13th Annual Bolt Run - Race Recap

Last month, we participated in the 13th Annual Bolt Run.  Yes I'm super behind with my race recaps.  I guess it's better late than never.  The race was on St. Patrick's Day weekend so the race shirt was green.  I purchased some fun socks for Krysti and I to wear during the race.  Rick picked up our race packets early so I was able to get everything ready the night before.

The race is hosted by the Tampa Bay Lightning, our awesome local hockey team, and it started at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.  The Forum is only about 20 minutes from our home but I was glad to have arrived a little early because some of the parking lots were not yet open.  We were doing the 5 mile race which started earlier than the 5k.  We went to the plaza area where we were meeting my friend Keith who was completing the 5k.  Soon it was time to head to the start line.  

The course started at the Forum, looped around to Channelside drive and then headed down Bayshore, which is a  popular running spot for locals.  It was a scenic route with an out and back on Bayshore. The 5k followed the same route just had an earlier turn around.  This was fun because I was able to see some of my friends running the 5k later in the race.

I didn't have a goal for this race and just wanted to finish with a decent time.  At the end of the first mile, my RunKeeper app said I had completed the mile is less than 13 minutes which is super great for me.  However, I was still at the back of the pack.  I got the feeling that the runners in this race were super fast on a familiar to them course. Rick is much faster and had a goal to finish in under 45 minutes.  I saw him whiz by me as he was already headed back to the finish line. 

As I said, the route was scenic with most of the course on Bayshore Blvd over looking Tampa Bay.  The guy in the next picture was behind Rick and it's my understanding he finished the entire race carrying that tire. 

After the turnaround, I could see the 5k runners at their turnaround ahead.  I started to look for my friend Keith.  Not long after, I found him going towards the 5k turnaround.  My favorite part about local races is all the friends you run into during and after the race.

I knew we were close to the finish line so I just pushed through.  Soon enough, we were going back across the small bridge that leads back to downtown and towards the finish line.  At the finish line, I saw my friends, Kelly and Angela who were waiting for Brandi to cross the finish line.  I waited with them to see Brandi, Krysti (sorry no picture) and Keith cross the finish line.

While waiting at the finish line, Rick found us and I learned he had met his under 45 minute goal! Way to go!

Our official results

OA   Name               Bib# Sex Age     Guntime   Chiptime  Pace 

169 Rick Partridge      1887  M  43        44:34     44:04   8:55 

473 Hildarys Partridge  1886  F  40      1:09:55   1:09:25  13:59 

487 Krysti Jimenez      1317  F  17      1:14:49   1:14:20  14:58 

I was super proud of all of our finisher's time but specially Krysti's.  She had not been training the way Rick and I had been. 

The after race food offerings included pizza, bagels, bananas, and beer. We hung around for a little bit to enjoy the food and take in the atmosphere.  The after race expo was very small with just a few vendors there.  There really wasn't much to do after the race so we headed home.  

The registration fee included a ticket to that Monday night's Lightning game which was a ton of fun!

This was a good local race with a scenic familiar course but we are not sure we will do it again next year.  There really wasn't anything bad about the race and the Lightning ticket is a great perk.