Al Salvato Memorial Frostbite 5 Mile Recap

The Al Salvato Frostibite 5 Mile is held on January 1.  It was named after Al Salvato, an avid runner and supporter of both running and the YMCA.  Al founded the race to raise money for the Campbell County YMCA and was the race director for several years before passing away in 2006 due to complications from Leukemia.

I was not planning to run this race due to the earlier start at 8:30 AM.  I tend to get carried away on New Year's Eve so making the later start was a challenge. However, I enjoy this race since it is now the only 5 mile road race in the Cincinnati area which according to a friend of mine is the perfect distance to run(Not too short like the 5k, Not too long like the 10k but just right).  It has a great long sleeve t-shirt with a cute design and I am a sucker for cute along with humorous and minimalist for t-shirts.  Also, I heard rumors that after this year the Campbell County Y might not do the race in 2010 so I sucked it up to show up 2 hours earlier to do the race for possibly the last time.  There were 219 others who decided to do it as well even thought the start was earlier and it was much colder than last year's race. In addition, the local newspaper  was there to cover it.

For a 5 mile race, I thought that registration was reasonably priced. Included in registration was the t-shirt.  It was short sleeve rather than the long sleeve that they had in the past.  I must admit that I liked the race more when purchasing a t-shirt was optional instead of including it in the price.   Since I have so many t-shirts, I wonder when I will wear them all.   

The course has not changed in the years that I have run it.  It starts and finishes by the Campbell County YMCA , and there is an overlook of the Ohio River on the way back.  I did manage to finish the race in faster time than I expected even with an equipment malfunctioon(both my shoes came untied and I had to stop at 3 mile mark to tie them before I fell). Post Race featured bananas, and water. Since the race venue was the YMCA, you could shower after the race if you brought clothes and they did have lockers for your use as well to store your stuff, both underrated and underappreciated features.  I am hoping that they do the race next year and they can get a later start time so more can do it.  Frostbite 5 Mile Results.