January 19, 2025
For the second day in a row, our 5K was freakin’ freezin’. This one was officially so, as we ran the Freakin’ Freezin’ 5K at Route 66 Park in Yukon, Oklahoma (located in Canadian County). How the organizers knew there would be a cold spell on race day when they chose the name is a mystery, but they nailed it.
It was 15 degrees with 22 mile an hour winds at race time. We both layered up – running pants, long-sleeved base layers under windbreakers, gloves, balaclava ski masks underneath hats. Our only exposed skin was in the small patches of our faces not covered by our ski masks or sunglasses.
The cold did not snap people’s spirits, though. Runners and race staff were upbeat with a camaraderie resulting from shared voluntary unpleasantness. People exchanged “holy cow we’re really doing this” smiles and “what are we thinking” head shakes as they hopped from foot to foot to try and keep warm.
The course ran three meandering clockwise loops around an oblong pond, and it was nearly level. “There’s not much that anyone can call flat & fast…but this one is really close!” said the race website. “It’s not pancake flat, but it’s pretty darn close!” With only 15 feet between the low point and high point stretched out over the mile loop, they were right. In milder weather it would be a great course to go after a fast time on.
The treeless Oklahoma flats gave the wind plenty of room to roam. We were able to see and wave to each other several times during the race when we were on opposite sides of the narrow part of the loop, giving us a warm moment before turning flat into the wind on the wide part of the loop. And that wind had some serious bite. Despite our effective layering, we felt the cold it carried.
The race was put on by Five Star NTP, an Atlanta-based race management company that puts on over 75 races a year across 21 states, and helped raise funds for the Oklahoma City YMCA.
The field of 58 had some capable runners. Two teenagers who had run sub-17 minute 5Ks before outran everyone else, though not quite at their PR pace.
Julie and Ryan both finished first in their age groups. Julie finished 18th overall and was the 4th female. Ryan finished 11th overall and was the 11th male.
Detailed Race Report for Running Nerds
In Saturday’s Arkansas 5K, we both felt heavy and slightly brow-beaten by the wind and the cold. While the wind and the cold were present for our Sunday go of things in Oklahoma, and with more bite on both counts, our bodies were feeling more loose and warmed up.
The cold was the kind that starts to feel painful when you are standing out in it long enough so, 37 races in, for the first time, we found ourselves questioning why we were doing this as we counted down the minutes and seconds to the go point for our race.
Our layers kept us warm once we started moving, but we felt the cold early on. Ryan got an ice cream freeze headache from running into the wind. His right big toe went numb early in the race. Even with gloves, his fingers were cold. As he balled his hands into fists to try and warm them, each finger fought to be in the middle of the ball away from direct exposure to the air. His digits warmed up enough by midrace that he could focus on running rather than on his fingers and toes.
For the first quarter of a mile, Julie’s foot felt more like a rectangle block of numbness than an actual appendage. At each foot strike she noticed the odd sensation of clearly registering a piece of her body hitting the ground, but without the regular nuance that one feels when warm blood is running through capillaries as it is intended to do. Like Ryan, by mid race, Julie’s internal body heat had returned regular feeling to all of her extremities.
As for the race itself, whatever sense of ease that had been present in our New Year’s Day Hawaii 10K that had disappeared into a fit of effort and tiredness the day before in Arkansas was back. Julie tore into the miles with a focus only on running light and easy and hoping not to repeat the occasional bad habit of running out of juice on mile 3. She knew she was going to run slow and hoped, simply to run feeling strong, easy, relaxed, hoping for negative splits and a sub 30 minute time. A long cry from the early days of racing where Julie was hoping that she would crack 23 minutes by the end of the trip. Now, if she can just get back to her early day times of breaking 26 minutes, she’ll be happy. Part of that plan includes running a bunch of states as pure recovery runs at a nice easy forever pace. Julie nailed it somewhere amidst the cold and the wind on Oklahoma’s open plains coming in at 29:48. She turned in a nice and easy 9:42, 9:39 and a 9:20, picking up to a 7:56 pace for the last .12 and finishing with plenty left in the tank. It’s always nice to finish a race and feel like you ran exactly the race you were hoping to run. She crossed the finish line, high-fived Ryan, grabbed her finisher’s medal and we both promptly got our butts back into the van to sustain normal body temperatures while stationary.
After Ryan warmed up halfway through the race, he was able to focus on running rather than just the cold. He decided to run a little faster than in the last few races, but didn’t push himself too hard. Despite the cold, it felt good to run and to run a bit more quickly than in the last few races. That meant running an 8:20, 8:18 and closing out wiht his first sub-eight mile in a handful of races with a 7:56.
It was Freakin’ Freezing, and there is nothing like running in the cold and taking advantage of one of nature’s best heaters.
R and J in the USA 
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