I was at the race. What's sad is that Meb's Q&A session on expo day started late and ended early due to having to share the stage/area with VERVE cycling studios (which likely had some sponsorship deal with the race). Maybe 30 people from the expo gathered around the stage to hear Meb speak. The small army of VERVE employees couldn't have seemed less interested in seeing him on stage.
The men's open field was much deeper than in 2019 and I enjoyed the race. For its reputation, though, two turnarounds and 55 feet of elevation gain doesn't actually strike me as an optimally quick race course.
Traffic getting out of Carlsbad was a nightmare because there was a flood of oblivious people who had no info or police/volunteer guidance turning from Tamarack onto Garfield Street. Took nearly an hour to get out of town.
The race spacing doesn't make any sense to me. If the train schedules allow it, the masters and open women should just be staggered 5 minutes after the men.
Crowd support from the town of 100k people was not impressive. As we were leaving people were actually shouting at us to "get out of our town as quickly as you can!"
As others have stated, elite fields were not worth sticking around for. If this is to be the premier 5k in US/World why not try to assemble a crazy field?
It's really not a fast race course except for the sled finish. Both the 180 degree turns require you to run uphill immediately after and the course is not flat. But they've gotten some fantastic elite fields when they were willing to spend the money on it. I remember when the winning time was always around 13:00 and was from a Diamond League stud. Competitor Group wasn't owned by a hedge fund back then.
The races have to be spaced out because the straight away after the first turn is the straight away before the final turn. It's basically a loop course. You wouldn't want your fast folks running through walkers of the next race at 2.75mi. I actually like that they have separate races for separate divisions. I can race and then see my friends and elites race. But normally it starts early in the morning and is done before noon.
I hope Meb can keep the Carlsbad 5000 alive. It was always a fun event and had a different feel from your usual 5k.
True. Reid also ran Mt Sac last Thyrs albeit DNF and last Sunday won Bay to Breakers. The week prior he ran USATF half marathon in Indianapolis. Week before was Bloomsday. Before that was Crescent City Classic.
This is a for profit race. The owners are making an income from this event. To have elite athletes, as in years past, you need appearance fees and prize money. This years addition had none of the first and little of the second. Thats OK. 6000 runners plus race sponsorship they did very well financially.
I did the race, but wait for elites too long even if you do all day 20k. So I left too, traffic there sucks. I liked getting a slice of pizza port to watch elite right after last race
Dude ran both 13:12.43 for 5000 and 60:30 for HM in 2022 already. He's doing just fine and getting back to some great performances.
What’s appalling is the way people like you continue to call him, “king.” He might have been the king of the NCAA but he graduated 5 years ago! Don’t you think it’s time to retire the label? He’s done nothing since then to warrant such a lofty title. A true king would be breaking records and winning gold medals like Joshua Cheptegei, not merely “doing just fine.”
You’re right in the afternoon gets very very windy way far from decent conditions specially at the time of the elite race. I raced there few times and to be honest if you run at noon there’s no way you can run a PR. It is also true that they are not inviting big names anymore like before. I met and got pics there with Kipchoge, Lagat, T. Bekele, Gebremeskel, and others.
The earlier your start time the better chances to race with less wind. Also you have two 180 degrees turns well unless that was the case long time ago I haven’t been there since 2014. It is or was called the fastest 5k in the world not because of the course but because of the caliber of the athletes, performing well even with nasty weather.
You can't run races 5 minutes apart because of the all day 20k. Well I guess you could if you only care about the 5k and don't care about the 20k runners.
The ‘5minutes apart’ has absolutely nothing to do with the 20k; which is an all-day race that has been added to ‘the bad’ only in recent years. Spacing of the races used to be (and is probably still a huge factor) due to the train schedule.
I raced at Carlsbad in the open race. The 180 turns aren’t fun, especially the last one after going slightly up hill. There was a headwind on the last mile too, it seemed to have picked up during the elite race. Ches just sat with the pack and went with the flow. Kicked for the prize money! Reed was on him though, not bad for the marathon legs. Lots of people were out there today, Carlsbad definitely cashed out. They gave us two free IPAs at the beer garden.
but did the high schooler easily win their race and pick up some money for their sub-maximal effort? part of being a professional, or just a good racer for that matter, is doing only so much as you have to in order to win (or get the place they need to qualify, get paid, etc.)
a bit too much focus on times in the running world.
I raced at Carlsbad in the open race. The 180 turns aren’t fun, especially the last one after going slightly up hill. There was a headwind on the last mile too, it seemed to have picked up during the elite race. Ches just sat with the pack and went with the flow. Kicked for the prize money! Reed was on him though, not bad for the marathon legs. Lots of people were out there today, Carlsbad definitely cashed out. They gave us two free IPAs at the beer garden.
Same experience for me as well. The course is not fast given the two 180 turns and the wind was bad...and only got worse during the elite race. Timing of the elite race in the afternoon couldn't be much worse. The fast times run there are a function of world class runners catching optimal conditions....which did not exist yesterday.
They were worried about covid cancellations so picked a date they hoped the case number would have dropped by. Races as late as last Nov were cancelled in California. Races only started being held again in July in SoCal.
Yeah totally agree. The reason why it’s the “worlds fastest 5k” is the popularity it brings. You don’t have to worry about running alone, there’s always someone to chase. The first mile is very fast. The masters race was impressive too.
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