• Bloomingdale,
    Illinois,
    United States
  • January
  • 3 miles/5K
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Terie

Illinois, United States
2 2
2016
"Just a frustrating experience."
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Terie 's thoughts:

I signed up for this race because I needed to run a 5K to get pacing times for my upcoming marathon training. I signed up about 3 weeks before the race, knowing that the race was about an hour away from me. I showed up at 8:30 for a 10 AM race, wanting to get my packet before the race. (I always appreciate day-of packet pickup!) It was held at a very large Lifetime Fitness center, and I walked in to the front lobby and inquired about where packet pickup was. I was told by the front desk people that it was at the activity center...and then the people went back to work. I had to ask where exactly the activity center was, and then I got some strange looks. A young man directed me down a hallway, which is where I went next. When I got to the activity center desk, I told a young lady I was there for packet pickup. She silently went to a back room and got the goody bag and handed it to me. I then asked where the starting line was, and got another weird look... "Out back," she said, with a "duh" implied. Then she directed me towards a computer where they were handing out bibs. Now, I'm used to races that, when you sign up 3 weeks in advance, your bib is already registered and in your goody bag. They were registering bibs to people that day, and there was a problem with the system - it wasn't allowing them in to do that. Kudos to the young man at the desk for getting some paper to record names and bib numbers while still handing out bibs, but this struck me as very disorganized. Then I went out back to where the starting line was, and watched them struggle to put up the start/finish arch (looks like they eventually gave up on that). I went back inside, wandering around for a bit and finally seeing signs that said Gym #1 was closed due to the 5K festivities, but there were no signs directing anyone not familiar with the place to that gym. I guess that's my biggest beef with this race - it felt like I was already supposed to know what was going on because it was assumed anyone running was a member of that facility. There were no signs or no explanations given at packet pickup, which is what you usually get at a well-run race. When I got another "duh-implied" answer from the same woman regarding where the gym was we could wait in, I got fed up and left and ran my 5K at home. I can't stand a disorganized race and borderline rude people. I will never sign up for this race ever again.

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