by milesflyby

Crim 5-Mile Race Recap

Leading up to this year’s Crim 10-miler I questioned how I could write another post about the race that wouldn’t be repetitive since the August 22 race would be my ninth time running it. Well, I didn’t have to worry about that because this year’s race was anything but routine!

The early wake-up on Saturday morning was especially rough this time around because I’d gone to a Brandi Carlile concert the night before and got about four hours of sleep. I do that to myself all the time though and once I got moving I was okay. As I made the 45-minute drive up to Flint, I saw lightning off in the distance. I knew that rain could be a factor but didn’t think it was supposed to storm until later. I was hopeful that it was still early and would be out of the way when it was time to race.

I parked in my usual lot to the north of the race site by 5:30 and walked down to the conference center to pick up my bib and shirt. While race morning pickup has always been fine in the past, the pre-race emails really pushed people to come to the expo a day or two before the race and only pick things up the morning of if necessary. I understand wanting people to attend the expo and avoiding long lines the morning of the race, but I went to the expo once and it really wasn’t worth the time or gas to drive 90 miles round trip to Flint two separate days.

I got to the conference center at 5:45 and breezed right through packet pickup without any wait at all. I’m glad I “risked it” and didn’t make the extra trip.

In the past I’ve usually taken the long walk back to the car to drop my shirt and relax before doing a warm up jog back down. This time I brought a bag to leave at gear check so I could stash the shirt there and save myself the extra trip. I hung out inside the conference center for a little bit and saw Infinite Multisport friend Leon. He was the first of many friends I would see throughout the morning. The race typically draws somewhere around 5,000 people for the 10-mile distance, plus there are also 5K and 5-mile options, so I always see lots of people who I know.

The race was supposed to start at 7:00 so I headed out to gear check and the porta potties about 45 minutes before that. I’ve experienced long lines in past years and know that I need to leave plenty of buffer to make sure I get to the start on time. However, as I was waiting for my turn I heard an announcement that we were going to have a half-hour weather delay and now the race was due to start at 7:30. We were told to go to our cars, parking decks, or somewhere else to take shelter.

*The start area after the first weather delay was announced*

There was some light rain at that point and I got a text from my friend Charles who said he was hanging out with friends in a parking deck across from gear check. As I headed there, I found a few more Infinite teammates!

I found Charles who was chatting with people from a Rochester running group. The rain picked up so everyone stayed dry hanging out around the parking deck. The start of the race was pushed even later, and after talking with people for so long, it didn’t even feel like I was still about to run a race.

*Another Infinite group shot* *in the parking deck*

When it seemed like we were on track to race, I thought I’d go back to the routine of trying to hit the bathroom a good 30-40 minutes before the start. I found that a lot of people had gathered under the awnings of buildings. Then another delay came and I decided I’d just go back to my car.

*Some waiting for porta potties, some sheltering under the overhang*

I happened to skip the race one year when the weather lead to a late start. A bunch of friends talked about how that messed up their fueling, so I’ve kept that in the back of my mind and try to always be prepared with enough to eat and drink in case of a delay. By this point I determined that I wanted to eat another bar and get some water, so that’s why I hiked back to the car. The rain was pretty light at that point and I wouldn’t have minded running in those conditions. Lightning was the cause of the delays though.

Thinking that the race would finally start at 8:30, I did a half mile warm up jog back from my car and lined up at the porta potties yet again, restarting my routine with every delay. I saw my friend Cristian from work who was probably one of the few people who benefited from the delay. He had called me earlier to say that he was running late and didn’t know if he was going to make it. That’s when I told him about the delay and informed him that he had plenty of time.

We were waiting in line when we learned the bad news. We were in another delay and now all of the people in the 10-mile race would run the 5-mile race instead. We would start at 9:00, which was two hours later than the original plan. I feel like I’m a better endurance runner and tend to prefer the longer distances. I wasn’t thrilled that running a 5-mile race meant that I’d feel like I should push the pace faster than I wanted to. At this point I pretty much dropped any expectations for the day and felt a bit of indifference toward the whole situation. I was thankful that we could still run and knew there wasn’t anything else we could do to work around the weather, but I still wasn’t thrilled about having to cut the distance in half.

