This was one of the most unique, most rewarding, and most fun I have had at a 5K in recent memory. Other than completing my first 5K, this might be one of my favorite memories at such an event.
A friend of mine, and an athlete at RISE Fitness, mentioned in class that he had signed up to run the Whiskey Row 5K. This surprised me simply due to the fact that up until this point, the majority of his fitness focus has been on becoming a powerlifter. At some point, it became apparent to me that he wanted to complete the event but did not want to do it alone, so for some reason, I offered to sign up. All this knowing damn well my right knee may implode as I trained for it. I also knew that I had zero control over what his training might look like, measuring his ability by only what I could observe in the gym. He is one of our hardest-working athletes and is always willing to push himself to the limit. A longer distance event for someone who never runs might not be the best place to try and push beyond their physical and mental limit, especially for the first time.
EXPO
It wasn’t until after I signed up that I realized how large an event this would be. Out of all of the 5Ks that I have completed, I cannot recall a single one that had an expo. Kicking off the Triple Crown here in Louisville, this 5K saw over 3,400 participants in 2025, so it was no small event. The expo, while only having a few vendors inside Slugger Field, was still a great touch to the event, and it brought back a flood of memories from all of the races I did so long ago. I was instantly taken back to the Rock N’ Roll series events, specifically when we traveled to Nashville and Savannah. Those events, much longer and bigger than the Whiskey Row 5K, were accompanied by much larger expos. Looking back now, those expos were more fun than I realized. They were part of what kicked off the event for us and made it special.
PREP
I had my concerns leading up to the event, which were confirmed as we stood in corral G waiting for the race to start. That was when Ben admitted that he had actually done zero running to prepare for the race. Originally, my plan was to do a run/walk method all the way through, something I would need to adjust based on his capability. I wanted to still push him, but I did not want to go overboard to where he would wind up injured. To prevent my own knees and back from blowing all the way out, I had been training intervals leading up to the 5K. I had been sticking with a :30/:30 method, increasing the rounds each time I went out to run. On the Thursday before the race, I drove over to my church gym, where they have an indoor track. I don’t prefer that, but with the rain that day, it was better to me than running on a treadmill. I managed 22 rounds in about 20 minutes and figured that I would be at least prepared enough to stick with Ben, regardless of what pace we ended up with.
RACE DAY
I woke up before God and drove out to the free parking mentioned in the event email. My fear was getting there after the lot was full and having to navigate around the city to find a spot. The entrance that I was most comfortable with was said to be blocked off for the race. My navigation skills are just the worst. And I am not even exaggerating when I say that. I figured it would be better to get up early and chill in the parking lot rather than sleep in and get there after the lot was packed.
Walking back to corral G reminded me of how the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta was set up. I want to believe that in the past, I would be freaking out standing there with all of those people, focused on getting my watch ready, calming my heart rate down, thinking about my pace, worried about hitting a PR. However, standing there with Ben, I felt nothing but excitement. The race was not about me at all. It was about him accomplishing something he had never done before. If he was nervous, he never showed it. In fact, I had such a great time talking to him before (and during) the race.
To my knowledge, there was only one corral behind us, and they did a staggered release. A funny side note: the winner of the 5K finished the race before our corral even made it to the start line (The winner finished in 14:31 which blows my mind). At about 8:15 a.m. we hit the ground running. My plan for us was to run/jog for :30 and then walk for 1:30. I thought the 1:30 would give him enough recovery time. Initially, he was surprised after the first 30 seconds and wanted to know why we couldn’t just keep running. I wanted him to pace himself and not get burned out. That was a hard lesson for me to learn when I first tackled these events. I remember watching people warm up WAY too early. I remember watching people literally sprint at the start, only to be gassed in a quarter of a mile. I wanted him to be able to hit the intervals as long as possible before tiring out.
I’m not sure if the Redbull was a great idea right before the race started, but it didn’t seem to bother Ben too much. Kinda hard to turn them down when they are walking around with coolers strapped to their backs passing them out.
As far as the race went, I loved the course. It gave me a chance to really take in downtown Louisville from a perspective that I never get, which is casually moving through the middle of the road without any cars. We were able to stick to the interval plan for about 5 rounds before Ben asked if we could skip one round of running and then pick up the jogging again. I did not tell Ben, but my goals for him for the race were to be able to complete it, obviously. But I wanted him to be able to say that he did not walk the entire thing. I did not want him to be last, so I kept an eye on how many people were behind us so that we did not get scooped up by the sag wagon. I also wanted to walk the line of pushing him to move just a little faster, without going too far off the deep end to where he couldn’t keep up with anything.
During the event, we stopped to take a photo near a mile marker. In all my races, I never took the time to do that. I was always too heavily focused on my pace and overall time. I got the impression that Ben initially assumed the event was 5 miles, and that was the reason it was called a 5K. Once we got to the second mile marker, I was hyped because we did not have long left, but I don’t feel he shared that same excitement, given that he might not have been aware of the distance itself. That was totally fine with me. I just kept reminding him of how good he was doing and how many people were still asleep at home while he was out there accomplishing goals.
Looking back now, I think it is actually remarkable what he did. A lot of people are intimidated by 5Ks. Ben was not aware of the total distance, was not trained properly, and still showed up willing to complete it. We did more walking than I initially planned, but he was not last, which was more important to me than him.
The race photos crack me up! These might be some of my favorites to date. I would be lying if I said I was pleased with my appearance. I am carrying more bodyweight than I want, and despite working on it and making progress, not being where you want to be makes showing up in photos hard. I kept trying to remind myself of the purpose for the race and take myself out of the equation, something that is difficult for me to do when looking at any photo of myself.
FINISH LINE
My only non-negotiable for Ben was that we would not be walking across the finish line. I told him that when we saw the finish line, and were ready to run, we would cross the line strong and do it running. As we turned one of the final corners, a police officer cheered us on and said, “You only got three blocks left to go! You can do it!” Sure enough, the finish line came into view and as we got close enough, Ben kicked into a jog and then a run. I could hear him working hard to my left and kept encouraging him. As we got to the finish line, I looked over to the left and saw his mother recording him crossing the line, which brought a giant smile to my face. I remember the feeling of crossing the finish line at my first marathon and seeing a familiar face excited for my accomplishment was one of the most awesome feelings.
He crossed the finish line so strong! It was simply the best thing ever.
RACE TIME
Never once did Ben ask about how fast we were going or what our time was. I doubt that he had a goal other than to complete the race. I knew he did not want to be last.
POST RACE
At the finish line, we were treated to water, bananas, some massive donuts, and beer. I told Ben I was not a big drinker, but I would drink a beer with him if he wanted. The donut was amazing. I wish I knew where they got them because it was hard not to go full big back and eat more!
I think Ben enjoyed the beer more than me. I took a few sips so we could take some photos, but after that, I poured it out. I just couldn’t handle a beer after a race.
Overall, I was extremely happy with how the day went. We had overcast weather and the rain did not show up until we started to head toward our cars. Ben pushed himself, did not come in last, did not walk the entire event, and crossed the finish line running. i think it was a very successful day!
My knee actually has been holding up, so naturally, after the adrenaline and high of finishing the event, it made me want to set my sights on a longer distance run. Of course, the days of trying to run the whole thing are behind me. If I sign up and train for a marathon, I will be doing a run/walk method and most likely use it as a fundraising activity.