Today I finally ran my first race in Geneva! The Geneva 5k or La Genevoise 5k was such a fun race to run with the ladies!

Before the race we picked up Charlie from the airport who flew in from London early this morning. We headed back to the bib pickup area so she could grab her bib and shirt before a few hours of relaxation.

A few of us decided to get the men’s shirts in place of the women’s as they are a longer cut. We stood out in the crowd of pink shirts during the race as many other women wore the pink technical shirt given out for the race.

Before the race Charlie and I caught up over lunch at Mango Deck where we each had the goat cheese salad complete with pears and hazelnuts! The salads were HUGE but the perfect lunch before what will surely be an evening filled with bread and pasta.

Fifteen minutes before the race we met Emily and the Team Naturally Run girls near the Flower Clock, a local icon, so we could run the race together. Most of us are running the half marathon or marathon relay tomorrow so our plan was just to enjoy the race together. 

We made it into the corrals just in time to join the warm-up party. I kid you not when I use the word party as they had the techno music blasting and kept yelling in French that it was party time!

Just as the race started the blue sky and bits of sunshine broke through the ominous clouds allowing us to enjoy 30 minutes of sunshine during the race. The course took runners over the bridge and along the lake before turning around and looping back to Jardin Anglais. Emily and I pointed out sites along the way as this is our normal running route together.

As soon as we started running we were all very pleased with our decision to just enjoy the run versus racing it as the course wasn’t PR friendly. There were many walkers and slower runners which blocked the paths since the course was so narrow. In addition, for future reference, there is no water along the course so for those who like to drink water as you run, bringing your own water is a must.

Just how much fun we had during the 5k is hard to capture in photos. Needless to say, the five of us who ran together were laughing and talking so much that we were surprised how quickly the turnaround point came up.

We finished in under 30 minutes, keeping just under a 10 minute pace for the race. After finishing we were greeted with medals, oranges, bananas, and reusable gold water bottles compliments of Tupperware.

What better thing to enjoy after a race than Laduree macarons?