Since there was still no rush to get to the start, I kept finding and chatting with people I knew, including Scott. It wasn’t raining at that point and clearly the lightning didn’t feel like an immediate threat because we didn’t bother to shelter anymore.

Eventually I knew I needed to do another warm up jog because it had been long enough since my first one that I was getting cool and stiff. Cristian and I went for my second half mile, made a final bathroom stop, then parted ways as I headed to my spot in the starting corral.

It’s amazing how many friends I find every year even in such a large crowd. It seems like I usually find Lindsay, and we crossed paths while waiting to start. I realized since we’d be running a shorter distance, I should probably try to run faster than my original bib assignment and moved up right by the 7:30 pacer.

The wheelers started at 9:00, then the 30-year+ racers, the elites, the first wave, and about 10 minutes later I FINALLY started the race two hours later than planned. I’m not sure how many people had originally signed up for the 5-mile race but all of those people started with the people who had planned to run 10 miles. The start is always congested so I don’t know if it really mattered. I tried to hang by the 7:30 group, but as usual, there was a combination of losing them in all of the weaving and maybe not having the speed they had either.

I really try to run the tangents the best I can because I always end up with extra distance on my watch at the end of races. It’s pretty tough when the roads are wide, it’s so congested, and there are walkers and slower runners mixed in. If they were off to the sides of the road that would be one thing, but some of them were scattered all over. I’d be flying along and come up on someone and have to dodge around real quick. It was also hard to aim for tangents when I really didn’t know where the 5-mile course would take us. Stretches of it were the same as the 10-mile so plenty of the course was still familiar.

*Runners and walkers mixed together leads to lots of weaving*

Pretty much every year I see Lee out on the course, and that still held this year. I cheered for him as I ran past and was in awe of his 39th running of the race!

I kind of arbitrarily decided that maybe I’d be good to aim for 7:30 pace even though I haven’t been doing speedwork and wasn’t sure if I could hold it. It’s been so warm and humid this summer that I’ve failed to do anything very fast. I’ve mostly maintained mileage and endurance. Within the first mile I could feel that my face was pretty warm. I think it was in the 60s which shouldn’t have been too bad but I know it was humid too. It was for the best that I didn’t have to tough it out for 10 miles. For my best Crim race I actually averaged 7:20s. Conditions and everything else came together that year though. Had I tried to hang on to 7:30s for 10 miles, it could have gotten ugly this time.

*Thanks to Crim for a shot along the course*

Since the course was a bit different I didn’t get to see some of the usual landmarks like a woman bouncing on her trampoline or a guy doing karaoke. There were still people offering Jell-O shots and other spectators along the way. No Bradley Hills this time around! We did get some rolling hills around Kettering University, a stretch we don’t hit during the 10-mile race, and I definitely slowed down during the fourth mile. That was the point when Cristian cheered for me as he cruised right by. It was great to see him running so strong!

*Some rolling hills by Kettering University*

The last mile of the course was very familiar and it was nice to see the police vehicles flashing their lights right before our final turn.

In the last straightaway, I could see Carlo, a friend from my days in the GM Running Club. Another thing that seems to be consistent about this race is that Carlo and I will end up running by each other at some point. This time it happened to be right before the finish. I didn’t have a whole lot of energy for a strong push but I just barely made it past him! We always seem to be somewhere around a similar pace.

*The final stretch before hitting the bricks*

When I hit the bricks just before the finish line, there were a couple guys doing a wheelbarrow – one guy holding the legs of the other guy who was trying to walk along with his hands. It was clear that it was pretty rough on those bricks. There’s always something entertaining to see at this race!

I also happened to see Dave from RunMichigan.com off to the side. He’s always there to cover the race and I had seen him a few days beforehand so we both knew the other would be there. I’m glad I looked over at the right time because as usual, my favorite picture from the race came from RunMichigan. They’re local runners who support the local running scene so I like to support them and purchase a shot when it turns out nice like this.

*A nice shot from Dave McCauley from RunMichigan.com*

*Crossing the finish line (with Carlo right on my heels)*

When asked how I did during this race, I didn’t really know how to respond. I’ve only done 5 miles (an 8K) once and I was coming back from an injury, so I don’t have much to compare it to. Knowing that I have run a faster pace for the full 10-mile Crim course made me feel like I should have had more potential for five miles, but it all depends on the conditions and how my training has gone.

