Latest reviews by Jason

(2015)
"New Medal Design"
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This was my second time running the Jenks Half Marathon, and other than changing the medal and the shirt, the race is largely the same.

The long sleeve technical shirt is one I will put in rotation for training this year. They did a good job with it including sizes that made sense. The medal is also vastly improved in my opinion.

The Jenks Half Marathon starts near the Jenks High School track, runs through the Jenks High School area, and then turns West to hit some of the rolling hills near Highway 75. On the way back to the Jenks High School track, the race loops around the North side of R.L. Jones, Jr. Airport. Runners then finish with a lap around the high school track.

With the start at Jenks High School, parking is nearby and plentiful. A lot of runners park in the baseball/track complex lot, but if you're going to finish under 2 hours, I would recommend parking to the South in the high school lot so you aren't working your way through other runners as you leave the area.

Real restrooms are available at the track, but if you're superstitious about your race day preparation or just need to clear out your sinuses, Tulsa Runner brings in a handful of porta-potties near the start line.

The one truly unique aspect of the Jenks Half Marathon is that the course is completely open to traffic. The police and volunteers do a great job of managing the intersection crossings for both runners and drivers, but you must pay attention. Cars will pass you at several points during the race, and they will sometimes get a bit close for comfort.

There is some elevation on the course, but it is mostly slow rolling hills. The majority are found from around mile 3 to mile 8. Except for a couple of levees and a small hill you see at the start, the last 5K is basically flat and fast.

If visions of placing overall or age group are dancing in your head, keep in mind that the Jenks Half Marathon draws a lot of fast runners. Many competitors are running to tune-up for Route 66, Dallas, and other end of year races where they may be running a full or half. The Jenks Half Marathon may be their weekend speed work. You'll likely have to break 1:20:00 by quite a bit to take the overall, and age group winners range from 1:20's to 1:30's for most age groups.

The race also offers a 5K that starts shortly after the half marathon. If you want to take home an age group award, this is a good race. I could have had 1st in my age group and threatened top 3 overall. Why did I run the half marathon again?

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(2015)
"Afternoon Romp through Snow and Ice"
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In only its second year, Trail Madness is a nice, intermediate distance trail race operated by Fleet Feet Tulsa. The race offers 4K, 8K, and 16K distances with the 16K being two loops on the 8K course.

The real draw to the race for me, beyond the obvious home team trails, is the mid-day start time. In 2014, the race started at noon, and this year, the race started at 1:00 PM. I start almost all of my training runs around 12-1 PM so it makes the race a comfortable relaxing day as opposed to a 3 AM alarm clock day.

What's great (or terrible) about a race in Oklahoma in early March is you have no idea what you're going to get from the weather. In 2014, I believe it was sunny with temperatures in the low-60's. This year, Trail Madness lived up to its name by offering a course with a couple inches of snow and ice covering the trails. The end result was actually better than what I thought we were going to experience. The weather forecast even just 48 hours out made it look like Trail Madness was going to become Mud Madness.

If you're not an Oklahoma native, you may not know that Oklahoma doesn't handle snow and ice well. As a result, a lot of runners dropped out of the race either due to travel issues or just common sense that others of us lack.

The snow and ice may also have affected the race preparation. For instance, there were no porta-potties, only the small Turkey Mountain bathrooms. I believe Fleet Feet usually brings in at least 5 for events like these so I'm wondering if the weather played a role. There were also fewer volunteers at the water stops than in other Fleet Feet races I've attended, and I noticed they were asking for more volunteers as late as Saturday night before race day. Neither issue affected the race, though.

The course was extremely well marked. At no point during the race did I question whether or not I was on course. At a couple of different times running in groups of 2 or 3, one person would follow the trail instead of the tags, and others of us would pull them back on course, but it would have been obvious to anyone lost that they needed to turn around. There were probably green tags every 10 feet on average with traffic directors at the water stop entries and exits and yellow tape to discourage trips onto the wrong trails.

The route chosen for the course was another good one. It didn't benefit my incline running as much as last year's, but it provided a good balance between incline and descent, technical and non-technical. The way it was structured led to a fairly exciting race if you were keeping track of my position and those around me. I passed the eventual 4th place finisher 3x, all on steep inclines, and he passed me 2x holding me off for a 3 second advantage at the finish. It looked like 1st and 2nd for the 16K were pretty close as well.

