Just woke up from a warm nap after this morning’s obnoxiously rude cold race. The cold was rude. Not the race.
With a brisk 9 degrees, I lined up to run the Penguin Pace 5K in Wayne, NJ—and I’ll tell you, I truly felt like I was running as a penguin. Definitely a first for me racing in cold that extreme. That made the dress code… let’s call it experimental.
The big question: how many layers keep you warm without sacrificing mobility and flow? Well, I went with four long-sleeve tech shirts (three lightweight, one heavy), compression shorts, lightweight long tights, and winter tights on top of that. Upper body? Nailed it. Lower body? Probably one pair of pants too many—I could feel my legs working harder than they should have.
Add in four pairs of socks, two pairs of gloves plus mittens, a neck gaiter, and a winter hat, and I was ready to battle the cold. Despite all that, I finished just one minute off last year’s time on the same course, which I’ll gladly take.
Breathing during the race was tricky—not from the cold air, but from some severe post-nasal drip that kept choking me off and on. Still, watching some runners fly by was incredible. You’d swear they had a personal bubble around them with springtime weather on the inside, keeping winter out.
Not the outcome I was hoping for, but given the conditions, it’s one I can absolutely live with. It was the first race of the year, after all. And if last year taught me anything, it’s that anything is possible when you stay driven, dedicated, and focused. Repeating last year’s success will definitely be more challenging—but it’ll be fun trying.
Shout-out to my crazy teammates—this was our first co-ed championship run, and we finished as champions. Proud to be running alongside every one of them.
John Delaney
