FC5K

The Freezing Cold 5K. Elmhurst, Illinois. December 26. Perpetual trophy: the Frozen Icicle of Glory.

Live site: fc5k.vercel.app Host dashboard: fc5k.vercel.app/host Custom domain: fc5k.org is not connected to this deployment. Repo: github.com/zachback64/fc5k

Status

Public clubhouse site. Year eight was Ocho (2025). Next is Nueve: Saturday, December 26, 2026.

Course: Glos Memorial Park → Wilder Park → Elmhurst University → Wilder’s garden path → home. Gather 2pm (hot chocolate and schnapps). Gun at 3.

Local

The public pages are static HTML; RSVP and host tools run on the Python server with SQLite. Python 3.9+ is required, with no third-party dependencies.

python3 scripts/dev.py

Open http://127.0.0.1:8766 for the site, /rsvp for public RSVPs, and /host for the host dashboard. The local launcher creates a host password in data/private/host-password.txt (gitignored, readable only by your user). Use the exact origin above; localhost is a different origin. For deployment, set a separate FC5K_HOST_PASSWORD outside git and run server/app.py directly.

• Anyone can RSVP with their name, attendance, party size, activity, and notes.
• Successful public RSVPs receive a private edit link. Save it to return on any device.
• Hosts create personalized invitations with a party-size limit and copy a ready-to-share message. No messages are automatically sent.
• The dashboard shows confirmed and tentative headcounts, unanswered invitations, declined invitations, and private notes.
• Invitation tokens are stored only as hashes. The dashboard can replace a lost link; the previous link stops working and the RSVP is preserved.
• Responses persist in data/private/rsvp.sqlite3 (gitignored). Host sessions are stored in the database and expire after 12 hours or sign-out.
• Public signup attempts are limited to 20 per hour per IP; host login attempts are limited to 10 per 15 minutes. Limits are stored in the database, shared across instances, and use Vercel’s client IP header in production.

Run the integration checks with python3 -m unittest discover -s tests -v.

Live deployment

The application is deployed to the fc5k project in the existing zbackas-5858s-projects Vercel account. A dedicated Neon database (fc5k-rsvp, free plan) stores production RSVPs, host sessions, and rate limits. Local development still uses SQLite. No guest records or passwords are uploaded with the source.

The production host password is saved locally in data/private/production-host-password.txt and configured as a sensitive Vercel environment variable. It differs from the development password.

Production settings:

• DATABASE_URL: provided by the Neon integration.
• FC5K_HOST_PASSWORD: a unique password of at least 16 characters.
• FC5K_ORIGIN: https://fc5k.vercel.app, used for origin checks and invitation links.

api/index.py adapts the Python handler to Vercel. vercel.json routes requests through its explicit public-file allowlist; the source tree and private archive cannot be downloaded. .vercelignore excludes local guest data, photos, credentials, and development files from deployment uploads.

To deploy an update from this linked directory:

python3 -m unittest discover -s tests -v
vercel --prod --yes

Vercel is also connected to the GitHub repository. Production environment variables are scoped to production; preview deployments need their own separate database and password before their APIs can run.

For a custom domain, first verify ownership and configure its Vercel DNS records. Update FC5K_ORIGIN, redirect the old host to the new canonical domain while preserving path and fragment, and redeploy. Keep database backups private. GitHub Pages cannot run the RSVP API.

The old admin/ archive remains local-only. Do not serve the repository root with a generic static server on a public interface.

Previous static-only hosting: GitHub Pages

1. Repo → Settings → Pages
2. Source: Deploy from a branch
3. Branch: main / root
4. After it builds, temporary URL: https://zachback64.github.io/fc5k/

Previous static-only domain setup (fc5k.org)

The records below apply to GitHub Pages only. A deployment with RSVP storage must use the new application host’s DNS records instead.

fc5k.org is already registered at Namecheap (created 2022-07-21, expires 2027-07-21). It currently URL-forwards and does not resolve to this repo.

If that Namecheap account is yours:

1. Turn off URL redirect / forwarding
2. Add these DNS records:
   • A @ → 185.199.108.153
   • A @ → 185.199.109.153
   • A @ → 185.199.110.153
   • A @ → 185.199.111.153
   • CNAME www → zachback64.github.io
3. In the repo, keep the CNAME file (fc5k.org)
4. Pages → Custom domain → fc5k.org → enforce HTTPS

If it is not yours, either buy it from the current registrant or pick another domain (thefc5k.org, frozenicicle.org, etc.).

Data and pages

• data/public.json — public-safe facts per year. Source for history.html and the Hall of Glory.
• python3 scripts/build.py — rebuilds history.html (public) and admin/index.html (private).
• admin/, data/private/, photos/private/ are gitignored because this repo is public. They hold guest lists, posts, notes and every photo, and only exist on Zach's Mac. Open the admin page with python3 -m http.server then /admin/.
• To publish a photo: copy a JPG into photos/public/<year>/ and rebuild.

Merch poll and unpaid reservations

After an RSVP is saved (or an existing private RSVP link is opened), guests can vote on an item and budget and optionally reserve sizes/quantities with a follow-up email. Reservations are explicitly unpaid and nonbinding; this does not charge money, place supplier orders, or send email. Remove items and save to cancel. One response per RSVP/household; the existing private link controls edits. Hosts see votes, item/size totals, and contacts in /host. Initial catalog is MERCH in server/app.py. SQLite and Postgres initialize the additive merch_responses table automatically.