I ended up with a time of 38:36 and was seventh in my age group, so I’ll consider that to be pretty good. Crim is one of the races that is a part of a corporate challenge between GM, Ford, and Stellantis, so my age group placing will help our team. Stellantis had a couple teams of runners and I was on the Dodge Chargers team. The top five highest ranking runners score for the team, and my team had a 1, 5, 7 (me), 14, and 14. Sometimes it takes weeks to get the final results. I did my part though!

***Update***

A little over two weeks after the race the results were updated. The people who signed up to run 5 miles were separated from the people who signed up to run 10 miles. That means I jumped up a couple spots in my age group. Hopefully the Corporate Challenge results weren’t finalized yet and will reflect these results.

I much prefer the pace my Garmin provided versus what the race recorded! My watch makes it look like I actually DID manage around 7:30 pace. I talked to a few people who ran around a quarter mile long so it wasn’t just me. In fact, when I mapped the course to find the elevation, it came up as 5.2 miles. None of it really matters that much in the end, but it still made me feel better thinking that I ran a pretty solid pace.

One thing about a 5-mile race versus a 10-mile race is that friends of all kinds of paces came in a lot sooner! I was able to catch up with a bunch of friends afterward. That really is one of my favorite parts of Crim. I happened to catch Cristian again and congratulated him on his speedy run.

I started to drink a bottle of chocolate milk and saved a granola bar for later, but opted out of pizza this year. When I went past the pizza tent at 8:00 and the pizza was already out, I decided right then that it was not for me! I don’t know how long it had already been out and knew it would be another couple hours by the time I got there. The weather may have delayed our start but probably didn’t delay the arrival of the pizzas!

I was chatting with Charles when Sue, an Infinite teammate, came over and asked if I was going to breakfast. Leon had tried to organized a meet-up and people were especially up in the air because of the delayed start. Sue, Charles, and I decided to give it a shot and headed out.

*Posing by the blue line (and a big puddle)* *on the walk back to the car*

Only the four of us made it to breakfast at the Westside Diner, which was maybe a 10-minute drive. We had fun hanging out so I’m glad we went.

This year’s race was definitely an experience. Everyone I talked to was adaptable and really didn’t complain though. What can you do when you get a crappy weather day? You just have to adjust and be glad that it wasn’t completely cancelled. It was funny that so many of the people I talked to said they’d have to do a long run the next day since we got cut short. That’s how us runners think! Next year will be the 50th running of the Crim so here’s hoping things turn out much better for that big day. I’m sure I’ll aim to be there for my 10th Crim!

– Janet

Follow me on Instagram @janetboltz

08.15.26

by milesflyby

Run Across the Gordie Howe Bridge

It seems like the only blog posts I write lately are race recaps. I realized today’s adventure was something worthy of remembering and I ought to write something more official about it rather than just posting a few pictures on social media. This blog acts as a journal of sorts for myself and it could be fun to look back at this run.

It’s been a long time coming for the new Gordie Howe Bridge to open, connecting Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario. The bridge has been complete for a bit but political games kept it from officially opening until recently. Once it finally opened, a lot of people were anxious to learn when pedestrians could use it. In the past, people used to be able to cross the Ambassador Bridge, but that changed after September 11. Since then, the only way for pedestrians to cross between Detroit and Windsor has been during the Detroit Free Press Marathon (and International Half Marathon) which I finally ran for my first time last year. It’s a pretty cool experience and there has been a lot of interest surrounding this new bridge that has a pedestrian path. August 5 was announced as opening day and a lot of walkers, runners, and cyclists lined up to be there on the first day. I’ve been following a lot of talk about the experience and logistics involved in Facebook groups. My friend Lisa and I had already planned to run together the weekend of August 15-16, and when we realized the bridge would be open, we planned to do our run there.

The bridge’s official website recommended parking at a park in Mexicantown that is two miles away. It’s a bit more doable on bikes but maybe not quite as ideal on foot. Thankfully I saw plenty of recommendations to park at Historic Fort Wayne which has a free parking lot right across from the entrance to the bridge. We realized that a lot of people parked along the street which worked just as well. There isn’t much around the area other than some pothole-ridden roads, empty fields, and construction. The good thing is that there are some brand new bike paths being added. I’m not sure how far they’ll extend eventually – right now it was just a short stretch near the entrance. A lot of cyclists parked farther away and biked to the area which works because the roads aren’t busy, but again, it’s not as ideal to cover that kind of mileage by foot.

