The Red Brick Run is about 35 years old and held on the beautiful Miami of Ohio Campus in Oxford Ohio. Although it is only an hour away from Cincinnati, it has the feel of a long drive for a 5K race and one of the few races that I will make the drive. I first ran this race in 1996, ran it in every even year(1996, 1998, 2000, 2002) until 2010. I wish that I could give a reason to do it in 2013 but I can not except for the fact that it has been 3 years since I ran it. The race originally raised money for the Miami Recreation Department, but now it raises money for the Amber Volk Scholarship Fund established in 2008 to remember one of Miami's own in addition to the Miami Recreation Department.
When I started doing this race, it was held at 1:30 PM but about 7-8 years ago they changed the time to 10:30 AM due to the warm April weather. The warmer weather caused the local college male and female spectators to tan themselves on the lawns along the course forcing much leering by passing male and female runners. Leering during a race does not lead to fast race times so they moved it to 10:30 AM.
Since they moved it to 10:30 AM, I have a tendency to be late for the start(remember the hour drive from Cincinnati and it seems like they keep adding more things on US 27 slowing down my drive time even more. I got there 5 minutes before they were closing registration. Race Day Registration was a back breaking price of $12. If you wanted a shirt, you could get one for $12. It was a long sleeve shirt but I opted out of the shirt since I have so many of them. Conditions were sunny but cool with temperatures maybe in the high 40's for the 300 runners and walkers who decided to run this morning. If the students decided to try to tan themselves on the lawn this morning, it definitely would lead to much leering by male and female runners.
The course changed from 2010 in that they took out part of the uphill start. Originally, the start was on a street to the left of Millett Hall on a nice incline but now you start in front of Millett Hall which is flat for the first .05 mile(hey, every little bit of flatness helps). It then runs up Talawanda Street and goes onto the sidewalks around the Miami of Ohio Campus. The nice part is the downhill finish in front of Millett Hall. I ran it in about 28 minutes but I have to check the results to be sure. Post race was nice as you had nutrition bars, sport jelly beans, bananas, water, cookies, protein drinks and sports drinks. The awards at this race are unique in that you get a red brick for being one the top runners overall or in your age group. The bricks make a great paperweight and why some runners come back year after year.
Overall, this is still one of my favorite races due to the price, the course and they have really added to the post race experience. I will probably be back in 2014 for the 35th Annual Red Brick Run. Race Results.
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