Glow Run 5k ~ Harrisburg, PA

Saturday night I ran my first ever night run - the Glow Run 5k in Harrisburg. This was a first year event benefiting a fund through Historic Harrisburg that replaces lights throughout the city. To me a good cause since I work in Harrisburg.

I had the great pleasure of running with my co-worker. We always say we should run together, but we live in opposite directions from Harrisburg and it's hard to find a race that works for both of us. So, this was perfect.

The race started at 8:30 p.m., so we met in front of the office at 7:45 p.m. This gave us plenty of time to find the race start and just chill out. We found the start and the sun was just beginning to set. It was gorgeous!

It was beautiful as we ran across the bridge, as you saw the sun setting over the Susquehanna River. I didn't take any photos during the race because at the beginning it was crowded and during the race I was just chatting the whole time.

But, we started off over the Walnut Street bridge to City Island. The sunset was beautiful! Perfect time of night to set off. We then wound our way around City Island. As we went past the baseball stadium we heard a "Go Mom!" We ignored it at first, then we realized it was my co-worker's son who was at the game! How fun!!

We made our way around City Island and back to the bridge. We crossed the bridge, then headed off to Shipoke. It was a fine run. We did a bit of walking mixed into our running as we both are coming back from injury. All in all we ran 2 of the 3.1 miles. Not bad.

We headed back to the finish line and got held up by traffic. The course wasn't closed and just our luck, the baseball game was ending. We lost a few minutes here before we could cross and finish. But we finished and grabbed our water.

We crossed this bridge when there was light. 

A bit dark after the race.

After the race, we all headed over to a bar on 2nd Street. We received one free beer post-race as part of our registration fees. We were a little nervous when we were handed this...

I have to say though, it was really good! I was shocked. I'm not a fan of Coors Light, then again, I'm not a big fan of any of those beers {Bud, Coors, Michelob, etc.}. My co-worker/friend sipped first, held her opinion. I tried it. Looking at her we both shared our shock at how tasty it was. There is a nice lemon/lime/citrus taste to it. Very easy to drink. A pretty good summer beer honestly.

We spent about an hour and a half drinking our beer, chatting, people watching, and just enjoying ourselves. We had a nice show from a woman who decided no matter what the song, she was dancing! Her significant other wasn't as into it, which made it oh so much more fun to watch!

I had a great time at this race. There are only a couple things I would say to improve it:

1. Schedule it on a night when the Senators are not at home. It was a bit crowded on City Island with fans/cars/runners/etc. and having to stop for traffic was frustrating.

2. Post-race snack. There were just a couple coolers with water. Before sending people to a bar for alcohol, add in some pretzels/bagels/bananas/etc. Better safe than sorry.

Other than that, the race was fun! We weren't even at mile 1 when we said we should do this race again! They did that great a job. If you're in the Harrisburg area next June, check it out. I think you will enjoy yourself. Plus it's very kid friendly. There were lots of kids and people with strollers running.

Have you run a night race before? Ever run a Glow Run?
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