2026 South Davis Recreation Center Handcart Races 5K Race Recap - Bountiful, UT

Runners starting the Half marathon

Official Time: 28:10
Placement: 1st in age group, 63rd overall
Results: Here
Race Website: Here
Weather:  upper 70's slight breeze from the east
Garmin Dump: Here
Previous Years:  [2025] [2024] [2022] [2020] [2019] [2018] [2017] [2015] [2012]

Mile	Time	Comments
1	8:29	Meh start.  Hopefully I've saved energy for the 2nd half.
2	9:26	Felt like I hit a wall
3	9:58	Is this a 5K race or a half marathon?
3.04	0:17	Make an attempt at finishing strong.
	Total Miles: 3.04 - 28:12

Packet Pickup

Introduction

Well, being in Salt Lake for the entire weekend meant that I could double dip and do two 5K races.  I had just run the Deseret News 5K the day before, so I knew this one was going to hurt.  On the plus side, the over 50 age category at this race seems to be a bit easier to place at, so the pressure was slightly off.

None the less, I came to the race, ready to race and do my best.

I've done this race a bunch of times, as evidenced in the history above.  It is a bit of a summer tradition for me and this race I felt compelled to come back to.  I used to do the half marathon, which starts at 5:30 AM, but given the heat conditions and just having a hard time running halves in summer, I opted in for the 5K.

The calm before the storm

The Race

So the race is held on the city streets of Bountiful. The race starts at 6:30 AM, so there isn't much traffic and the course is properly marshalled.  It isn't terribly scenic, but it is an honest course with a fast first mile and the latter half of the race, a grinding uphill.  I certainly wouldn't call it a "personal best" type of course, but it works for a simple, city-held run.

Packet pickup is always simple and they have it well organized.  I was able to procure my bib in short order and grab a shirt.  Given that the race is held at the local recreation center, we also had nice bathrooms.  This is always a plus.

I did a very short warm-up prior to the race.  Normally I like to do more, but it was warm and I could feel yesterday's race fatigue in my legs.  I figured less was more for today.

The race started, more or less on time, and we were off.  The start is congested but it only lasts for a while before you are dumped onto a wide street where you can run at your own pace.

I felt like I was moving well at the start. I was working hard but keeping something in reserve.  The first mile is a gentle downhill and after about 1.25 miles, the climb back to recreation center can be described as a slow, grind back up.  

I was scoping out my competition as the race began, but there were a lot of people.  I hadn't spotted anyone in my age group but I just told myself to run as well as I could and hope for the best.

View at about .3 of a mile

Mile 1 came in at a disappointing 8:29. I was hoping for at least an 8:15.  I hadn't really glanced at my watch during the stretch and was running entirely on feel.  Sadly, I knew it was only going to get slower and harder.

After about 1.25 miles, you make a right turn and you are greeted with the start of the hills.  I am usually able to grind out another 100 meters or so before reality sets in. People sailed past me and I was growing frustrated. I knew I had a race in me from the other day, but my pace felt so slow.

It was warm and I was working hard and I knew the hardest part of the race was still to come.  I just kept focusing on doing whatever I could to hold a solid pace and hang on.  There were moments my pace did increase but it was short-lived.

The course has one aid station and it was so warm, I was tempted to grab a cup.  But I kept going.

The final mile and a half is a long one.  When you make another right turn the road just never seems to end.  It is only a mile, yet you can see the summit of the hill ahead and it just grows steeper and steeper the further along you go.  

I knew mile 2 was going to be slow and it ran up at 9:26.  About 20 - 25 seconds slower than last year (this would be a consistent theme).

The final mile was grueling.  It is about .6 to .7 of a mile and it is primarily uphill. Everyone's pace falls off a cliff.

Runners coming into the final stretch

I still had people to work with, but most participants were cruising by me.  I was trying to find someone to work with or at least work on overtaking, and the pickings were slim.

I soldiered on and finally I made it to the top.  With a quarter mile to go, I can usually find a 2nd gear but there really wasn't much.  I wasn't going to catch anyone and there wasn't anyone closing the gap on me.  My legs were tired and they didn't have the performance I was looking for.  It was also feeling hot and semi-humid.

Although the finish line finally came and I made the final turn and gave whatever I had left, finishing in 28:10 or so.  Disappointing but not totally unexpected.

Conclusion

So first off, I thoroughly enjoyed doing this race.  There were a lot of people I got to say hi to and the race is just a good-natured event.  The course usually comes in at 3.08, so I figure I ran at least that distance for this race.  Of late, it would seem, my watch has been measuring short.

