Firecracker 10k – Chinatown

10k, 59:45 time

Happy Chinese New Year! The Year of Monkey! Chinatown in downtown LA has a bunch of festivities before the race. In addition to the Star Spangled Banner, which was surprisingly good a capella girl quartet, there was a Lion Dance and 10,000 firecrackers.

We took the LA Metro from Pasadena, which is an unusual annual event for us, car-bound LA folks.

Although the course was changed from last year, it was still VERY hilly again this year. Last year it was a loop around Dodger Stadium and Elysian Park. This year, it was just around the Elysian Park and more out and back -ish. Courses shown below.

We were very antsy to start the race, because it was a fairly late start at 8:40ish for the 10k (8k started at 8:10). I was still suffering from allergies and coughing alot. But, my feet, ankles, and belly felt good. (Last year I had serious GI issues.) The late start I was able to sneak a last minute potty break before the gun.

Some of my friends placed in their Age Groups: Lynda (1st), Paul (1st), Amy (2nd), Bryan (2nd).

After the race, we went to Ocean Restaurant for Dim Sum. It was the first time for Lynda, Ben, and Luis. It was hilarious. We got one of everything, including chicken feet and whole shrimp. Lynda was a good sport, mostly. Egg tarts are my favorite. Alvin was a great host.

Pre-race pics