Ho Ho 5k

No, this is not a race with prostitutes! The Ho Ho 5k began years ago in Tigard, Oregon, starting and finishing at Cook Nature Park. Besides being a reference to Christmas time, the race organizers used to supply Hostess Ho Hos and Snowballs to finishers. Unfortunately Hostess is bankrupt and the treats were changed to Little Debbie dessert cakes and brownies.

We are spoiled in the Greater Rochester NY area with race costs and what runners receive. It is unusual not to receive a t-shirt and still pay $20 or less for the race. NY races have mile markers, are normally electronically timed, results are immediate, awards give to age group winners, second and third places.

The Ho Ho 5k cost $20, $25 day of and had a record crowd of more than 400 people. No shirt, no road marshals, cones marking the course, no mile markers, awards only to the top three overall men and women, an open air shelter and some random prizes based on your race number, though none were substantial. The course was nice, about 1.3 miles on road, 1.2 on a bike path and the remainder on a trail. Hopefully we will see results on the organizer's web site in a few days. This was an old school type Rochester race with no frills. It just cost a surprising amount and would have been neat to have a shirt from a race in Oregon.

However this seems fairly typical in the Portland area, as all of the 5k-10k races I have seen cost at least $20 and up to $40, with a shirt, if offered, being an additional expense.