got postponed and then cancelled. One of my friends had told me about this 5k called Dodge the Deer and that it was not going to be cancelled and I tried to register, only to find that registration was closed. I was kinda bummed as I had been looking forward to running some kind of race, but this looked like another casualty of COVID-19. Turns out, the organizers (AREEP) were trying hard to find a way to make it all work within all the guidelines of the state.

And make it work they did! The location of the race got moved to a family farm, the course was a 1 mile loop, all entrants were split into 5 waves of 25 runners, everyone had to wear a mask within 6’ of each other, runners could only show up 35 minutes before their wave and would need to leave promptly afterwards. At the starting line, groups of 2 were released every 5 seconds to keep things spread out. There weren’t awards, water, post-potluck meal (which I’ve heard is typical), but there were real people, running a real race, competing against each other, tracked by a real timing. Did I mention it was all REAL???

The course was a 1 mile loop that appeared to have been built specifically for this race. It was a really fun route over grass, but while the website said it was “pancake flat,” it was not flat. Maybe “flat” in regards to total elevation gain, but the course undulated and had decent divots that required fancy footwork and a good eye to prevent any accidental ankle twists. It was a challenging but fun course.

Here’s the thing, I came to a race that looked nothing like what it probably looked like in the past, but I had tons of fun doing it. It felt like a large family gathering, but with a race day vibe. The owners of the farm raced, their children raced, chickens 🐓 were roaming around, but not racing–luckily, no chickens crossed the race course and nobody was asking why. Even though things felt small, we got a post race meal from one of my favorite local shops Bountiful Bread and it felt like what I’ve always experienced–the running community is a tight knit group of people that love to run, have fun and are cool people. To race organizers out there, this is how you do it the current COVID-19 state of the world. To all who bailed or didn’t sign up, I have three words, you missed out.

Total Time: 22:29
Pace: 7’15”
Place: 11 / 70
Division Place: N/A
Bib #: 1727

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From the Website

Dodge The Deer 5k came into being when two members of the ARE went for a run in the woods. They knew they wanted to put on a 5k trail race but didn't know what to call it. At the very moment they were about to begin the arduous task of brainstorming, a deer jumped out in front of them, and Chris yelled to Josh, "Dodge the Deer!"