Death by 5K Review

For those unfamiliar with Death by 5K, the concept is pretty simple: You run a 5K every 2.5 hours for 24 hours, totaling 10 rounds. In reality, the trail was closer to 3.65 miles per loop, putting the total distance at roughly 37 miles.

Overall, this was a really fun event with a pretty unique challenge!

Surprisingly, the hardest part wasn’t necessarily the running itself. With 2.5 hours between each start, you have plenty of time to recover. The real challenge was getting comfortable in your tent, sometimes even falling asleep, and then having to drag yourself back out to run another loop. Especially at 1:30/4am in 40 degree weather

**The course:**

The trail itself was beautiful, but definitely more challenging than your typical road 5K.

By the end, I had covered 36.7 miles with roughly 4,300 feet of elevation gain.

I also came into this event pretty undertrained. For perspective, I only ran 21 miles total in September. Despite that, I finished 25th out of around 100 participants with an average moving pace of around 12:00 per mile.

**Food and amenities:**
The event provides food every other round, including pancakes, quesadillas, pizza, and other options throughout the day and night.

The portions were a little small, but considering they’re feeding over 100 participants, I can understand why.

They also provide snacks, water, and Gatorade throughout the event. That said, I’d definitely recommend bringing plenty of your own food and drinks, especially since you’ll be spending so much time at camp.

**Finisher swag and value:**
This was probably my biggest disappointment.
Instead of a traditional finisher medal, you receive a small coffin/skeleton keepsake. It’s a fun idea that fits the theme, but the quality felt a little cheap and underwhelming after completing nearly 37 miles.
You do receive an event shirt as well, but with registration costing nearly $200, I would’ve liked to see a little more value in the finisher items.

**Would I do it again?**
Probably so

As someone who loves camping, trail running, and just being outdoors, this event combines a lot of things I enjoy.

However, I would definitely recommend doing it with a friend or group of friends if possible. A huge portion of this event is spent hanging
around camp waiting for the next round.

Overall, Death by 5K is a fun and unique endurance challenge that I’d recommend to anyone wanting to dip their toes in the sport. I don’t necessarily consider this an ultra as a traditional 50k is much harder but this is a step in that direction.

Overall Experience: 7.2/10

I’m not talking about best times and finish line photos, I’m talking deep in it, things you’ll never forget, things that make you love this sport.

First time poster here - I have recently started taking running more seriously and upping my mileage, and have noticed that my cadence is around 151-153, which seems low.

I’m working on improving it to about 160 for now (so as not to do too much too quickly).

Does anyone who has done something similar have any watch outs? I have heard calf and Achilles tend to take more strain when you up the cadence, so am focusing on stretching those areas and doing calf raises to strengthen.

Anything else I should watch out for?

Edit: should have said. This is in preparation for a 100km Ultra in May next year - hence posting it in this group

Looking to see how others 100 mile recoveries have gone. Just finished my 3rd 100.

Here’s what I’m seeing:

Day 0 - finish race and sleep, eat
Days 1-3 - bouts of fatigue, night sweats that dissipate in intensity by night 3,
Day 4-6 - night sweats gone, sore legs, active recovery. Elevated resting HR (probably ~10 bpm)
Days 6-9 - Heart rate still high, HRV lower, heart/cardio feel in recovery mode
Days 10+ - run/walks, heart rate on exercise back to near normal maybe slightly elevated, cardio/chest/heart still feels in recovery

Other than that feel fine just want to check to see if others have experienced cardio/heart recovery impacts after large efforts like a 100

I’m looking for a 100 mile race that’s fairly flat and fast to try to get my first sub 24. (In the US) Looking for something in a cooler month, maybe January or February. I’m sure there’s some small obscure race I haven’t found yet. I looked at Long Haul in Florida, but it’s sold out and the waitlist is turned off. Tunnel Hill is of course sold out. Brazos Bend is the same weekend as a bike race I already signed up for. Any other good ones out there I’m not finding?

Je revends mon dossard pour le semi du 25 octobre !!

I’m training for my first 50 miler! I’ve been a runner for ten years, have previously run a couple marathons and a 50k. I have thru-hiked both the PCT and CDT and hiked 60 miles in a day so I’m no stranger to time on feet. However, this will be my longest official race and I want to train more seriously. Like actually follow a structured training schedule that involves Fartleks, tempo runs, hill repeats and long runs (rather than just going off vibes which is what I have historically done).

My question is, what apps do you recommend for scheduling your training week? I’d like an app where I can actually write out my intended workouts for each day of the week. Basically, a virtual planner to keep track and make sure I’m building up mileage correctly. I like the format of Runna a lot, but I don't think you can customize the training plans it generates for you (plans that only go up to 50k). Ideally looking for a free or cheap app (not trying to spend like $100 on this). TIA!