I did a 10K race in Los Angeles Chinatown back on February 10th to celebrate the Year of the Rat. Here is the race report I posted in another North American forum. Hopy you enjoy it.
What else is good to do besides eating tons of Chinese New Year food and get fat? As a runner, of course running the Los Angeles Chinatown Firecracker 10K to celebrate the beginning of the Lunar New Year! If you are into Feng Shui, this 10K race is a must for you. It is also the official warm up race for the upcoming Los Angeles Marathon. The lighting of 100,000 firecrackers and lion dance at the beginning of the race were spectacular. In Chinese folklore, the lion dance and drums chase away “evil” spirits and bring good luck to those who participate. This year’s race was held on the next day after the annual golden dragon parade. The course was different than the one I ran in the past. It was actually the 1978 original course. It had an additional 0.5 miles of uphill run for a total of 2.7 miles. There is also a 5K run but that course is entirely different with no hills.
Running a race in Chinatown? You probably think it is a race filled with Chinese runners. Not! 85% of the runners are not Chinese. This was my 4th Firecracker 10K Run. I started doing it in 2005. So far I have done the Rooster, Dog, Pig and Rat. I plan on doing the complete Chinese Zodiac cycle. I have eight more to do after this one.
I picked up my packet and t shirt on Saturday around noon time. It was so busy in Chinatown, tons of tourists and locals. Why? The 109th annual golden dragon parade was being held in an hour. Can you image this was the 109th year they had the parade!!! The pick up area was right in the old Chinatown Plaza on Broadway this year. There was a centre stage with bands playing music and all that. The place was jam packed and it also reminded me one of Jackie Chan’s movies ~ Police Story. Anyway, the mini outdoor expo was also being held there. By the time I got my packet and my box of Chinese fried noodles (free carbo load lunch), it was time to watch the parade. There were tons of people along Broadway, it was stacked four deep. We decided to move over to Hill Street instead. Mickey was the grand marshal of the parade.
It was hot and sunny on Sunday morning. I think it was at least 80F at the beginning of the race. My left heel still bothers me a little. I just wanted to take it easy and not to run too fast. I still have the LAM to do in 3 weeks. Everybody knows the Firecracker 10K is one of the toughest course in Southern California. The first 2.2 miles is all uphill. You actually run up to the top of Elysian Park with an excellent view of the Dodger Stadium and downtown LA. As I mentioned before, they added an additional of 0.5 miles uphill climb to this year’s race. I didn’t stop until I hit the mile 1.5 water station. Since it was only a 10K, I didn’t take too many pictures along the course. If you want to see more pictures of the course, you can search my last year’s report.
I finished the race with the best 10K time in 15 years. I figured that I could have been faster if there were no hills or if I didn’t take any pictures. Tons of food at the finish line and more lion dances at the centre stage. Every runner got a 30th anniversery white towel. We hung around for another hour or so and then took off for dim sum.
I will be back next year for the 5th year ~ It will be The Year Of The Ox (my year)!!