Kraken 5k 2026

Leading up to this 5k, I wasn't feeling very confident. I took a week off after the Orca Half, and the two 3-milers I ran the week after were both very difficult and slow. I went back to the gym after five weeks off and had some major DOMS, especially in my inner thighs. Damn squats.

But this would be my second year running the Kraken 5k and I didn't want to skip it. After all, I'd been organizing it at work among our run club—I had to show up!

Nick and I planned to take this race easy. We remembered how hard we ran it last year and neither of us felt up to repeat performance. The night before, I jokingly asked if he thought we could manage to hold a 9:27 pace to come in at 29:30.

5k race prep is so easy.

When I woke up on race morning, my DOMS was magically gone. Nick drove to my place around 8:45am and we carpooled over to Green Lake. I had organized a pre-race picture with other runners from work who were participating, and we met up with them before quickly getting Nick's bib, checking our gear, and hitting the honey buckets.

I could hear the countdown for our wave happening as I exited the toilet. Nick and I hustled to the front of the corral, where the wave 3 was already lining up, and showed our wave 2 wristbands to the organizer. We were given a slightly-panicked "go go go!" and took off running. We were definitely the last of our wave onto the course, and because of our delay, there was a lot less dodging and weaving this year.

The first mile was the hardest, but not in the way my runs earlier in the week had been. It had been so long since I ran a 5k, I had forgotten exactly what the effort would feel like, and how hard to push. At one point, I saw we were hovering around an 8:15 pace and told Nick we had to back off; there was no way we'd hold it the whole time.

Mile 1: 8:54. Mile 2: 8:40.

Still, we managed a solid sub-9 pace for the first two miles. After the first mile, the fast pace didn't feel quite as unfamiliar or challenging. It's been so long since I've run fast, I kind of missed it! I kept glancing at my legs and thinking, wow, look what I can do!

Nick and I continued to overtake people as we went, finally hitting some crowded areas as we caught up with the rest of our wave.

As we came up on the 4k mark, I reminded Nick that this was the point at which we had walked last year. Neither of us said anything. I considered nudging him with a little, "I don't mind either way..." but I let the moment pass, and we kept on running.

Mile 3: 8:48.

We followed the course out of the park, nearing the end. Nick asked for the distance. I told him we had a quarter mile to go. As we turned back down toward the finish, he said, "Go!" and it took me a minute to realize he was urging me to sprint. I said, "What?! I don't have that in me!" That last tenth of a mile was rough, but we both managed to kick it up and finish together at a sprint.

Dying at Nick's side-eye of the girl who came up from behind us to beat us through the finish.

Somehow, despite feeling not the least bit ready, we beat last year's time by 29 seconds. I was so happy with our results—we didn't walk, we finished faster than we started, and all told, our splits were pretty even.

I really needed this race. After the disastrous half and then two terrible runs, I was starting to worry I was entering a true running rut. This race has set me at ease—I may have some more recovery ahead of me before my runs start to feel good again, but I know the good times are coming!

Ali