Bockfest is a unique annual 3 day community event in Cincinnati celebrating Over-the-Rhine, beer and the coming of spring. 2013 marked the 21st Bockfest and for 2013, they added a 5k race called the Bockfest 5k. The Bockfest 5k is the first of three races in the
Christian Moerlein Beer Series which celebrate Cincinnati's rich history of beer and running. Proceeds from the Bockfest 5k go to the
Over-the-Rhine Brewery District, the main organizers of Bockfest.
I was planned to do another race this weekend and did not want to run back to back races so I volunteered to help at this race through the
Flying Pig Marathon. For volunteering, I got two free drink tickets plus a long sleeve t-shirt. Since the temperatures were cold, a couple of runners wish that the race had given out long sleeve t-shirts like the one that I had versus the short sleeve shirt that they were given.
I was assigned to help with the start and finish line. Start and finish were on McMicken Street near the main Bockfest Hall on Moore Street in Over-the-Rhine. Before the race, I worked with quite a few others to set up the unique
bockfest medals each runner received for the race. We took them out of the boxes, removed the packaging that they came in and put them on the table. We had incentive to finish quickly because did I mention how cold it was outside and seemed to get colder as we set up the medals. After we were finished, I went back into Bockfest Hall to warm up and observe race day registration. Race Day Registration was unique in that you could use a credit card to sign up on computer. They also had paper forms that you could fill out as well and pay by cash or check. I don't know how well that worked. About 15 minutes before the race started, I headed back out to the finish line and was assigned to hand out water to the finishing runners. It was still cold and it started to snow lightly.
They had about 1100 runners run in this race. The course took you through much of Over-the-Rhine and part of downtown Cincinnati based on the course map. The top male was Erik Finan who ran a blistering 14:53 and the second place runner was about 10 seconds behind him. The top female was Kayla Camp-Warner who ran a 20:16. After runners finished, they got a medal, a mylar blanket, and a bottle of water. Inside Bockfest Hall, runners could enjoy bagels from Brueggers, bananas and Bock Beer if they were old enough. Also, there were a few other vendors where they could buy food if they wanted something else. For an Inaugural Race, it was well organized, most runners seemed to enjoy it except for the shirt and it brought more people down to Bockfest. If it is run in 2014, I might do it as a runner instead of a volunteer.
Race Results.