My performance was disappointing, but really, not unexpected. It was warm, I was tired, and I am now coming from a lower elevation to race in a higher elevation.  All of these factors took a toll on me.  None the less, I did manage to finish 1st in my age group.

They had the typical spread after a race plus some perks:  pastries!  There were some nice high-end donuts present and for a budget friendly race (I want to say I paid about $30) it was a nice addition. There was water and fruit and other typical post-race refreshments available (although they did get thinned out for the later finishing half marathoners).

Awards

Shirt + Finisher's Medal

One of the bigger disappointments for me on this race was the cotton t-shirt.  Every year, Handcart has given out some amazing shirts - that I routinely wear.  This year's was cotton. I could've cried.  It had a cool design on it too.  Sadly, it probably won't be worn much like the rest of my Handcart shirts.

The other troubling thing was the length it took to get awards out.  For a 6:30 AM start time for the 5K, the awards were listed at being given out at 9:30 AM, or 9 AM at the earliest. I think it was to facilitate the half marathon finishers.  This is just too long and by the time the awards were being handed out, many 5K runners had given up and left.  You can pick up your award after the race, but given we were 25 minutes away, it wasn't worth the trip back.

Other than that, though, I had a good experience.  It did wonders for my "soul" to be back in Salt Lake, running familiar races.  Yes, my time, sucked, but there were a lot of things stacked against for me having a "good" race.

Overall, this race is recommended and it is budget friendly and friendly.  I just wish I was still in Salt Lake to routinely run it again.

Upcoming Races

09/12: 2026 9/11 Heroes Run 5K - Las Vegas, NV (Confirmed)

01/23: 2027 Sun Half Marathon - St George, UT (Confirmed)

02/21: 2027 Las Vegas Half Marathon - Las Vegas, NV (Confirmed) 

04/03: 2027 Mount Charleston Half Marathon - Las Vegas, NV (Canceled)

2026 Deseret News 5K Race Recap - Salt Lake City, UT

Packet Pickup!

Official Time: 26:53

Placement: 39th place, 6th in the 55 - 59 age division
Results: Here
Race Website: Here
Weather: Uppers  70's - humid
Garmin Route: HereHere
Previous Years: [2025] [2023]

Mile	Time	Comments
1	8:21	Decent start. Downhill section. Hemmed in a bit.
2	8:48	Reality setting in on the flats.
3	9:34	Last mile or so is slightly uphill. I was dead in the water here
3.02	0:09
	Total Miles: 3.02- 26:53

Introduction

It has indeed been a while since I last raced.  Living in Las Vegas -- it means the summer months are more or less race free.  And while I've been training and running pretty hard, it did mean that there wasn't much as far as competition went.

So I found the opportunity to double dip two races -- if I was willing to travel.  I've been homesick for Utah for quite some time and I decided I'd run the Deseret News 5K and the Bountiful 5K, which has been a summer tradition of mine for quite sometime.

I desperately needed a race and I desperately wanted to see people that I dearly miss in Salt Lake City.  So I put together a 3-night road trip back to Salt Lake so that I could race.

Pre-Race

So I arrived in Salt Lake, via a 5.5 hour drive, on Thursday a few hours after noon.  I think the initial rush of the packet pickup at Liberty Park had passed.  I remembered last year being fairly crowded.  

I managed to get in and out fairly quickly.  I found a few people who I hadn't seen in a while and chatted with them.  I also did a little window shopping at the discount shoes offerings but didn't really see anything.  I was kind of itching to find a place to eat, to be honest, so I didn't linger very long.

Lead Runners from the 10K

I did notice it was pretty humid.  I think there had been some rain in the area recently and I definitely felt it -- especially in comparison with the Las Vegas bone dry air.

I wound up grabbing some food, checking into my hotel and I actually slept pretty decently.  

The race started at 7 AM and one of the logistical issues of doing the 5K is finding parking.  There is no bus options for the 5K and with over 1000 participants the message I got was to try and find parking "somewhere" and arrange for yourself to get to the starting line or finish line.

I wound up parking somewhere in the middle... about a mile or so from the finish line and about half a mile from the starting line.  To be honest, it worked great.  Hardly anyone else had done that, and there was ample parking and I made excellent time getting out of the post race mess.  It was about a 10 minute walk to the starting line, and a 15 minute walk from the finish line.

