Giants 5k

I got my best 5k race time at a rainy run at MetLife Stadium with my family.

Rainy jump.

Why Giants 5k

My boyfriend, John, is a big New York Giants fan. I was intrigued when I got an email from the Giants about at 5k at MetLife Stadium where they play. The race finished in the end zone, formers players were going to be there - it sounded like a cool thing to do, especially as it fell on our anniversary.

My sister, whose husband is also a Giants fan, reached out to me about the race not long after I got the email, as we were scheduled to be visiting her that weekend. We agreed we’d go to the race, and we all ran it, including my young niece who ran the kids race.

The weather 

This race was wet. In a forecast where pretty much every other day in the lead up to and after the run was sunny, race day was rainy. It wasn’t predicted to rain until the afternoon, but there ended up being frequent showers from the moment we got there.

We got our race shirts before the run, and while I wasn’t planning to run in it, I wore it before the run to keep my race shirt dry. 

Wearing my finishers top to keep my race shirt dry.

The stadium 

The stadium was all decked out in special branding to celebrate the Giants’ 100th season. Having been to a game once before, it was a much different experience this time walking into the stadium and directly onto the field, instead of up to a seat in the stands.

It was really cool to be standing at field level, looking up at the stadium seating and lights surrounding us. I was also surprised at how small the field seemed. John and I both felt it looked so much smaller when on the field compared with watching in the stands or on TV.

The happy couple.

We didn’t line up for autographs from the former players that were there, but we did take the opportunity to tour the Giants locker room which was open for the event.

It was much fancier than I expected a locker room to be, but I guess I should have expected more from a professional sports team than my high school gym locker room.

Fancy Giants locker room. 

The race

A chaotic start

Unlike the locker room quality, the race organization was a bit chaotic, which I was not expecting from a professional sports team. The race was meant to start at 9am, but when we walked to the start line outside the stadium, the announcer very casually mentioned the race would be starting at 9:30am due to the weather. 

I couldn't believe they wouldn't make an announcement inside the stadium informing us of this. I also couldn't believe they would delay for the weather when it was just raining (no thunder), and the race website said it would go on rain or shine.

We went back to the stadium to keep sheltered from the rain. The race ended up starting even earlier than 9:30am, but thankfully, we had walked back to the start in time.

The start line featured a drum line and former players hyping us up as we prepared to run.

A fast 5k

Once the race started, I immediately had to find pockets to run through as lots of participants were walking from the beginning. Once I had cleared the masses of people, John and I ended up running the whole race together.

John and me running together.

John is much faster than me, but I also had been running much faster recently while staying with my mom who lives in a flat area. This was a flat course as well (minus one unwelcome hill near the end), so I wanted to see if I could keep up a fast pace.

In the end, while the weather wasn't nice, I think it was ultimately beneficial to running fast as I could have not kept up the pace I did in American heat and sun. It was warm and muggy, but when the rain started halfway through the race, it cooled things down. I managed to keep each mile under 9 minutes.

Most of the course itself wasn't that exciting as it was through a parking lot, but we did run past the Giants training center and got to see their outdoor practice area. The highlight was of course finishing in the end zone. 

As it was our anniversary, John and I ran across the field holding hands and even got called out by the race announcer for doing so. We're so cute.

Holding hands finish.

End zone finish line.

The Giants players at the start were back at the finish to high five us as we finished.

I had an amazing finish time of 28:17, which was the fastest 5k race time I've had, though I haven't run that many 5k races. 

According to Strava, my exact 5k time was 27:40. That time is not a PB and not even in my top 3. My top 5k time is 27:09, which was the first 5k of my fastest 10k in Aberystwyth. For a 5k on its own, my fastest time was 27:12, which was just a random 5k I did at home a week after the Great Manchester Run in 2019.

Given those runs were 5 years ago, I'm pretty impressed I was even that close to those times at a race in 2024 when I run much slower now. Running under 9 minute miles is pretty much unheard of for me these days.

Post-race goodies

I very much appreciated the race line treat of Dunkin' munchkins, including the pumpkin spice flavor, which is the best.

Munchkins!

My sister finished shortly after John and me, and my brother-in-law ran an impressive time considering he was pushing my niece in a stroller for all of it.

My niece then did the kids run from one end zone to the other, which was really special to watch (though there were so many kids, I couldn't spot her!).

On the way out, we stopped at the Giants shop as we got a 20% discount as race participants. I've found myself wanting to wear a hat in the sun this trip, but I don't own one, so I'm now the proud owner of a Giants baseball cap. 

Hat owner.

Their first game the following day, though, was nothing to be proud of as they really sucked, but that's on brand for them. So the Giants 5k was the real highlight of what was happening at MetLife opening weekend, and I'm so appreciative of my sister and her family for being up for it. It was a special way for John and me to celebrate our anniversary.

Next race

Nothing scheduled, nothing I'm planning to book on to. It might be a while before another race recap.