Castaway Cay 5K

While we were on our Disney Cruise, we went to their exclusive island in the Bahamas, Castaway Cay. One of the things they offered was a 5K and I had to sign up even though I hadn't run once (not a single time) since the Hershey Half relay in October.

This was a very small "race" and I do say race lightly. It was really just for fun. They did have a timing clock but no chips on bibs or to put on your shoe, so no individual race times. I was surprised though- they did have racing bibs and medals to hand out at the end. For free, I didn't even expect that.

We had about a 15 minute (fast paced) walk from the cruise ship to the start of the race.

Castaway Cay Map
Photo Credit: cruisecritic.com

The race itself started around O on the map above. We followed the path up and left, took a right turn, went to the end, took a left turn, ran around the bicycle path (which was about a mile in itself- 5000 ft), went to the end of the airstrip towards 19 (Serenity Bay Tram Stop), turned around, ran back around the bike path, and then ran back to the start the same way we went out.

Photo Credit: goobermonkey.com

There were only two people manning the race- one at the start/finish line, and the other went to the entrance of the bike path and had water glasses. They told us that if we threw the cups on the ground they would chase after us themselves because they weren't like the Disney Marathon with a ton of volunteers and couldn't be picking up after everyone.

I had no idea that Dave made it to the start of the race.
I didn't even know he would be at the end and wasn't looking for him.

I decided to run 3:1 intervals using my Garmin watch. I thought I'd be able to handle that. It worked for about the first 2 intervals and then whoa. I was not ready for the heat and humidity. When we were still on the boat they told us it was already 75 degrees and that was half an hour to an hour before we actually ran. The night before I also had quite a bit to drink- Dave and I put Neil in the nursery on the ship and checked out some of the bars on the ship. So I also was a bit dehydrated to start. I don't like drinking much on actual race day before the race because I must have an extremely small bladder and have to constantly pee.

So the first 8 minutes or so I followed my original plan. The scenery was beautiful, it was on pretty much a paved path. But there was almost no shade, and yes it was very very warm and very humid. The first time I finished the bike loop, I said to the guy (Oscar) manning the water station that I wasn't used to this weather. He just smiled as I kept plugging along.

The start of the race

I wasn't paying any attention to how far I had gone, and there weren't mile markers or anything like that. I made it around the first loop somewhat keeping up my run intervals but as I rounded to the tramway, it was really bright out, there was absolutely no shade, and I knew I needed water. So I started dropping my intervals to 1:1. It was approximate because my watch was set for 3:1 intervals. And when I switched to 1:1, I wasn't paying attention during a run interval, wanted to go a minute, was dying, and looked down to see it had only been 45 seconds. At that point I started questioning if I was stupid for signing up for this. But I also said to myself that if I needed to I could just walk the rest of it.

I got to the turnaround and was really relieved. I might have cut it a bit short; it wasn't marked much. They did have markers with arrows and this one had a turnaround so I turned around right at the marker. I could have gone further, and maybe I should have because my watch said I ran less than 3.1 miles. So I must have inadvertently cut the turnaround too short.

The rest of the way I tried to keep up 1:1 intervals but there were some 1:3 intervals (as in running 1 and walking 3). I had set my watch for 10 intervals, so 40 minutes, and started making sure (timing in my head based on the mileage) I was going to make it back to the finish before my watch stopped. Once the number of intervals is done the workout ends and I wanted the entire map of my race in the one workout instead of two separate ones I would have to combine together.

I walked a lot towards the end but did run when I knew I was close to the finish. I surprisingly got a burst across the finish line as I was handed my medal and I immediately started looking for water because I needed it.

My final time was 37:21 in 3.03 miles. I felt like I walked the entire thing but I guess it wasn't that bad... You can see the first mile was decent but I really slowed down after that. This probably also shows I ran too quickly during the run portions.

Mile	Time	Total Time
1	10:44.0	10:44.0
2	13:05.0	23:49.0
3	13:17.0	37:06.0
3.03	00:15.0	37:21.0

Walking back with some water

Some notes about the race if someone stumbles across it and wants to run it.

They had a bag drop off at the start/finish line. It was just a box so I wouldn't put valuables in there but it was nice it was available so you can bring clothes and go to the beach without going back to the boat first. I actually ran with my key to the world (cruise/Disney card) card in a zipper pocket on the back of my shorts.

If you have kids who are old enough for the Oceaneer's Club (has to be at least 3 so Neil didn't qualify for this) there is an area on Castaway Cay for kids that they can be without the parents and parents can enjoy alone time. I think it's called Scuttle's Cove. When we walked by it, parents were given a few minutes to drop their kids off. Nice way to be able to run a race and know that your kids are having fun and not running around on the beach by themselves or something.

At the end of the race, it's right next to a store that sells some 5K shirts (among other things). There is no admission fee for the race so I consider the cost of the shirt the admission fee. And I had to get it. How many times do you have a chance to run a 5K in the Bahamas and on a remote island?