*Waiting to enter from the Detroit side*

Because there has been so much excitement around this, I didn’t know if we could expect to find a crowd. The bridge opens at 8am during this season, so Lisa and I met around 7:45 and found a few people waiting by the gate along with a few other runners gathering a group and some cyclists who arrived after us.

I’m glad the people up front were paying attention because there was no announcement or person there to open the gate for us. There was just a click when 8:00 hit and the gate unlocked. There was a little uncertainty, wondering if it was okay to go. It was!

Soon after we entered, Lisa and I started our watches and began our run. We joked about how it felt like jail at the beginning, but this IS a border crossing so of course it’s not going to be lax on security. There were some cameras and we passed a couple guards sitting on chairs who monitored people as they passed by. Soon enough we were out in the open on the bridge.

I had wondered how it might work with people sharing the path and it was just fine for us. We stayed to the right and cyclists passed on the left. No one flew along – people were pretty chill and there to check things out.

I took some pictures on the go and told Lisa I may stop here and there for others. I was thankful that she gladly humored me. As a photographer I wanted to really take in and appreciate the beauty of the architecture.

*The Detroit skyline and Ambassador Bridge*

It was easy enough to glance through the slats along the side of the bridge to look out at the Detroit River. I did have to stop and specifically aim in between slats to get a clear view though. It was a muggy morning, like they all seem to be this summer, and pretty gray. We got a little hint of color early though!

Of course we had to stop for a picture at the boundary line. We were able to have someone take our picture because others were doing it too! One cool thing about this experience is that there were lots of smiles and people greeting each other. Because this is a new and kind of novel thing, I think we all appreciated how cool it was to have this opportunity.

In the meantime, of course the run got slightly more challenging as we climbed the incline. I’ve read that it’s a 5% grade. I could definitely feel myself working but we run so much that we were prepared for it so it didn’t phase us much. It’s also a gradual climb. Eventually you get a decline that makes up for a slow start!

Lisa and I were ahead of the runners and walkers who started after us, so when some of the people on bikes went by, we had moments when the path was totally clear. The road was too because I guess there wasn’t much traffic yet just after 8:00 on a Saturday.

Our watches hit two miles just as we got to the customs building on the Canadian side. I carried a Nexus card and Lisa had her passport. There was no wait and we chatted briefly with the officers before they gave us the okay to pass through. No fees, no hassles.

We planned to run 6-8 miles and chose to run out two miles in Windsor and back. Unfortunately, my sense of direction isn’t the best so we headed a direction that basically just took us around the grounds of the bridge for a couple miles. There was a sidewalk the whole way and we crossed paths with a few others who were headed to the bridge, but it’s pretty industrial with no good scenery. It’s the same way at both sides of the bridge. Fortunately just as we approached a gate where we wouldn’t be able to go any further, we hit four miles and it was time to turn around anyway. We realized that we should head the opposite direction in the future for the possibility of seeing more exciting sights. We probably need to do a longer run to make the most of it. We’d like to get up to the riverfront path which could be more like a 10-12 mile day.

As we headed back I was inspired by people who were taking selfies with the bridge in the background so we got one of those too.

*Taking ALL of the pictures while we’re out there*

After a couple miles we got back to customs on the US side and the only delay I had was that the camera wasn’t positioned very well and my officer had to mess with that a bit. My officer was a bit more rigid while Lisa’s was more chatty about the run we had just completed. Once again though, the process was easy enough with no wait.

When we got back to the parking lot it was probably around 9:30 and there were a ton more cars there while there had only been a few of us when we arrived. Plenty of people were gathering in a group to bike across.

I knew that we were an easy two miles from the Mexicantown Bakery so we went there next. I’ve been a couple times before and know that it’s overwhelming with tons of great options. Going in there hungry after a run can be real trouble!

I managed to limit myself to four things and had to dig into the chocolate croissant before making the drive back home.

