Officer Down 5k

Officer Down 5k

Officer Down 5k

( 2 reviews )
50% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Wichita,
    Kansas,
    United States
  • July
  • 3 miles/5K, Other
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Willie

Kansas, United States
4 14
2016
"Running to honor our fallen officers."
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Willie 's thoughts:

http://www.runningwithrolos.com

My wife and I find this cause extremely personal, and we would participate no matter how it was ran. I will note that I do not believe the local organizer was previously experienced. Please keep that knowledge in mind when reading this review. In addition the planning didn't start until March, so this was all done in 4 months. There were 360 finishers from what I saw, so the event was a bit on the smaller side.

Signup: The signup was done online, and was very simple. Handled by a popular third party site, we had no issues here. The registration was actually fairly cheap as well.

Parking: The race was held at Sedgwick County Park, which is a popular park beside the zoo. There is plenty of parking albeit spread out along the road. This didn't seem to be an issue.

Bathrooms: I do not recall seeing any portable/extra bathrooms available. I only saw the one park building by the start/finish line, so you could imagine there was a bit of a wait. I'm sure it was nicer than a port-a-potty though.

Course: The course swept through the park, and was 99.9% on paved paths. There was a short, maybe 50 foot shortcut through the grass. My GPS showed the course just a little bit longer than 5k, which is no big deal to me. The paths spent a lot of time in the shade, so we were fairly protected from the hot Kansas sun. My only real complaint is where the race started. Even though we only had a few hundred people, starting everyone on a 3-4 foot wide path creates a lot of congestion. I would suggest starting the race on the street so everyone can thin out a bit.

Course Support: There were volunteers handing out water along the course, though I only recall one spot. They handed out bottles of water, which aren't very convenient for running. If we wanted to carry a bottle we would've brought our own. I would suggest going the traditional route of cups, as I heard several people through away nearly full bottles of water.

Swag: We received a very nice tech tee for participating, and they had multiple other items available for purchase.

Entertainment: There was a DJ there playing music before and after, and also a community day afterwards. Mostly grilled food and some kids games.

Management: As I mentioned, I don't believe the local organizer was experienced. The opening ceremonies started about 20 minutes late, and the race itself about 15 minutes late. The start/finish line was a bit separated from the pre and post race festivities. Maybe they didn't have a choice, but I would think you could get those items closer together. From a national management standpoint, these series of races could use some help. It's a great cause, but given it's been around since 2011 there should be some improvements by now. The website needs major work, and the local races are maintained separately. This particular race was a simple Facebook event.

Photos: I'm not sure if photos will officially be available, but there is a YouTube video with all the pictures. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qnl7nJL1Z-I

Overall the race was fine. I'm not going to give the local race organizer a hard time given it was a first attempt. She'll learn. No matter what we'll join next year.

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