The Race

I did a very limited warm-up.  It was already feeling very oppressive at the start and I had probably spent a little too much time socializing versus getting my head into the game.  This really wasn't my A-race but I still wanted to do well.  I had studied the previous year's results and I figured I had a shot of an age group award if the turnout was limited.

The race started at 7 AM and soon we were off and running.

The race starts in downtown Salt Lake.  We start a few hundred yards from where the other 3 races pass by -- the 10K, half marathon and full marathon.  The 10K had started at 6 AM and I saw a few of them throughout the race.

Post race photos with friends

The first mile, while crowded, is a fast one.  There is a gentle downhill at the start and I coasted down it with ease.  Despite being from Las Vegas, where the temperatures are warmer than Salt Lake's, I felt like it was hot.  Also, I the elevation is about 1500 feet more than where I live.  It just felt a lot harder to crush that 5K pace.

It was also hard to determine who was in my age group. While there were a TON of high school aged runners using the race as a tune-up, there were just so many people.  I just told myself to hang on.

The race pace didn't come easily.  It had been 2 months since I last raced and I had missed a lot of June with a bronchitis like cold that was a pain to get rid of.  

Saying hi to Olympian Jared Ward was a highlight.

I crossed mile 1 in 8:21.  I felt like I was working quite a bit harder and I expected something in the very low 8's / upper 7's.

The course eventually flattens out and soon I found myself running along the parade route.  Most of the crowd was holding their seats until the parade kicked off.  It was nice to get a few cheers while I suffered through the next mile. I couldn't coast anymore and my effort seemed even harder. I remembered when I ran this race in 2025 and the half marathon in 2023, wishing that I had never started running. While it wasn't as bad that, I knew it was going to get harder.

Mile 2 came across in 8:48.  Disappointing but at the same time, not unexpected given my pace for mile 1.

The final mile is where reality sets in.  The parade route was still in full swing and the crowds got thicker, but the effort seemed a lot harder.  I knew what lay ahead on the final turn -- an grindy, but long final three-quarters of a mile.  

I am not super familiar with the downtown area, but I always remember being filled with dread looking up the hill.  You can hear and see the finish line, in the distance.  You know you still have quite a ways to go, yet it looks so close.

My legs were heavy at this point and it took a lot of willpower to not walk.  My pace did feel like a walk and I knew I'd probably have a meltdown if I glanced at my watch.

I was being passed by a lot of people and I am told there were a few people who were having medical issues from the heat.  It was that kind of day.

Eventually, I did make it to the top.  I knew it would come and while my watch says it was only about 30 feet of climbing, it felt like a hundred.  

I sped through the finish line in under 27 minutes.  All things considered, better than I expected I would've done.

Conclusion

So I wound up not placing in my age group.  Fortunately, it was easy to get results.  I was okay with it.  I was just happy to finish in the realm of respectability -- and it was my first race in over 2 months.

I was able to get some photos and check-in with friends who I hadn't seen in quite some time.  That was about 80% of the purpose of the trip: see people that I can chat with online, but wanted to see in person.

There was ample post race celebrations, food, and drink.  You definitely get yours money's worth on this one and there are a lot of product vendors giving away free samples.  

The shirt was a nice design and a polyester / cotton blend.  I'll wear it, but it isn't really race worthy.  The medal was definitely a keeper, especially for a 5K. 

T-shirt and medal

The 5K is definitely the way to go if you want to save yourself a lot of headache.  When I've done the other two races, it took an eternity to get to your car and once you got to your car, it took even longer to get back on the road to the point where you could get home.  

I should also note that my Garmin came in significantly short on the course.  I am not sure what happened -- perhaps some taller building interference.  I also do wear the watch head on my inner wrist.  Most Strava users got 3.10 or slightly above in their distances.  Given that this race is attended by elites, I do believe the race distance is accurate and the inaccuracy was a mismeasurement of my watch.

This race is an ideal way of celebrating Pioneer Day in Utah -- which is a state level holiday to commemorate the time when the settlers first arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.  The race is definitely worth doing -- but just be forewarned it is VERY competitive (there were many Olympic caliber runners at the various race distances) and it tends to be very warm.

Upcoming Races

01/23: 2027 Sun Half Marathon - St George, UT (Confirmed)

02/21: 2027 Las Vegas Half Marathon - Las Vegas, NV (Confirmed) 

04/03: 2027 Mount Charleston Half Marathon - Las Vegas, NV (Confirmed)