2nd Sunday in February, Chinatown, Broadway and College St., Los Angeles, CA
Club goes to Dim Sum lunch after.

App and info: Telephone 323-256-1363 or click on Firecracker above.

This race takes you around Elysian Park so be prepared for hills. Runners can sign up for both races, but only one will be timed.

The Registration Area & starting line is one block north of the Gold Line's Chinatown Station on Broadway. Get on the 6:43 AM train from the Sierra Madre Villa station in Pasadena if you want to get there in time to experience everything. Those wanting to see the Opening Ceremonies it's scheduled to start at 7:15am, but plan on getting there by 7:30 at the latest. If you drive, get there by 7:00am-7:15am to get decent street parking. 100,000 firecrackers will go off around 7:50!

Empress Pavilion Restaurant
988 N Hill St, # 201
Los Angeles, CA
(213) 617-9898

Empress Pavilion is on the second floor at the corner of Hill St & Bernard St., one block west of the race's starting/finishing line. The quickest way there is to take Bamboo Lane which should be the first walk/alley way just to your right (heading west towards Dodger Stadium) as you exit the finish line chute. Turn right (North) on Hill St until you see an escalator and take the escalator up to the second floor and look for the restaurant.

Since the restaurant fills quickly, we should meet at the starting line before the 5k to get a head count. Then the first people to finish the 5k should go to the restaurant to get a number. The restaurant should open around the time the 10k runners finish.

While we go there primarily for the dim sum, we can also order off the main menu if we need to get food for anyone with a dietary restriction. Generaly rule of thumb is that dim sum should cost a little more than $10/person. However, if you go with a big appetite or you order something off the regular menu, bring extra $$.

Julie Miller's Report on the Firecracker 5K - Sunday, February 13, 2005

Flyers Robert and Maria Vangilder, Patrick Tantraphol, Karen Johnson, and Julie Miller did the Los Angeles Firecracker 5/10K. This is a fun race, heralded by an earpopping 100,000 firecracker start, traditional Chinese Lion Dancing, and cries of what sounded like Gung Ho Fat Choy. I still don't know what that means, but I suspect it translates into either Go Fast People or maybe Go Fat People? Logistically, it's so easy to take the Gold Line from Pasadena to the Chinatown station and you are now a block from the start of the race at Broadway and College Street. There, you can sip a latte and have coffee cake at the Wonder Bakery next to the start.

The race starts at 8 a.m. 5K, or the 9 a.m.10K. Patrick Tantraphol even ran BOTH the 5K and the 10K. Luckily the weather was perfect running weather on Sunday - cool and overcast as the 5k course a real challenge. Runners face a one mile hill right at the start of the race, and several more before being rewarded Taiko drummers a the halfway point, and a downhill run taking in a great view of downtown LA.

But best is -- you get to eat dim sum! Just a block west from the start, there is some of the best dim sum in LA for post-race feeding at the Empress Pavilion Restaurant at 988 Hill Street, on the second floor. Tip: Be sure to have the first runner in your party walk west a block from the start, and put their name to reserve a table early, as this place gets crowded by noon. It's so worth it to get together a big group to sample all the tasty treats, including rice porridge, dumplings filed with chicken, pork, sweet bean paste, and don't miss the mango and fruit pudding. For 9 bucks apiece, we ate until stuffed and I still brought home shopping bags full of leftovers.