Latest reviews by Colleen Jackson Schlea

(2020)
"Nice course/ needs work"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

This is a two day festival with the opportunity to collect a challenge medal. I ran the 5K Saturday and the full marathon on Sunday. Parking is very convenient.
The shirts are nice, quarter zip tech, but since I was doing the challenge, they gave me two of them, but they were both the same . That's ok Not enough port a Johns, so the lines were long for this sold out event. Reviewing the marathon here, mostly. Course is pretty, over scenic Bridges which lend some challenge. Backside of the course goes through some nice neighborhoods, but there were no spectators. Here's my beef. The back side had unmanned aid stations and there was NO WATER! I'm truly think running out of water on a marathon/ultra course in Florida should result in a severe beating of the race director. How does that even happen?? Medals are nice, big. Spinners. Post race food is pasta (stone cold, bleh) pizza (warm and good) and Sam Adams beer. Placed in my age group both days which gets you a pint beer glass and a coupon for $50 off Brooks shoes. I'll do this one again because it's convenient, but bring your own water! Seriously! It's Florida!

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(2019)
"Great Race Managment"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

The group that puts on this race does a whole series of races in the St. Pete area and they run a tight ship. It's all about the runners and they make everyone feel welcome. This half is part of their Halfathon Challenge and Fort DeSoto Triple Crown Challenge. They always have nice racer back shirts and they match the others in the series . Race day, they prepay tolls to get into the park so traffic flows great. Parking is easy and plentiful. There are plenty of portable restrooms as well as real restrooms in the park. The course is a paved bike trail that takes you along the beach and water. However, it's a lonely course with no crowds, so if you're dependent on that energy, it isn't there. Volunteers are great and aid stations are well spaced and include water, Gatorade and orange slices. It's a flat course, so great for anyone looking to PR and they are USATF measured. Finish line is well managed and there is always a ton of food and free beer after the race. This race includes a costume contest, as well as age group awards for the run. The people who manage this series seems to really care about the runner experience and are super nice people. From a barefoot runner perspective, I'd recommend this course for advanced barefoot runners only. There's about 2 miles of really tough pavement that you have to cover twice (4 miles worth) that give me some fits, even as experienced as I am. All in all, one of the most consistently solid, well run races around here.

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(2019)
"First year race"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

This was the first year for this race. The course is pretty easy, mostly on a paved bike trail. There was no expo, only a tag and shirt pick up, no other swag. Had a choice of t shirt or tank and they ran pretty close to size, little big. Parking was super easy. Dependent on park restrooms, which weren't all open, so long lines and the guys had to use the women's. Course runs over a drawbridge so some people were worried at that, but it ended up not opening. Pretty views Age group awards went 5 deep. Food after was mostly just snack stuff. No beer. WTH?? Only big complaint was a lack of cold water at the finish, just big jugs of piss warm water you had to stand in a long line with little paper cups to get. Again, people, this is Florida in the summer. Have water, lots of it and keep it cold or don't do races in the summer!

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(2019)
"Skip This One! Terrible Race Management"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

We had signed up for the half marathon. There was a tropical storm that rolled though Friday, forcing race management to move the Saturday 5K to Sunday with the 10K and Half Marathon. The weather for Sunday was forecast to be beautiful. Late Saturday night we see a Facebook post that the Half Marathon has been cancelled for "public safety reasons." No other update was available until well after 9 pm that night. Having driven the course, it was clear, there were no road or other obvious issues.
We finally received an email stating that all Half Marathon runners would be placed into the 10K. Many people did not get the notice in time and were unaware until they arrived that morning that their race had been cancelled. No further explanation of the "public safety issues" was given by the race organizers, but police on the course were forthcoming that the race officials had not applied for the proper permitting in time to allow for LE personnel to be secured for the course. This is after this race had originally been scheduled for March, then postponed to October. People were really upset.
To boot, because the 5K group was included in the race, the crowd was large. The race started in the dark and with the additional crowding and starting all categories at the same time, it led to a tight squeeze on the start. People were tripping over things in the dark and falling. There was not enough assistance directing traffic in the morning with all the additional cars.
The shirts are Meh. Their "gourmet breakfast" was soggy pancakes.
They gave out the half marathon medals to those who had registered for the half, even though it was only a 10K. I couldn't stomach that, so I ran the course twice, plus some, along with about 50 other people. I felt really bad for those who were registered for the Florida Storm Series that this was the finale run for their year. They got really cheated.
The race directors did indicate that we will be receiving a refund for the half marathon and relay portions. That is a positive.
For the barefoot runners, I can only evaluate the 10K portion of the course, but I'd call it an easy run. Nice pavement.

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(2018)
"First Year Race-- Had some issues"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

This was the first year for this event, so some issues are not unexpected. The cause it supports is good, so that's a bonus. The shirt for the event is not a nice shirt, heavy cotton and runs very small. Mine doesn't fit, so I'll give it away. Race day parking was super easy and they provided parking permits. The event started more than a half hour late. The course is a bike trail next to a very busy highway on the causeway between St. Pete and Tampa, so while the views are fantastic, the highway noise and fumes do take away a bit from the experience. The trail was also not closed so we had to contend with the cranky packs of bicyclists who had to weave all around us, shouting some pretty unkind things at us. The race organizers ran out of water--an unforgivable sin in the Florida sun. The course was measured more than a half mile short. There was no food at the end, only small banana pieces that ran out, some oranges that also ran out and some ice cream. That also ran out before the runners did. Felt bad for the people in the back of the pack on the long courses with no water and no food when they got done. They also started packing everything up before the last runner finished. The race director was a super nice guy and he owned their issues, so maybe this was a learning experience. Unless they greatly improve next year, we won't do this one again.

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