Gobbler Grind Marathon, Half Marathon, and 5k
Gobbler Grind Marathon, Half Marathon, and 5k
( 5 reviews )-
Overland Park,
Kansas,
United States - November
- 3 miles/5K, 13.1 miles/Half Marathon, 26.2 miles/Marathon, 100 miles
- Road Race
- Event Website
Willie
Kansas, United StatesOverall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
The Gobbler Grind has been going for a few decades, and is the second race in the Harvest Half Series challenge. The weather was absolutely perfect for race day.
Registration/Packet Pickup:
I registered online as part of the Harvest Half Series. The packet pickup was at Scheels, which is a wonderfully large sporting goods store. One problem with this. I did not see any kind of signs outside or inside to help show the way to the packet pickup. I even asked an employee, and he had no idea what I was talking about, even though I gave him the room name after running into a pacer that had already been there. I did finally find it on the second level, but the sign was small, sort of hidden, and was pointing in the wrong direction. I suggest that if this location is used again, to have better signage, and make sure the employees know what's going on. I wasn't late to pickup, and I wasn't able to get the official shirt. More on that later.
Parking:
The race starts and finishes in a corporate park, so there was plenty of parking available to anyone.
The Race:
The course started by weaving through the corporate park a few miles, which in itself was fairly nice. We then spent most of the race on the Indian Creek Trail, which I enjoyed quite a bit. There were some elevation changes, and some quite large/long, but nothing to crazy. The last half of the course is a net downhill, so you're able to finish strong if you're able to survive the first half of the course. It was a very nice course.
Swag:
We got a shirt and a medal. The shirt is a nice long sleeve hoodie t-shirt. However, they didn't have enough of the official design. Apparently there were two different designs, and they were out of the one that had been shown (the one I wanted of course). There should be one design, and enough for everybody, or let people choose between the designs during signup. I was a little disappointed with this.
Race Management:
The porta potties line was really long, so I'm guessing there could have been more to go around. Everything else seemed organized well, even though we started 5 minutes late. The speakers were easy to hear, so we were all aware the race would start 5 minutes late. The hydration stops were also plentiful with cold drinks. The gatorade (or whatever) seemed a little watered down maybe.
Overall:
I thought this was a great race, and will likely do it again in the future. Highly recommended.