Crazy 8K Race, Naples, Florida

Before I went to Naples, Florida last week, I went online and looked to see if there were any road races going on that I might be able to jump into. I ended up making it to the Gulf Coast Runners Club and found out there was going to be an 8K race on Sunday, October 25th. It was called the Crazy 8K and was very similar to a race we have in Milwaukee called the Discovery Run. So I decided to go and run it.

The night before the race, I was at a party and met another guy from Milwaukee and we talked running. I said I was doing a race in the morning and he said he wanted to go as well. While he has done a lot of triathlons before, he has never done just a running race.

Steve and I before the race.

We met at 6 AM and drove in the darkness to where the race would begin. We signed up and did a mile and a half warm up and then headed to the start. This is kind of like a Halloween race so there were many people dressed up. Spiderman ran as well as a full grown adult baby clad in only a diaper and bonnet (quite disturbing). The race was mostly an out and back on a very flat course. The weather was warm, low to mid 70's at the 7:30 start but everyone there was glad it was cool. They have been having hot weather recently.


The gun goes off and I make sure I go out conservatively in the heat. Mile 1 was at 7:02, a little faster than I wanted but OK. The remainder of the race was very consistent for me. Every mile was between 7:00 and 7:08 and I ended in 35:19 good for near 32nd place overall out of about 200 or so runners. After checking the results, I found out that I took 3rd in my age group out of 16. COOL.

Someone took pictures during the race and posted them online including my finish.

During the awards, when they got to mentioning me, the guy announcing said my name and where I lived. When he got to Saying"Wisconsin", he said it in a questioning tone as if to say, "What the heck is someone from Wisconsin down here for?" There were runners from other states as well, Ohio, Colorado, Maryland, Indiana and even someone from Ontario, Canada. But I was the first non-Floridian to finish for whatever that is worth.

This was a nice little race and the Gulf Coast Runners put on a good event. The other runners were friendly (duh, they are runners after all) and I had a good time. If I happen to be in the Naples area again when this race it run, I would definitely go again.

The awards I received.

A close up of the nice Halloween Ornament I received.