Corktown Race 5K: March 10th, 2013

This awesome event takes place in Corktown, which is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Detroit.  The potato famine during the 1800s in Ireland drove many Irish immigrants to this area.  So as you can imagine St. Patties day in this neighborhood is a pretty big deal.  Every March on the Sunday before St. Patties day there is a 5K race and then it is followed by a huge parade down Michigan Avenue.  Also, the many beer pubs in this neighborhood are set up with extra beer lines and quick food, usually corned beef sandwiches and Guiness.  The hardcore partiers are up and at it by 7:00 AM.  This neighborhood is where the old Tigers Stadium once stood before it got torn down.  The neighborhood had taken a turn for the worse when that happened, but is recently undergoing a huge revitalization.  There are many younger people moving to Corktown and the establishments there are really taking off.  This is the first year we have decided to come to Corktown for the big party and it was well worth it.  The 5K is more of a fun run then a serious race.  There is a costume contest and almost everyone is dressed in green in the spirit of the celebration.

Jess and myself getting ready to run.

Race is complete, time to get our drink on!

 When I woke up in the morning I had to get out and run 5 miles before heading down to the 5K so I could get some required training miles in for my big event at the end of July.  Then Jess and I drove downtown and found a sweet parking spot North of the freeway, which was smart because there was huge traffic jams of cars trying to get right into Corktown for the festivities.  In reality we were really close to everything without the hassle the other drivers were having.  Jess's two friends from her work, Stacy and Moureen, were going to run the 5K with us so we found them and got in line to start the race.  I think there was around 13,000 runners and most of them dressed in green which was a cool site.  The course goes 1.5 miles down Michigan avenue and then back.  Along the way there were many spectators and even some bagpipers were out playing.  I took some video of this while I was running.  The video is pretty choppy for obvious reasons but I posted it anyway.  This was neat to see.  I was really feeling the spirit and vibe of this massive celebration, especially because of my Irish descent.  There was some very interesting costumes as well, one guy was dressed in a wrestling singlet and he must of been drunk before the race started.  He was leapfrogging parking meters and yelling at people.   

Bagpipers on the parade route

Congrats to Maureen who finished her first 5K!  After the race Jess and I went to a few bars and walked around checking out all of the festivities.  Then we watched the parade for awhile.  It was quite the scene.  We ended up hanging out at a Detroit original called Slow's BBQ which is a staple of Corktown.  We grabbed some chicken sandwiches and also a few beers from their awesome beer selection.  Then we met up with a couple friends from work who were also down at the Corktown celebration and headed to a pub called Nancy Whiskey's where the Irish party was raging!!  They even had a separate line just for Irish Car bombs, my favorite shot!  Perfect!  This was such a great time that we will defnitely be back next year.