This Independence Day my friend and I walked the 5k course for the O'Fallon, MO Firecracker Run. This was my 2nd or 3rd time doing this race and it has only grown in popularity through the years. As soon as I know if my friend is available, I register to save money before the next price increase. The race organizers sent plenty of reminder emails with all of the information you need to know like:
Don't miss out on the HOTTEST race of the year!
-Finish over home plate at CarShield Field
-Receive a t-shirt, swag bag, and finisher medal
-Meet local businesses
-Free face painting & photo booth
-Free food & drinks in the Runners Only Area
-Great parking for the Heritage & Freedom Fest parade
Packet Pick Up:
Wednesday, July 2nd: 8:30 AM - 7:00 PM at the O'Fallon, MO Chamber Office
Thursday, July 3rd: 8:00 AM - 2:00 PM at the O'Fallon, MO Chamber Office
Friday, July 4th: 6:00 AM - 7:00 AM at CarShield Field O'Fallon, MO
Race Start Times:
5K and 10K 7:00 AM
1 Mile 8:00 AM
Parking:
Runners can park at Christian School District or Fort Zumwalt North High School. We are not allowing parking in the stadium or adjacent parking lot due to safety of the runners and parade route.
My friend lives closer to the packet pick-up locations than I do, so she offered to pick up our packets for us. The packets included a lot of flyers for local businesses and races along with sunglasses and our race t-shirt which was blue this year. We tend to park in the Christian School District lot as it's a little closer to the start/finish line but it was filling up by 6:15 a.m. on race morning, so I barely got a spot. My friend and I decided that if we do this race again next year, we will try to be there before 6:15. I'm not sure about the other parking lot at Fort Zumwalt North High School but the Christian School District lot always has at least one porta potty available and the line has never been more than 5 people long when I've used it.
Although race day packet pick-up is available, I HIGHLY discourage it unless you can get there right when they open. Because we parked on the earlier side, we had time to scope out the stadium and post-race snack area. The line for packet pick-up was VERY long and I imagine there were many people still in line when the race actually started. That's not a big deal since your time is based on when you cross the start and finish line but I know that the line would stress some people out, so I wanted to mention it.
The pictures I took of the food area are from before the race. One year we did experience a lot of this food already being gone, so I wanted to document what was available in case it was gone before we finished. I thought for sure that with walking the race and 1,400 runners between the various distances, the food would be gone before we finished. To my surprise, there was still a lot of food left! I think if we would have walked the 10k, that wouldn't be the case but I haven't seen so much variety in food at a race in a long time. The volunteers in this area did a great job dealing with the hungry, sweaty mob and the guys on the grill making hot dogs (not pictured) did a great job too!
This is always a fun race whether you run or walk it. The humidity just really affects me, so I knew that I wanted to completely walk this race. It's a fun one, so I hope you'll check it out if you are ever near O'Fallon, MO for Independence Day!
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| Look at all the runners!!! |
