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| Welcome sign at the start |
Placement: 36th overall, 1st in the 50 - 59
Results: Here
Race Website: Here
Weather: Low 70's, no wind
Garmin Dump: Here
Previous Years: First Year for Me
| Mile | Time | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8:53 | A little hampered but feeling okay. |
| 2 | 9:22 | Half way though this mile I just ran out of gas |
| 3 | 9:19 | Some periods of running strong, but I was running on fumes here |
| Total Miles: 3.00- 27:36 | ||
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| Runners assembling before the race start |
Introduction
Looking for something to do, I opted to jump into the Great Chef Run 5K at the James Regional Park on the south side of Vegas.
The race seems to be held annually and is growing larger each year. It supports hospitality students training to work in the hospitality industry. The event seems geared towards chefs and those working in the restaurant sector.
The race was about a 30 minute drive for me and started at 8 AM. The race was held at a soccer / sports complex that also doubled as a community park. The race also boasted of a post race food choice and a goodie bag worth getting excited about.
I wanted to test my fitness and it was another opportunity to make friends and get acquainted with other runners in the Vegas area. The more races I do, the more I learn about the area and make new friends.
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| Ready-set-go |
The Race
I arrived at the race around 7 AM for the 8 AM start. There was ample parking and the park was easy to find. The race started on the west side of the park and I was able to procure a goodie bag and my bib in short order.
The morning started off pretty warm. It wasn't summer warm, but after about a mile warm-up I had broken a decent sweat. I am glad I wore my sun glasses -- the sun was pretty intense.
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| Typical stretch of park |
The race started a few minutes late, but it wasn't unreasonable. They encouraged slower runners to start in the back and faster runners up front. I surveyed the crowd of runners and the race was a large one -- Organizers said they had over 350 registrants and it was their largest event. I kind of figured there wasn't anything on the line except my ego in terms of age group awards. But passing by the awards table, I did notice they had a bunch of cutting boards that appeared to be age group awards. Perhaps something was on the line.
The race was on the sidewalks of the park. Only a few small portions were on dirt trail, I would say less than .15 of a mile in total.
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| Sun was blazing! |
Given that the race needed to be held entirely in the park, there was a lot of out and backs on the course. While the sidewalks were pretty wide, I had my doubts as to whether I'd be running headfirst into groups of runners. Fortunately, for the most part, that fear was unfounded.
I expended a lot of energy at the start and quickly found myself in oxygen debt. I think I wanted to make sure I wasn't hemmed in. From the looks of it, there were quite a few casual runners and after 100 meters or so, I was able to run freely without fear of being trampled or running over someone.
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| Soccer fields. Pretty much the views from the course. |
I was a little worried about the course. I was told it involved a lot of out and backs. And I couldn't find a map of the course and when I did my warm-up, I wasn't sure where I'd be going. The website promised the race was well organized -- and it was!
The course was almost entirely flat and this time I didn't have to pay a penalty with any sort of wind. Other than the 70F degree weather, it was ideal running conditions.
For an 8:53 mile, I felt like I was working entirely too hard. I dialed it back a bit but for whatever reason, I was barely out the gate and was redlining it. Where has my fitness gone?
The mile markers -- at least on my watch -- were off for the entire race. They consistently came in around .9 or .92. I did later use MapMyRun and it would appear the course does come in around 3.09 or so. So with all the turns, I suspect my Garmin mismeasured the course.
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| More soccer field views |
I was mostly running with people half my age. I saw a few people well over the age of 40, but I figured I was holding steady of being the most senior runner. It was hard to tell. Occasionally the front runners would fly by on one of the out and backs, but I wasn't seeing a lot of masters runners.
I had run sections of the course on my warm-up so it was all familiar to me on some level. I was trying to get a sense of where the route was going to take me. Roughly, though, we were running a clover-like pattern.
There was one aid station on the course and it came in around the half way point. I was tempted to grab something as I was overheating. But I was so focused on just getting it done. I was still overtaking people though and occasionally a runner would come up behind me. But I was struggling.
I really started to feel it right before the half way point. I realized I was cooked and I just wasn't having it. I think it was the heat and just being undertrained to run hard in it. I had consumed half a Gu gel before the race, so it wasn't a fueling problem.
Unbeknownst to me (my Garmin didn't seem to beep during this segment), I ran a 9:20 mile 2. This wasn't even half marathon pace. And I was struggling.
There were 2 segments where the paved sidewalk led onto dirt. If you view the Garmin map, on the east side, they were segments run to the south. They were short, but they were slightly hilly and afforded no bounce. The rocky / dirt trail just stole any gains I was making.
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| Yeah, I feel that bad |
The race was also odd in that there were about 3 times where you got close to the finish line. To the point where you could see it. There were moments when I just wished I could continue and just finish.
There were marshals at all the major turns (or cones) and despite the course's complexity, it was easy to follow. There were some fans as well offering encouragement.
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| Some of the dirt road segments. |
Finally, the final mile approached and while I was spent I was still competing. There wasn't anyone to work off of -- no one to catch and there wasn't anyone approaching. But I was still pushing to the best of my ability. I knew my time wasn't going to be great today, but I wanted to secure whatever placement I was going to get.
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| The final stretch |
I flew by the mile 3 marker despite my watch saying I was around mile 2.90 (I could hardly read my watch due to the brightness of the morning). The dance music could be heard as I ran the final .1 of a mile and crossed under the JusRun arches.
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| Finishing |
Conclusion
Despite running like I was finishing a full marathon, I was able to rebound fairly quickly. I grabbed a wooden spoon which was demarcated with the Great Chef Run 2026 logo. This spoon was your finisher's medal (everything was chef / cooking related). I was also handed a bottle of water.
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| T-shirt + finisher's medal |
It took a bit for me to feel normal again. I think the heat indeed had gotten to me. As I saw other runners crossing under the arches, I figured I had better sample some of the post race refreshments.
They had coffee, which I hadn't had prior to the race, which was nice and halfway decent. They also had a huge assortment of overnight oats, fruit bowls, and even some sort of acai (I think) granola / fruit thing. I am still unsure of what I ate, but it was absolutely fantastic. And that is the best part of this race -- the food. I didn't expect much but the food was on an epic level and it was all good. The hospitality workers, in which we were supporting via the race, pulled off a great show.
I had had plans of visiting a buffet post-race to either drown my sorrows or celebrate a good race, but the food was so good and plentiful, I wound up having a pretty decent breakfast.
The race goodie bag was also well worth the price of admission. I got a technical t-shirt that resembles a chef's jacket and a chef's hat. There were some other product samples in there.
The highlight of this race is definitely the post race food. It was a real treat to have something different besides a banana or oranges or granola bars. You are definitely paying for the experience (I paid about $50 for the race a week before the start date).
Despite the turns and out-and-backs, the course was mildly interesting and was pancake flat. I do think it was highly raceable.
My only gripe was the age group awards. I think there were only 3 groups, under 18, over 18 until 39, and 40 and above. For a race this size, I'd love to see 5 or 10 year age groups. They were giving away wooden cutting boards and it would've been nice to win one of those. From what I can tell, I would've placed 1st in the 50-59 age group had their been awards for that category.
I think I'll come back next year for this race. This race checked off a lot of my boxes for a great race and this one may have the best post-race food / breakfast I've done in a very long time (I still have to give a slight nod to the Farmington Days race). The race also had a strong party-like atmosphere and it was hard not to feel good about the experience from start to finish.
04/18: 2026 Signs of Hope 5K - Las Vegas, NV (Confirmed)
02/21: 2027 Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon - Las Vegas, NV (Confirmed)
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