Kraken 5k

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Kraken 5k

by Karl Johnson
with photos by Karl Johnson and Bruce Fisher

Kraken 5k

10/4/25 – Green lake Seattle

This is the second year for this race. Last year there were about 1500 participants. This year there were 2338 runners, a 50% increase. There are a lot of hockey fans in Seattle. There were 401 Silver Strider runners. The first Female Silver strider was Rachel Steinebrey with a time of 24:34. The first Male Silver Strider was Andrew Nestingen with a time of 20:10.

The course is a simple loop around Green Lake. We were assigned waves when we checked in. I believe there were 8 waves, 5 minutes apart. This is necessary with this many people to prevent overcrowding on the course. There were still some local residents out for a walk to contend with, but overall the course didn’t seem too congested.

They had a big Kid Zone set up with lots of games for the young ones. There also was a Beer Garden for the adults. Brooks had a large booth and were giving away pastries that were quite yummy. There were two DJ’s in different areas spinning loud, booming music. Honestly, I was starting to experience sensory overload from all the noise and activity.

This was my second year running this race. I’m not sure about coming back, though. Run For Good Racing did a grand job of organizing the race and things ran smoothly, but large crowds and loud, booming dance mix music are really not my thing anymore. Plus, I’m not that big of a hockey fan and I didn’t see any one I knew either. I see that Edyth Hulet was there from scanning the results page, but I never saw her.

I was hoping to get a sub 30 minute time but missed it by 16 seconds. For a mostly flat course it felt harder than I expected. I’ve usually run this at night on the Electric Cookie Run in December so it is nice to run in the daylight and actually see the scenery and the lake. I had a post-run brew in the Beer Garden and then returned home. Overall a decent and well attended event.


xxx Karl Johnson
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