Last but not least, Fleet Feet Tulsa stepped up with more race swag this year. Like last year, everyone received a t-shirt, but this year they added a really nice finisher's medal. There were also overall and age group awards for the 4K and 8K, and they seemed to be handing out awards to *all* of the 16K finishers.

Also, if you haven't run a Fleet Feet Tulsa race before, you may not know that race pictures are usually free. They won't always get a picture of you, but more often than not, they will get at least one. It's up to you to make the picture a good one, a skill which I do not possess. Might have something to do with my face. Hmm...anyway, even after a day standing out in the cold taking the pictures, they spend their Sunday afternoon uploading them to PhotoBucket and making a race video.

If you think you might enjoy running trails, I can't recommend Trail Madness enough. There are not many trail races that will give you a 4K distance to cut your teeth on. You will also find every pace under the rainbow with finishers ranging from 7:00 min/mile up to 25 min/mile. And the best part of all...no early morning alarm clock.

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(2015)
"Run Two Races for 3 Opportunities to Win"
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The Post Oak Challenge is two days of trail racing at the Post Oak Lodge just North of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Both Saturday and Sunday include 3 race distances each. For 2015, Saturday provided 10K, 25K, and 50K distances, and Sunday offered Quarter, Half, and Full Marathon distances. The 50K and Full Marathon are both 2 loops on the 25K and Half Marathon courses.

Being from Tulsa, I didn’t stay at the Post Oak Lodge for race weekend, but my wife spent time there for a corporate retreat last year, and she has nothing but positive things to say about the facilities and staff. If you are not local, Post Oak would make a great destination race where you can wake up and walk straight from your room to the starting line. Other than potentially passing through Tulsa traveling to Post Oak, you wouldn’t even know you were near a city until you reach the top of one of Post Oak’s notorious hills.

The most unique feature of the Post Oak Challenge is that you can enter one event on each day and compete for their “Doubler” awards. I competed in the 25K and Quarter Marathon, but the ultra runners seemed to like the 50K and Marathon. One of my race goals, however, was not to die so I stuck to a Doubler with a few less miles.

To be completely candid, the Post Oak Challenge was not a perfect race. On Saturday, there was a lot of confusion regarding the route markings. I followed runners ahead of me off course twice early in the 25K, but the mistakes were easily corrected and did not affect my time significantly (I blame my calves for my time). Other runners appeared to experience more significant problems staying on course, but I saw a lot of runners jumping caution tape in one area so I’m not sure how much of it was real and how much was self-inflicted. Whatever the root cause, the race staff did a great job of finding and correcting the problems for Sunday’s races. Unlike Saturday, I didn’t see anyone struggling with the routes on Sunday.

In terms of terrain, Post Oak was much more technical than I expected. In this part of Oklahoma, most trail runs come with a healthy assortment of rocks and roots, the kind that like to bend your ankles in ways that they don't bend. Post Oak was no exception, and it added a level of complexity by having some of those rocks covered up by trampled grass. There were also a variety of tight turns built into the early section of the longer courses where you really needed to be looking up to spot the route and down to tiptoe through the rocks and roots.

Post Oak also includes some significant elevation changes for an Oklahoma race. One out-of-town runner I saw on Sunday remarked on how he thought Oklahoma was flat. Not all of Oklahoma is flat, and Post Oak certainly isn't flat.

There are two fairly steep climbs, the Hill from Hell and Holme’s Peak. I find Holme’s Peak worse because it’s steeper, but the Hill from Hell goes on much longer, something like 1/2 a mile or more with a steep section at the end. At the top of both, though, you get some great views of Tulsa and the surrounding areas. Make sure you also train for downhill because what goes up must come down, and it comes down fast at Post Oak.

The volunteers and water stops were amazing. You had people taking their entire weekend, getting up at 4am, and staying out there until dark so all of us can run in circles. Each water stop was a little different, but they were all cheering us on, and they were fully stocked with an array of drinks and foods.

The water stops also included ports-potties which is a welcome surprise for a trail race. Don’t even get me started on the CLEAN bathrooms at the Post Oak Lodge. That was just weird…and awesome.

I don’t take much at water stops other than water, but I did stop during the 25K to spend some time with a salt shaker. It was a unique but welcome find near the end of the 25K. If one had been so inclined, that particular water stop, the one right before the Hill from Hell, also appeared to provide a much wider array of food and beverages than most water stops I’ve seen at any race.

The Medals and Trophies are unique. For finishing, you receive a large steel medal noting that you survived the Hill from Hell. For the trophies, they go a bit old school using a wood tree with wood-burned lettering. I doubt you’ll find anything quite like it at other races.

As for other swag, you get a long sleeve technical tee that can be seen from the surface of the sun along with a nice hat. It’s not a running hat, but it is a nice hat. If I wore hats frequently outside of running, it would be right at the top of the list. I used to wear hats so I know what I’m talking about. It’s a nice hat.

I would be remiss not to mention the photographer. Watt Design Photography has been taking photos of runners suffering on Holme’s Peak the last few years, and he did an awesome job. He does charge for photos, but the price for a digital photo is reasonable (unlike some of the companies runners deal with…they know who they are), and he offers discounts for buying multiple photos.

Alright, we covered the terrain, swag, pictures, and the hat. What else was there? Oh, that’s right. How could I forget? I won a race! I managed to enter the perfect combination of races for the Doubler, and I came out in first place. How often can a mid-pack runner like me make that claim? Maybe some cheetahs left you in the dust on Saturday and Sunday, but did they leave you in the dust on BOTH Saturday and Sunday COMBINED?

Excepting the minor route marking hiccups and my complete physical breakdown during the 25K, the Post Oak Challenge was a great experience. When I start doing more destination races, this is the kind of setup I would love to find: great accommodations a stone’s throw from the starting line.

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(2014)
"First Time I've Ever Appreciated the Fall Time Change"
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The Turkey and Taturs Trail Race takes place on Turkey Mountain in Tulsa, Oklahoma and consists of 3 race distances: 50K, 25K, and 10K. With less than 150 participants between all 3 races, it is not a large race. Hosted by the Tulsa Area Trail and Ultra Runners (TATUR), the local trail running club, the races were well-organized but still managed to maintain a casual, relaxed atmosphere.

The first major hurdle you will encounter running any distance at Turkey and Taturs is finding the starting line. Even as a long-time Tulsa resident, I only knew of the YMCA from running other races at Turkey Mountain. Not wanting to run 3 miles to the starting line, I had to do the Google Maps click of shame to lookup driving directions. The YMCA sits at the Southeast corner of the I44 and Highway 75 interchange on a little road called Olympia accessed by Skelly. Once you’re there, though, you really can’t tell you’re within a stone’s throw of 2 major thoroughfares.

The races started at 30 minute intervals with the 50K at 6:30, 25K at 7:00, and 10K at 7:30. I arrived around 6:15 because it was my first time doing a TATUR race and because I never made it to Runners World Tulsa for packet pickup prior to race day. Parking was sufficient, but we were all cycling through 2 porta-potties (assuming there weren’t open YMCA restrooms I didn't notice) so it was nice to get there a bit early to wait in line.

Timing was done with a ChronoTrack B-Tag, a very small tag affixed to the back of the race bib. Why is this important? A few of the races I’ve run recently have used other bib timing chips, and they’re far too big. I like to wear my bibs on my shorts, and with some of the other technologies, that just doesn’t work well.

The 50K started a few minutes late, and even with the time change, it started in the dark. That made me a bit nervous about starting the 25K in a few minutes, but the Internet swore up and down the sun would be up before 7:00 AM. Fortunately, the Internet was right, and I didn’t have to go running off into Loose-Rock Mountain in the dark.

If you are not from Tulsa or have not had the pleasure of running trails at Turkey Mountain, there’s one important thing to keep in mind. Turkey Mountain is technical. I’ve honestly run and hiked very few trails other than Turkey Mountain, but between those other trails and some wasted hours on Youtube, I can confidently state that Turkey Mountain is one of the more challenging places you will ever run. It’s admittedly more of a hill than a mountain, but what it lacks in altitude, it makes up for in attitude. And just when you think you’ve found some nice, smooth running surface, BAM! Stink Plant.

Aid stations show up about every 3 miles during the race. The route is organized so that you revisit the same stations multiple times permitting you not to carry your own fluids and fuel if that is your preference. The race instructions still encouraged bringing at least a water bottle in case you needed something in between. Restrooms were found at the start and near 17K and 20K. If nature calls in between, nature is available but mind the critters when you step off the trail.

This was my 3rd trail race on Turkey Mountain in 2014, and I spent the better part of the Spring and Summer alternating trail and road running every week. I have a route I like to run that includes some of the most challenging portions of Turkey Mountain, but it is often augmented by my amazing ability to take a wrong turn on the West side trails. I mention this because I want you to get a feel for how much time I’ve spent at Turkey Mountain. It’s obviously less than your average TATUR member, but it’s enough to have seen a healthy portion of what Turkey Mountain can throw at a runner.

So, believe me when I say this: the Turkey and Taturs route was HARD. I’m honestly not sure how you make a route at Turkey Mountain much more difficult without running a couple of the more challenging areas multiple times. TATUR, however, managed to map out a route that never used the same trail twice for the 25K, and the 50K was 2 loops on that same course.

The YMCA sits at one of the lowest parts of Turkey Mountain. As soon as we left the starting line, we started to ascend to one of the higher elevations of Turkey Mountain, and the reward we received once we reached that elevation? We got to run all of Power Line save Lip Buster. Power Line is so named because it’s a path cut through the woods for power lines that separates the East and West trails. It starts with the aptly named Lip Buster, the steepest, longest hill at Turkey Mountain and continues on for 3 or 4 more rolling hills. The rolling hills after Lip Buster are not all that bad on the way up, but on the way down, you’re dealing with loose rock and gravel on top of solid rock. May the odds of staying upright be ever not in your favor.

From Power Line, the route turns East to more familiar territory for most runners weaving a path back and forth parallel to the Arkansas River. Most of these trails are well worn and familiar save one tiny little path that I dare not call a trail. It happened to be a descent, but it was so small and technical, I couldn’t pick up the pace much. Beyond that, I had to backtrack for a lost piece of gear on this tiny trail. The fact that I found the gear was a miracle, but let’s move on ahead.

Stink Plant! Yes, after the tiny trail you get the real Turkey Mountain experience on the Yellow Trail just above the sewage treatment plant. This is one of those parts of Tulsa of which all Tulsans are quite proud. </sarcasm> Oddly enough, this is the most scenic part of Turkey Mountain. It doesn’t take long to leave the Stink Plant behind and parallel the now visible Arkansas River while running through the woods with a variety of interesting rock formations along the way. You can also run a good portion of this section pretty fast if your legs didn’t die on all of the hills. Just remember to lift your feet higher than you think necessary for the roots. I swear they jump up out of the ground to trip runners.

From there you come out to the main Turkey Mountain parking lot and run down a steep paved trail section to enter the Red Trail on the South side of Turkey Mountain. There’s not much to tell about the Red Trail except that you need to watch out for cyclists. There are jumps and banked turns going the opposite direction which wouldn’t be fun if you ran into a cyclist at the wrong time. I found 3 myself, but I was still in the grasses where they weren’t going too crazy. There was also a guy on a road bike which I still can’t quite figure out. Maybe I was so weary I was hallucinating.

So around the 20K mark, you finally get to run it…Lip Buster. I said run, didn’t I? I didn’t mean run. I’m sure some masochist out there ran Lip Buster at 20K, but not me. No, I stumbled and slipped my way up Lip Buster. I usually take pride in being able to run Lip Buster, but this day, I took pride in not falling on my face and busting…my...lip. Ooh, I get it now.

The last 5K of the race should have been easy, but I struggled with it. TATUR found some of the more technical sections in what should have been a nice, slow descent into the YMCA so I spent more time twisting my ankle and slipping than I did running. The appearance of 50K runners also slowed me down a bit as I was concerned I took a wrong turn. It turns out they were running their second loop of the 25K course in reverse. This is probably the only time in my life I’ve ever been happy a competitor passed me. Confirmation that I was still going the right direction was very helpful.

At the end of the race, 10:23 pace was enough for a mid-pack finish. On the roads, I could run this distance even with significant elevation changes in around 8:10 pace at the time of the race. I maintained 9:45 pretty consistently until I broke down in the final 5K. The paces ranged anywhere from 7:06 (yeah, seriously) to 20:00 for the 25K and only slightly slower for the 50K. I’m pretty sure Mr. 7:06 was an alien so prepare appropriately if you decide to run this race.

As for the food and the swag, I don’t much run for those, but I kind of like the shirt. The medal will work to sit with my other medals. It may not weigh 5 pounds and shimmer, but it still represents possibly the toughest race I’ve ever run, marathons included. Unfortunately, my health issues prevent me from touching any of the food or drinks during or after the race. The water was excellent, though. I can’t recommend the water strongly enough.

Needless to say, I highly recommend this race and most any at Turkey Mountain. It's a completely different experience from big road races and even the larger, shorter trail races I've done at Turkey Mountain.

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(2014)
"Heat, Hills, and Hordes"
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As a runner for almost 5 years and long-time Tulsa resident, it’s odd that 2014 was my first Tulsa Run. The Tulsa Run draws crowds of a scale similar to the Route 66 Marathon, and it’s a great in-between distance for testing both speed and endurance during marathon training season. This being my first Tulsa Run, I had few expectations for the event beyond setting a reasonably ambitious pace of 7:30/mile to cover the 15k distance.

One thing I’ve learned in the past year is that I’m running paces dictating a closer to the front starting position when running races where traffic will be an issue. If not, all of the weaving in and out of runners and taking outside corners will take its toll on my legs. So it was at the Tulsa Run where I found myself lined up across from the 1:25:00 pacer and within site of the 1:10:00 pacer (my goal pace) several rows ahead of me. There might have been 500 runners in front of me and some 4,000 behind me.

Even that close to the front, the first mile was exactly what I’ve come to expect from big races. Runners of a variety of different paces were in front of me, but the wide streets of downtown Tulsa allowed me to find my way to an area where I could run with few disruptions. By the end of the first mile, the pack had thinned allowing me to run straight ahead with few concerns for traffic.

The route continued the full width of the street for the first 5k, but as we started the second 5k, it turned South on Peoria which the race used as a 2k loop. As I ran South on Peoria, I saw some of the elites and faster runners heading North. It was slightly congested due to the narrowing of the road along with the presence of race walkers from the earlier USATF start, but it was manageable.

After running the 1k South on Peoria, I turned North and soon saw the reason many runners experienced a much difference race than I did. There were literally runners shoulder to shoulder heading South on Peoria. Based on my pace, I assume they were running in the low-8’s so the pack had to go on for a significant distance given the prevalence of 8-10 minute pace in recreational runners. The pack was so thick they were crossing over into our side of the road frequently enough that I abandoned the relatively comfortable camber of the center of the road for a spot near the curb.

Normally, I carry all of my own fluids and rarely stop at water stops, but due to issues I was having with my drink mix, I did stop for water twice near the end of the race. Both stops were well organized and easy to run through without stopping. From what I’ve heard from other runners, the huge pack I saw on Peoria must have overwhelmed the stops resulting in delays for many runners. The challenges were likely exacerbated by unseasonably warm temperatures. My own experience, though, was that the water stops were well stocked and organized.

In addition to the heat, the course this year was hillier than normal. In the past, it was an out and back on Riverside which is very flat save one hill into and out of downtown. This year’s race traversed areas familiar to any Route 66 Marathon runner, and the hills aren’t so much big as they are continuous. I can only remember about 3k of continuous level running. The rest of the time we were either going up or going down or mentally prepping for the next hill.

The pacer who caught me on the final turn was very accurate. When I saw the 1:10:00 pacer on my left, I was able to see the finish line timer 3 blocks ahead already rolling over, but based on chip time, the pacer and I both crossed just before 1:10:00. There were special awards for men under 60 minutes and women under 70 minutes so many runners were working hard to make those numbers by relying on the pacers.

The finish line included pictures with the official race photographer, but I never saw the setup. I wouldn’t have used it regardless, but somehow I didn’t see it and wasn’t told about it by any race staff. That was likely my own weariness and not any fault of the race.

Speaking of the race photographer, this was the first time I’ve been to a race that used their services. I didn’t buy any photos, but I did find their site a bit frustrating. Between the various forms of watermarks and low preview resolution, it was hard to judge the quality of the photos. They may have been incredible, but I honestly couldn’t make out enough from the previews to tell.

Due to food sensitivities, I didn’t sample any of the food at the finish line and opted only for a bottle of water. It sounds like they ran low on water later in the race, but that may be as much a fault of overheated racers needing more water than normal as it was planning. Races need to plan for heat, especially in Oklahoma where it’s not unusual for temperatures to swing 30 degrees overnight, but I can imagine heat instead of cold is a logistical nightmare for any race.

Regardless of the experience, I can’t imagine not coming back to the Tulsa Run. I really enjoy the distance. It’s short enough to run fast but long enough to test endurance. I hope they keep the hills and the heat for next year, but I’ll try hard to stay ahead of the hordes on Peoria.

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