*A chocolate croissant, caramel empanada, a loaf of chocolate cake, and a chocolate chip cookie*

It was definitely a fun experience crossing the bridge and getting to run in two countries this morning. One other fun aspect is that I happened to hit 1700 miles of running for the year when we got to customs in Windsor.

*Racking up the miles and I hit this mark in Canada today!*

We agreed that the bakery visit is a good reason alone to motivate us to go do this again! We also want to plan a better route for the Canadian side and hopefully see more. It’s probably most ideal on a bike because it’s easier to cover more ground and do fun stuff like stop for a meal. That’s not something we’re going to do when we still have to run back! We had a fun morning and I feel lucky that we had the opportunity to try something cool like this.

– Janet

Follow me on Instagram @janetboltz

08.02.26

by milesflyby

Aloha Run 30K Recap

After running Grandma’s Marathon on June 20, there was a little bit of the post-race blues and wondering what big thing I could aim for next. I have the California International Marathon on my schedule but that’s way off in December. I’m not doing any triathlons this summer because I’ve been favoring running so much that I’ve neglected swimming and biking. I found a few races to put on the calendar as possibilities and one of them was Kona Running Company’s Aloha Run on Sunday, July 26. It offered a 5K, 10K, half marathon, and 30K. Of course I like to go big when offered the chance, so it was the 30K that got my attention. It’s a pretty random race distance and I’ve only raced it twice at the Milford Labor Day 30K that doesn’t exist anymore. It was kind of funny that this 30K would also take place in Milford but on a totally different course.

It wasn’t until my friend Lisa brought it up that I really started to consider the race. It would be two loops around Kensington Metropark and although I like to get out there for runs occasionally, I didn’t know if I was excited to do two loops. Between the recent heat, humidity, and wildfire smoke, I figured I didn’t want to commit to anything in advance. Lisa let me know mid-week that she’d signed up for that weekend and there were only 24 spots left. If I was going to do it, I probably better decide. Thanks to her influence, I signed up.

Following Grandma’s, I’ve run as long as 12 miles a couple times so running 18.6 miles would be a bit of a jump. I’ve been running consistent mileage though and figured I could treat the race as more of a training run. A couple days after I registered, I jumped at the opportunity to get free tickets to see the band Metric the night before the race which would make things a little more challenging. Lisa had her own concert planned for Saturday night (Jack White) so we’d both go into it with a sleep deficit. We’ve made that questionable choice many times before and managed somehow though. It’s pretty clear that we’re on the same page and it explains why we’re friends!

By the time my body finally shut down after the concert on Saturday night, I got about 3.5 hours of sleep. It took a minute to get my bearings on Sunday morning when the alarm went off. What day was it and why was I getting up so early? There was some groaning and swearing involved, but I dragged myself out of the house around 5:00 to make the hour-long drive to the park.

*Not the most ideal way to go into a race*

The race started and finished at Maple Beach which has a ton of parking. I went to collect my bib and shirt then caught up with Lisa.

*On the back of the shirt you can see faded designs. Apparently they become more visible when the shirt is worn in the sun.*

We did a brief warm up jog, and as 7:00 rolled around, we made our way down to the start where it seemed like very few people were lining up close to the front. The 30K started first and I didn’t know until later that just over 30 of us were running that distance. That explained the sparse crowd at the start.

*We had a little hint of a sunrise at the start*

We started with a little climb as we headed out for the first of two clockwise loops around the park’s main path. Lisa and I tend to hover somewhere around the same pace but we didn’t plan to race together – we aimed to do our own thing. It felt kind of funny starting the first mile right by each other but not truly running together. No chatting like our casual runs together, although Lisa did point out some sandhill cranes with babies when we ran past them. I had told her earlier that I’d probably be tempted to take pictures of some of the birds along the course like I would during a normal run around the park, but these were just far enough off the path that I wasn’t going out of my way for them. That’s okay – many more opportunities would follow!

I ran the first couple miles at just over an 8:00 pace, but it was a warm and humid morning and I didn’t know if my body was truly ready to cover nearly 19 miles. The park also has a good number of rolling hills. I didn’t want to crash and burn later in the race so I figured I ought to slow down a little bit. Lisa kept rolling along and soon enough I was basically on my own. So much for worrying that the path could be too narrow for a crowd of racers. Maybe that was more of a thing for the 5K and 10K runners, but not for us. The half marathon started five minutes after us so it took a few miles for some of the fastest people to catch up. Otherwise, I mostly saw non-racers out there using the park’s path. Most of the time it felt like a typical training run around the metropark, just slightly faster than I probably would have normally run out there. It was also nice to have water stops nearly every mile.

