2023 jingle bell run 5k.

As what is hopefully becoming a tradition, I got up yesterday morning, put on my race t-shirt and jingle bells, and headed out to the Jingle Bell Run 5k. This year, I “ran” with a friend I work with so she graciously offered to pick me up and drive us both to Green Lake Park for the start of the race.

This 5k is always super fun. There was a DJ (or announcer?) from the local radio station, WARM 106.9, that was playing Christmas music at the staging area. There were also a couple of food trucks, although I didn’t get anything to eat since it was 9am. The radio station had a costume contest and there were so many people dressed up in festive wear. We didn’t stick around to hear who won, but I saw runners dressed as snowmen, Santa, and there were lots of people wearing Christmas onesies. As usual, many dogs made appearances and a lot of them had on Christmas decorations as well.

The weather was great. I was worried that it would rain, as it’s been raining for the past week here in Seattle. But it was just a bit overcast and the sun kept trying to break through. It also wasn’t as cold as it has been which was nice as I only wore a hoodie sweatshirt and left my jacket at home.

My friend and I walked the entire route and even stopped to get a latte along the way. It took us a little over an hour to complete the 3.1 miles which I think is pretty good as we were not walking very fast. I did check my time and while we were not completely last, we were pretty close. Still, we finished and we got a medal!

The Jingle Bell Run 5k is to benefit the Arthritis Foundation. It raises awareness and funds to support arthritis research for better treatments and a cure.