Athleta Iron Girl 10K/5K Run and Walk

I did this 5k for the first time with several of my girlfriends and it was such a great event. It’s a girls only race so talk about girl empowerment. Lots of pink, lots of tutus – and what I loved the most was the port-​a-​pottty sections that were stocked with feminine products on a nicely decorated (in pink of course) table. I got a chuckle out of that.
If you are new to running, this is a great race to break into the race world. Even if you’re an experienced runner, this is a great course to get a PR on. With the exception of a very slight incline on Villa de la Valle to PCH, the rest of the course is flat. There is also fantastic support along the course which will help you power through.
If I had one critique, I would recommend making the chute wider or separating the runners and the walkers to start at different times. Even if it’s 15 – 20 minutes apart. It was a cluster f#$% getting through the slower runners. Our group started in the middle and for the first 100 feet or so, we walked which was such a pain. Once the crowds started to thin out, we had to dodge tons of walkers who were 4 – 5 people wide and left little to no room for people to pass. I get that friends want to walk together but come on… MOVE OVER!
Once you run through the finish chute, every finisher will receive a customized race medal which is really cute. In addition, we received a logo’d towel from athleta not to mention all the other things you get in your goodie bag; custom women’s technical t-​shirt and sample sized goodies. The swag at this event is probably the best I’ve seen for this level of event. It must be because it’s affiliated with the Ironman foundation. The post event snack box, the chocolate milk, water, juice… and the many vendors willing and able to sell you anything related to racing and running, it was pretty impressive
Overall, this is a fantastic event. Hats off to the organizers, volunteers and vendors that helped make this event a success. I’d definitely consider this event in the future. Hopefully they’ll fix the start times though.

Hey ! Hey ! Hey ! It’s another one !
The fifth annual ‘Athleta Iron Girl’ was at the Del Mar Fairgrounds this year ! The course started and finished on the fairgrounds. It was one of the easier runs for me since it was mostly a flat course with a slight incline towards the end. Great for newbies and experienced runners.
I only participated in the 5K since I’m slowly incorporating short runs in between my training for my next BIG race in January: Disney’s Tinkerbell WOOOT !!!
I enjoyed seeing the mother/​daughter teams and even little girls running while they held hands with their mamas. Über cute ! Although, I think they should have had a separate wave for the young daughters and mama teams just to avoid any mishaps or collisions.
Perks: post-​race breakfast goodie bag, giveaways, performance tech t-​shirts (so femme), professional timing, personalized race bibs, and love the custom finisher medal ! Proceeds go towards the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) to help find a cure for all children with cancer. WIN !
Not so perky: When a little girl can run just as fast as me towards the finish line. Yup yup. Little rugrat was as tall as my knee. haha. She almost bruised my ego by nearly beating me. ooh wee it was close ! (note: still recovering from a knee injury)…not that I’m making excuses or anything.
Overall, it was a fairly organized event and their website has more than enough information for participants. Great job Iron Girl !
I would LOVE to make this an annual run and hopefully get my mom involved. We both can go all out with matchy-​matchy pink outfits to support breast cancer awareness and hold hands while we sing along and run ! OH JOY !

Decided to sign up for this race vs. the SGK Race for the Cure for 2011. I had done the SGK for several years and needed a change. I have heard of the IG from several friends so wanted to check out the girl power.
Traffic was crazy exiting off the 5 freeway and Via de la Valle to get to the Del Mar Fairgrounds. However, parking was a breeze. Parking was free and tons of spaces.
There was a 5k and 10k, and this time I opted for a 5k since I had just done the LA RnR Half a week prior and I was going to run the Silver Strand Half the following weekend. The 10k started about 15 mins before the 5k.
If you’re wanting a PR, you’re in the wrong race. There are no corrals, and everyone starts at the same time. Also consider there are a lot of mother/​daughter teams and lots of kids and strollers. Perhaps I should have started right at the front since we were in the middle of the pack and got stuck behind some walkers and some pretty slow pacers.
I didn’t care so much for the route. The first mile was just too crowded and there were too many people you were running into. It wasn’t until mile 2 was when you’re on the open road and you were able to spread out. Mile 2 was uphill, which sucked. Mile 3 was downhill and you finish back at the fairgrounds track.
The race was an experience. It’s a good way to run/​walk with your mom/​daughter or to empower your girl spirit.
I considered this my combo recovery run post-​half and training run for the upcoming half…
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Stats:
Overall ⁸⁸⁄₉₄₄
Division ¹¹⁄₁₅₆
Gun 29:34
Chip 28:51
Pace 9:19