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Newport,
Rhode Island,
United States - April
- 3 miles/5K, 13.1 miles/Half Marathon, 26.2 miles/Marathon
- Road Race
- Event Website
See more of our race!
Jen
Cape Cod, Massachusetts, United StatesOverall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Newport Rhode Races featured a marathon, half marathon and a 5k. The half (about 1,000 runners) started 30 minutes after the full (500 runners) and I was really looking forward to playing catch up with the slower marathoners but I went into the race injured and had to pull out of the race at mile 4. I had a great time in beautiful Newport and hope to come back to race someday!
Parking: Parking for the half marathon and 5k was at an Industrial Park so there was plenty of parking. Runners took a shuttle to the start line. I was originally worried about the shuttle situation but it was a breeze. It would have been nice to start at the start/finish so we wouldn’t have had to check bags (see “Bag Check” below) but logistically it wouldn’t have been possible for the race.
Number pick up: My dad and I got our numbers before the start of the race. The lines were short and we got them right away, no problems.
Swag: Cute gender-specific tech shirts. Age group winners won coasters. All runners received a medal--I didn't LOL--but if you complete the whole Rhode Race series, runners received an anchor which fit all the medals from the series around it. I’m not usually a medal person but I saw one and it was pretty cool.
Bag check: What a mess! There was no rhyme or reason to bag check. It was basically throw your bag in a pile where you wanted and then when you got back… all the bags had moved and you get to search through a pile of a million other bags. I’m just glad I got back to the finish line early so I was able to find my bag before anyone else did.
Bathroom situations: Decent amount of porta potties. The line got really long before the race and most had run out of toilet paper.
Start line – The start was at a beach (right near the Newport Cliff Walk). Runners lined up in the road by predicted pace. Seemed like a pretty good system for the size of the race.
Half marathon course – The course was beautiful! So many water views and so many rolling hills. I didn’t get to experience the whole thing but my dad said it was challenging. The roads weren’t great but there was a sign when entering the town of Newport that they were fixing the roads in Fall 2017. My dad talked about a ton of potholes around mile 9 and there was a big mud puddle just before the finish line. I’m surprised it wasn’t filled in before the race!
Aid stations/water: Aid stations were about every 2 miles. I have to give a big virtual high five to the Mile 4 water stop. They were awesome when I pulled out of the race calling for a ride and offering me water, food, blankets and a warm place to wait. In efforts to be “green,” the race only offered mini water bottles at the finish and then paper cups of water in the food tent area. I literally stood there while the volunteer filled up my water cup 12 times and I would have liked a full bottle to carry around with me after the race and for the shuttle ride back to the car.
Food: Post-race food was ok. Bagels, Papa Ginos pizza, Clif Bars, packets of applesauce, chips, etc. There was a table with people grilling burgers. They smelled DELICIOUS but they were about $10. My dad and I skipped the beer garden even though we were pumped about the TWO free Shipyard beers. The line was super long to get in and it was all enclosed and in the shade. It was a beautiful day—we figured we would get home and have a beer in the sun on my back porch instead.
Other: GameFace Media was all along the course snapping pictures and they were free! The best! The race also offered a bike valet program and free athlete tracking through the RaceJoy app.
You can read my 2017 Newport Rhode Race Recap on my personal blog Run Jen Run: http://www.jenrunsfastblog.com/2017/04/race-report-newport-rhode-race.html