Date: Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Start location: City Park (just north of Mulberry St. & Sheldon Dr.), Fort Collins, CO
Distance: 5 kilometers (3.1 miles)
Race time: 8:00 A.M.
Cost: $25. FCRC members get a $5 discount. Join the FCRC now!

The 12th annual running of the Fort Collins Running Club’s FireKracker 5K features a flat, fast 5k course that runs through City Park and out onto city streets before finishing near City Park Lake. (See course map below.)

Prizes include locally made pottery that will be awarded to the top three overall male and female finishers. Pottery will also be awarded to the top three male and female runners in the following age divisions: 10 & under, 11-12, 13-14, 15-19, every five year increments for ages 20-24 through 55-59, and 60 & over. All participants receive a stylish T-shirt.

A shorter kid’s fun run with ribbons for all finishers will be run immediately after the 5K race.

The Fort Collins Running Club is committed to running the race in an environmentally friendly manner. This includes recycling of almost all trash.

The FireKracker 5k is a fantastic way to kick off your Fourth of July. Online registration coming soon!

Race inquiries can be sent to Lisa Sinclair, the FireKracker 5k race director, at firekracker5k@fortcollinsrunningclub.org.

Note that this race is sometimes (incorrectly) referred to as the Firecracker 5k.

Course Records

Men: Austin Vigil, 15:14
Women: Nicole Feest, 17:06

Course

From City Park Dr. (200 meters east of Sheldon Dr.), run counter-clockwise around City Park Lake. Then make the following turns:

• Leftt onto Oak St. from Sheldon Dr.
• Right onto S. Bryan Ave.
• Left onto Mountain Ave.
• Right onto Grandview Ave.
• Left onto LaPorte Ave.
• Left onto Taft Hill Rd.
• Left onto Mulberry St.
• Left onto City Park Dr.
• Right onto Sheldon Dr. for a 200-meter uphill sprint to the finish line.

2011 Race Recap

Jpaheth Ng’ojoy was the overall winner of the 2011 FireKracker 5k in a time of 15:24. Nicole Feest was the first overall female in a record 17:06. Nicole won an extra $50 for setting a course record for women. Congratulations to all our winners and finishers and a big thank you from the Fort Collins Running Club to everyone for coming out and running.

Race results from the 2011 FireKracker 5k can be found at http://footoftherockies.com/race-results/

Thanks to all the volunteers who helped put on the race, our sponsors for their support and race director Ruth Inglis-Widrick for her energy, efforts and professionalism to make it all happen!

Training for the FireKracker 5k

by Jonathan Zeif, former race director of the FireKracker 5k

Many members will be running in the FireKracker 5k on July 4th at City Park and have been training and focusing on it as a key race for the season. The course is flat and fast with a big field and spectators on hand. I have outlined below some things you can do to make sure you have your best race possible. This information can really be used for any big race that you may be training for.

In the days leading up to the race is time your workouts should become focused so you can stay sharp. Track workouts are the best for 5K training. Another option is the Fort Collins bike trail system where there are quarter mile distances (approximately 400 meters) marked off which you can use as well.

Warm up for all workouts with 800 to 1600 meters of easy jogging, and follow up with an easy cool down of about 800 meters. Her’s a sample of the final week’s workout:

6 days to go: 6×400 at race pace with a 400 meter recovery jog between each repeat.
5 days to go: rest
4 days to go: 4×400 at race pace
3 days to go: 3×400 at race pace
2 days to go: 1×800 at race pace
1 day to go: Rest! If you really feel that you need to burn off some nervous energy, you can go out for an easy 1 mile jog just to loosen up.

These workouts will also help you get the feeling of your race pace. Another thing that you can do to improve your race performance is visualization. What this involves is rehearsing in your mind what will unfold and / or how you want to feel during the race. Visualization is also called guided imagery.

Close your eyes and picture yourself at the starting line. Look around. Try and imagine as much as you can about the scene. What emotions are you experiencing? Choose the way you want to feel. After the starter’s gun goes off, see each part of the course unfolding as you want it to. Perhaps you want to see yourself closing in and passing that runner in your age group that you haven’t been able to catch lately. You make the final turn and the finish line is ahead. You are finishing fast and strong!

Starting one week out, repeat this visualization each day as well as the morning of the race. You might want to do it immediately after your workouts while you are still on the track, or you can try it as you fall off to sleep at night. Include as much detail as possible. It actually has been documented that visualization can potentially improve your 5K race time and might be well worth the investment of time.