Race Report - Mill Race 5K

We had a family gathering recently at the Mill Race Marathon, Half-Marathon, and 5K in Columbus, IN. My dad, brother, sister-in-law, nephew (11 years old!), and cousin (going to grad school in Illinois) ran the 2nd annual half marathon. It was my cousin's and nephew's first half marathon. Also, my husband, oldest son, niece, and myself ran the 5K while they were running the 13.1miles. With that being said, there were 9 of us ranging from 6-68 years old for our family running that day. My mom and 2 other kids were our support crew and cheering us on, so definitely a family affair!

pre-race

My immediate family and I registered the day before the race at the expo in downtown Columbus. I was holding out for the weather since kids were running. The weather turned out to be beautiful! There were no lines for packet pick-up or sign-ups which was simple to follow. The only thing we missed was the parking pass booth. There are several parking garages and lots downtown, so they were passing out the free passes to ease parking in the morning. We thought they were going to be in our packets and did not check until we got home. There were several vendors there at the expo to browse as well.

Race day: Street closures were going to start at 6:45am with the half marathon starting at 7:30am followed by the 5K starting at 8:15am. We parked at my parents' church parking lot near downtown since we did not pick up a parking pass. It was an easy walk to the festivities. We were able to cheer on our family members running the half before starting the 5K race. My husband ran with my son and I ran with my niece. We ran through the park across the bridges and back to downtown. It was relatively flat with one water stop. Fortunately, we did not get stop by the train like some of the marathon runners did!

post-race

Overall, the race was well run and we all had a great time. My niece was able to run her first 5K without walking! Besides the finishers' medal for each of the race, if you finished the 13.1 or 26.2 race you were put into a drawing to win a free truck and if you finished the 5K you had a chance to win one of four bicycles.

They already have the registration open for next year. The location downtown Columbus, IN is a great place for the race - plenty of restaurants and entertainment for all ages - definitely recommend checking them out.