A unique race is happening November 6th on the University of Nevada. It’s a 5k through campus but it’s a 5k that starts at 1:50am. Yes, 1:50am! Eric Lerude, the race director of the Reno Tahoe Odyssey and the 2011 Journal Jog, gave ActiveReno nine reasons you should participate in the Anything is Possible 5k.
1. The Anything Is Possible 5K Series is a new series of 5K races. These races are being held at 9 different cities across the United States on the same date and time, Sunday November 6 at 1:50 a.m. local time. Yes, ten to 2 in the morning. Why then? Because it is at that time that we move the clocks back one hour for Daylight Savings Time. So in the middle of the race, we lose 60 minutes. The consequence is that everyone will run or walk a negative time. Anything is possible!
2. Participants will get a number of things. The first 500 are guaranteed a very cool race tech shirt from Puma that celebrates the series listing all of the cities. In Reno, everyone gets breakfast after the race at the Little Waldorf. We’ll give away some other stuff and we’ll raffle off items including merchandise from Reno Running Company and the Reno-Tahoe Odyssey Relay Run Adventure and food and drink specials from the Little Waldorf and Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.
3. The motivation behind the race was to create a different running experience, one that happened to be in the middle of the night. Many relay runners tell us that their favorite part of an overnight relay is the night time running. So everyone should wear the lighted hats, head lamps, blinking lights and other night time running gear and have fun. Just treat this like a training run for your night time leg of the Reno-Tahoe Odyssey. In addition, we wanted to put on an event that raised awareness and raised money for two national non-profit organizations dedicated to helping wounded soldiers and their families. Team Red White and Blue is one. Hope For The Warriors is the other. In Reno there is a local military charity involved. The Nevada Military Support Alliance is a Nevada non-profit organization dedicated to helping military personnel from Nevada and their families. The Anything Is Possible theme has a second application here. Anything is possible for wounded soldiers to recover from their injuries and return to normal activities such as participating in a 5K run or walk like this one.
4. A portion of the net proceeds of the Reno race will go to the Nevada Military Support Alliance. We encourage people can donate directly to NMSA and to the two national organizations.
5. The other cities hosting a race this year are Atlanta (Kennesaw, GA); Austin, TX; Denver; Nashville (Murfreesboro, TN); Seattle (on the UW campus); Virginia Beach; Viera, FL; and Washington, D.C. (Bethesda, MD). It will be interesting to see which city has the largest field. Next year we expect to have races in even more cities.
6. Anytime Fitness is the title sponsor of the event. Anytime Fitness members can work out at any time of the day or night, so for them running or walking a 5K in the middle of the night is not unusual. Other national sponsors include Five Hour Energy and Puma. Local sponsors of the Reno event are the Little Waldorf Saloon, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Reno Running Company and United Site Services.
7. The course for the Reno event is on the University of Nevada campus. It is entirely on the campus and has never been used before. The course is well lit by street lights and other lights on campus. It starts and finishes outside the northwest corner of Mackay Stadium. There is a loop on the north end of the campus, going by some of the newest medical school buildings. The next part of the course heads south down the middle of campus past Lawlor, the Joe and the Knowledge Center. Then there is a loop at the bottom of the campus that includes going around the Quad. Lastly the course travels due north up and around Mackay to the finish. The map of the course is posted on the website. We request that everyone park in the West Stadium Parking Garage for the race.
8. Packet pickup for the Reno race is at the Little Waldorf from 9:30 to midnight on Saturday, November 5.
9. The principals of the Anything Is Possible 5K Series put on the relay runs in the Odyssey Relay Series. We know relay running. We thought we’d create another set of running events that have some similarities to the relay runs but that are different.
For more information on the race: Anything is Possible 5k
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Thank you for starting this new exciting race. I have done a few marathons, 10k(s), 5k(s), Turkey Trots and this year my first RTO with the Nevada Air National Guard High Rollers team. I am always looking for new races to help keep the running interesting. I was the late runner but I was determined to start at the start and finish like everyone else and I did. The light snow was a nice touch! Thanks again, Angela