William A. Irvin 5K (Grandma’s Marathon 5K) Filling up Quick

June 15th Race Expected to Fill Quickly

(Duluth, Minn.) Registration for the 18th annual William A. Irvin 5K opened at 12:01 a.m. (CDT) on Thursday, March 17. There’s currently a buzz that even though they added 200 spots over last year’s total spots (from 1700 to 1900), the race is going to fill no longer than sometime this week.

The field limit for the 2011 race is 1,700 — an increase of 200 from last year when the capacity was reached in less than a week. To register, runners should visit https://secure.marathonguide.com/register/grandmasmarathon/5k.cfm. The entry fee is $30.

The 3.1-mile run begins at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 15, near the permanently docked William A. Irvin ore boat on Duluth’s waterfront and is the first of three major running events during Grandma's Marathon weekend. Registration remains open for the 36th annual Grandma’s Marathon set for Saturday, June 16, while the entry process for the 22nd annual Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon is closed.

2012 Disney 5K

If you are looking for an inexpensive way to "RunDisney", Ive found the best way to save a buck from running either the Half Marathon or the Marathon.

After running the Half Marathon in January, 2011, we thought about running it again before a planned cruise leaving Port Canaveral, Florida.  Because of the cost of the cruise, $150 for a race hits the budget kind of hard.  The 5K still costs $50, which isn't cheap for a 5K.  In fact, they bill it as a family fun run, but seriously, how many families can afford that?  Come to think of it, there weren't many kids at the starting line for it.

The 5K has the 'wave' format so that it isn't a madhouse at the start.  The three waves are based on the following time splits; Under 7 minutes per mile, 7-9 MPM, and 9:01 MPM and above.

If you looking at a great cheap option to the other longer races, I would highly recommend this one.  You are only allowed to go through Epcot, but the photo stops with the characters, the support from the staff and the recovery food/drinks at the end of the race were Grade A.  The only deficient points for the race is the medal and timing of the race.  You are not timed at this race and no one can look it up on their website when you finish.  Youonly have your race number as proof you even ran this one, and who knows, you couldve slept in as far as that proof goes.  The 'medal' is soft rubber and does look cheap.  But again, it does prove you ran it.

You will need to take a extra day of work off since it is run on a Friday morning.  Also, you have to be on the grounds by 5:30 am, which means a before 5 am wake up call to be there by that time.  But the earliness of the race allows ample time to get back, shower and get to the parks before they open.  So my overall rating was A- for those of you interested in a very fun 5K race.