The normal loop around the park is somewhere around eight miles but we needed two 9.3-mile loops to add up to 30K. Island Drive branches off the path and was the perfect spot for an out-and-back to add some distance. As we passed in opposite directions, I cheered for Lisa and told her she was going to get our age group win. I didn’t know that she was already feeling it by that point.

*Lisa heading out Island Drive as I was heading in*

*I always enjoy out-and-back stretches when I get to spot friends*

When I came to the end of my first loop, I was pleasantly surprised that someone cheered for me. It was my friend Louise and her husband Graham! They were sporting their medals from the 5K. At that point I was running on the opposite side of the path as 5K and 10K runners headed back to the finish. That created a bit of a mental battle as I wished I could turn around to finish too. Seeing so many people finally helped distract me for a little bit, and soon after I started the second loop I passed Lisa. I jokingly told her to come get me!

I saw some of the half marathon leaders once they reached their turnaround point, then it was back to mostly other park patrons. I did catch a few 30K runners on the second loop though. It had been a wise move for me to back off the fast pace early on.

Because the park is an hour away, sometimes I only get out there a time or two each year. I was actually okay with two loops because I don’t run there very often. It’s a challenging path and my pace varied depending on whether I had more uphill or downhill stretches. I got to see plenty of sandhill cranes along the way as I always do there. When I took photos, I got them on the go because I wasn’t going to stop. It may have felt like a training run but it WAS a race.

*A couple sandhill cranes just off the path*

I was very fortunate that I held pretty steady the whole time. The humidity left me soaked, but thankfully it stayed overcast so the sun didn’t create an additional challenge. Training through plenty of warm and humid days recently has paid off because it got me acclimated.

*I’m glad this was about as much as the sun came out*

A couple of us cheered for each other as we passed in opposite directions down the island road, then we had less than two miles to go. I finished strong in 2:37:01, an average of 8:25 per mile. A photographer took pictures at the finish but I never saw anything about them being shared. I guess it’s a good thing I have a bunch of my own photos for something to look at here!

In the meantime, my watch had been showing me that I was averaging 8:15 per mile and that I had run 19 miles. When I checked later and zoomed in on my map, it was clear that my Garmin veered off the path at times. That was frustrating because I can usually count on the mile splits being right on when I run the metroparks. I blame my watch for this one.

*A wide view of my run around the park looks accurate but I could see that my watch veered off the path at times if I zoomed in*

*I don’t know how accurate it is, but here’s what my watch showed for my splits*

In addition to the medal, we got a mug for running the 30K.

After drinking some water and stretching for a bit, I saw Lisa after she had finished. Results were a little iffy at first because the top two times were so fast they clearly had to be half marathon times. Eventually it must have been corrected and I found that I had placed fourth overall and was the second female! I received an Igloo cooler as a prize, and Lisa got a towel for placing second in the age group.

*Second female and first in my age group*

We took some pictures, got some flavored ice and pancakes, and hung around for a little bit. Considering our lack of sleep, I think we both considered it to be a win that we successfully ran the 30K regardless of our times!

*Flavored ice was a nice treat on a warm morning*

I had averaged around an 8:15 pace for the last Milford 30K I ran so that was in my mind as a possible goal, even though they were two completely different courses. My watch lead me to believe that’s what I was doing, but I mostly ran by feel. I wasn’t in a position to aim for marathon pace, and I’m glad I found a good middle ground between an average training run and doing something a little faster. I may have been pushing it a little to jump up to 19 miles and I was slightly sore the next day, but maintaining a steady and consistent base has certainly paid off. This was good training for the Crim 10-mile race coming up in a month, and I suppose I’ll see if I hop into any other races prior to that!

– Janet

Follow me on Instagram @janetboltz

Miles Fly By

Janet's training, racing & other stuff

Monthly Archives: August 2026

Crim 5-Mile Race Recap

Run Across the Gordie Howe Bridge

Aloha Run 30K Recap