Race Review: Vista Strawberry 5000
How can you not like a race in which you begin on level ground, knock off a hill or two and finish with vendors from 450 booths cheering you on as you move toward a finish that includes a giant medal and equally large, fresh strawberries? Sunday was actually my second time doing this annual Memorial Day weekend running event in North County. A couple of years ago I did the 10k race with a friend and finished strong. I forgot my time or place among my age group, but the race results for that year were down last time I checked. This time I was introducing my nephew, whom I’m now raising, to San Diego running. He’d shown an affinity for it during his school’s recent jogathon. He just turned 11, is quite small for his age and intellectually disabled. No way would I foist a 10k on him, so we signed up for the 5k, which actually is the bigger draw most years. The 10k runners go first, at 6:45 a.m. which means by the time we pulled into Vista Village around 6:30, parking wa