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| Run to Feed the Hungry 2025 unofficial Finisher Certificate (accessed 11/28/2025) |
Time: 8:15-9:30 a.m. (75 minutes)
Resting heart rate (wake-up): 59 bpm
Weight (running clothes): N/A
Body Mass Index (BMI; note criticisms of BMI): N/A
Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR): N/A
Distance (running): 10.00 km (6.22 mi)
Cumulative distance (2024; ignores XT days): ?
Calories burned: 819 kcal
Average heart rate: 132 bpm
Max heart rate: 154 bpm
Weather at start: Overcast & slightly misty ☁️ 7° C (45° F), Humidity ?% Wind: calm km/h
Terrain: 46 ft elevation gain
Avg Pace: 12'05" /mile
Best pace: 11'43" /mile
Stinkiness air level (0=No smell; 10=☣️): 0/10 (not stinky)
Comments: We ran the Run to Feed the Hungry 2025 10K race this year, in Sacramento, California ✅ Weather was cool and just barely misty. Once running it was OK. This was the 32nd annual race. Organizers held the inaugural race in 1994.
Pre-race
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| Race cold-weather gear laid out the day before |
Packing checklist: Gloves; Hoodie; Turkey hat; running pants; Socks; Shoes; Shorts; Shirt; Headband; Nipeaze; Body glide; Phone & charging cable; Watch & charging cable; Clif Bars
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| Room 417 view at noon on a misty Thanksgiving day: hotel parking & wall murals |
We overnighted at AC Hotel Sacramento, by Marriott, room 417. The hotel opened in June 2025, and everything looked new. Checked-in via mobile app. Arrived, got key cards from the front desk, no problems, all handled professionally (if a bit cooly). The mobile app also supports phone-based room access. Parking was in an adjacent, underground garage. Turning was very tight and our car cameras helped negotiate without incident. Payment was $25 via QR code and good for in-and-out access for 24 hours.
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| Packet pickup at 6:00 p.m. night before the race |
This year we picked-up our packets the night before. Construction along Highway 50 still impacted by the Fix50 project. Due to congestion, missed getting into the rightmost lanes, so stuck on the left "express" lanes with a concrete barrier preventing me from exiting as I wished. Succeeded in exiting at the next exit, circled back after a few more turns, and made it to parking, which was plentiful. Pickup went smoothly, we collected our turkey gear: new gloves, a hat, & socks.
Dinner this year was delivery from Chicago Fire pizza: a small Veggatouille Deep-dish, a personal thin-crust (tavern-style) pizza with kalamata olives & Italian beef, and a small Garlic Cheesy Bread. The deep-dish pizza was OK and the best of the order; the rest was mediocre. I had high hopes for the tavern-style pizza, but the crust tasted too "flour-y" to me. Not bad, but not the tavern-style I had hoped for. We were completely stuffed.
Race Day
Awoke at 6:00 a.m. for the 8:15 a.m. 10K race. Skipped showers. Shared a cup of hotel-room coffee via the in-room coffee maker. It was fine. The hotel claimed to have breakfast, but we didn't see anything other than the restaurant as we stepped off the elevators. Instead we got our car and headed to Temple Coffee, ordered coffees, a vegetable scone, and a pumpkin-chocolate loaf. All was excellent.
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| Temple Coffee, Sacramento, Thanksgiving Day 2025, 7:05 a.m. |
Weather was cool and slightly misty. We saw our breath at times (mid-40's F), but layered clothing, hat, gloves kept the chill away. The drive to Sac State on U.S. 50 was uncrowded. Parked in surface Lot C at the opposite side of campus with everyone else. The walk to the start was not crowded.
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| Giant inflatable turkey near the starting line |
The giant inflated turkey was in the same spot as 2024. For people who signed-up as a member of a team, a special surface-lot area was reserved and had hot beverages & other perks. A photographer asked Dawn's permission to take her photo, which she granted.
10K runners had the option of timed & untimed bibs. We had chosen timed so had gated access to a spot closer to the starting line.
Amplifiers played standards like Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. A quad-copter drone hovered above us, recording.
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| Starting line for 10K runners at 7:51 a.m., outside the timed-bib area |
The timed area was slow to fill up, which gave us a few minutes to relax. Announcers on an American-flag decorated scissor-lift said a few words, followed by an unnecessarily religious but thankfully short invocation by a priest. We listened to a decent performance of the American anthem, then the countdown began, and we were off.
We crossed the start after about 40 seconds. We had decided to run without walk breaks for the first 1-2 miles, depending on how we felt. This went pretty well. A few days earlier, we had run 8 miles without incident. The 10K race was much less crowded than the 5K start, which was congested with no way to run freely. Spectators turned out and cheered us on. In the Fab 40's, a number of spectators had small gatherings on their lawns next to propane heaters or fire pits. The fall foliage was very colorful. Live bands performed. It was moderately crowded the entire race.
Mimosa stations--we must have passed at least six tables offering free booze to runners 🍹 😅
Musicians this year covered a variety of songs. One covered The Race is On, another covered a song by The Cure on their ukulele. A handful of the Sacramento Philharmonic brass section appeared early on. An electric guitar & drum kit duo endlessly played several bars of AC/DC's Back in Black.
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| Pumpkin pie friendship bracelet |
Toward the end, Dawn accepted a friendship bracelet spelling the words "Pumpkin Pie" from a woman spectator handing them out.
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| Refreshment area snacks & water |
As we crossed the finish line, we both felt tired but pretty good. We walked to the refreshment area, where they had Krispy Kreme glazed donuts (I had 2), bananas, small oranges, Nature's Valley Crunchy Granola bars, and waters. We took a few photos near the giant inflatable turkey, then headed back across CSUS campus to our car.
Any
irregular feelings, aches, pains, heart rate, and so forth?: None
Foods
eaten today:
