Latest reviews by Chelsea

(2015)
"MEC Marathon "
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
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Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
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MEC Marathon while it was not the race result I was looking for was an well run no frills marathon for the right price.

Start/Expo
We arrived a hour before the start of the race and walked down from our rental place. It was a perfect day to run a marathon, just cool enough and not hot at all. The start area wasn't at all crowded it was a small local feeling race, there was no stress of being in a large crowd. I did day of package pickup which was just my bib, no paper extras or junk it was perfect. They offered a bag drop as well, my husband and I took advantage of this and dropped out bags just shortly before the start of the race. There was about 100 runners in the marathon it was a nice small sized race. The race started at the Telus Spark Center in Bottom lands Park following the river paths to Silver Springs Area.

Course:
The aid stations offered nuun and water until the turn around point, where they began to offer cliff bars and bananas as fuel for the rest of the race every 2nd station. The pumpkin cliff bars were a nice touch, I hadn't tried them before. There was a couple water stations that barely had a mouthful of water in the cups, when I suggested to the volunteer that perhaps it might be a good idea to fill them slightly more I was met with a lot of negativity. The course goes through downtown Calgary and runs along the river most of the race, the scenery was awesome. Overall the course is flat with the turn around area being a exception, the hill through that area could be quite steep and challenging.

Finish/Final Thoughts
My biggest gripe with this race is that there was no medal, it is a marathon after all. I didn't want anything fancy just a simple medal for completing. I would reconsider doing the race again for just that reason. The food at the finish line was lacking it was just green bananas, no cliff bars or anything else to be had. Overall for the price of $25 the race was well organized and chip timed. There was some small improvements that could have been made, but overall a good experience.

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(2015)
"Fun overall, wouldn't do more than once"
Overall
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This race was fun, however it nickel and dimes you at every turn very annoying. This is the sort of race that is really only fun once and doesn't appeal to more serious runners as much because of the mass of people on the course and the lack of courtesy from your fellow participants to pass or get around them.

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(2015)
"Awesome experience"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
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This race is well organized and truly lives up to its own hype. They do get you to pay for parking which is required because their races are typically quite a bit of out the local city/town. They are organized from the start be sure to either print off your event bright ticket or bring your phone. They have lockers available but we placed our phones and gear into our vehicle without issue. The race atmosphere is awesome everyone is really excited and fired up to get on the course. A complaint i do have was that the warmup area was on a hill and slightly dangerous. The speech they give in the corral before you start is awesome. The course is well marked and organized, the presence of emergency aid is visible on the course. If someone was to roll and ankle or something similar help was not far away. The completion of each obstacle gives you a rush pushing you forward to the next one with your team. Everyone on the course is willing to give you a hand over the obstacles, like they say at the beginning it's not a race you are there to help out your fellow mudders. The extreme obstacles such as electroshock therapy are crazy and awesome. At the end of the race when the put on the headband you feel like a million bucks. They also give you a bear and a nice under amour shirt and provide showers to try and get you unmuddy. I recommend having a hotel for after to get the mud off, cause you will be finding dirt and mud for awhile after.

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(2015)
"Love this Race"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
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Elevation Difficulty
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I ran the relay for this race. What an excellent atmosphere surrounding this race. The whole town comes around the race and most of the local businesses support and sponsor. The terrain is extremely challenging and they are not kidding around when they say it's the hardest thing you will ever do.

The course is beautiful and well marked. The downhill single track on my leg (2) was unlike anything I've ever experienced, it was a mix of trying not to slow down too much and not killing myself falling down the side of a mountain.

My biggest tip if you wish to do this as a team is to volunteer, you only need 8 hours to guarantee your spot for next year. You have plenty of time in the 30 hour race to get in those hours.

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