The Elkhart County Fair Parade 5000 is a 5k race held on the first Sunday of the Elkhart County 4H Fair every year. The race leads and goes along the parade route from Downtown Goshen to the county fair grounds. The race begins at the heat of the day at 1:30 in the afternoon.

Participants are to arrive at the fairgrounds early to pick up their race packets. If you are unable to, you can have someone else pick it up for you. Also, there is no packet pickup the night before, only on race day. Basically you just get your t-shirt and race bib. From packet pickup, you have a couple of options on how you can get to the starting line: you can either run/walk there (about 2.5 miles) or take a charter bus (free and for runners only). I ran to the start to use it as a warm up. A suggestion on if you run to the start, grab a bottle of water or two (provided free to runners) to carry with you to the start. It will probably be a hot day.

The busses will drop you off at a park right by the starting line. You will have to walk a little bit but you will be able to find some shade to relax in leading up to the start. The busses drop you off about an hour before the race (to ensure that all runners arrive on time and don't get caught in traffic) so you have plenty of time to relax.

As mentioned the course starts in town and it is just about a straight shot east to the fairgrounds. There are really only 4major turns and one lap around the half mile horse track that makes up the course. The first two miles are on paved roads while the last mile consist of a dirt road and a dirt race track. Usually this doesn't matter but the night before the race, the area received a good amount of rain. If you got too far on the inside of the track, it became very slippery.

On course assistance was basic, 2 water stops at mile 1 and 2, bottle water and an ice cold wet towel at the finish. Post race there was no food for runners. I am sure they want you to purchase greasy fair food instead.

Awards were held, with 5 year age groups. Awards were generic medals with the Parade 5000 logo on the ribbon. Door prizes were also awarded. Those included a lot of what I would consider clearance items from a sporting goods store in town. Basically it was made up of a lot of college team gear from college not from the area. Also prizes included track seating for the big country concerts held later in the week at the fair.

If you plan to run the Parade 5000, be ready for the heat. It is common to see temps in the upper 80s and low 90s. Heat index were right about 100 this year. This race has been run by the same race director for 35 years, and this was his last year. It will have a new director next year but it sounds like things would stay the same. My recommendation to the new director is that they do away with the cotton shirts and get tech.

I am actually on the edge of recommending this race or not. The course is great, but organization needs work

We arrived at Syracuse shortly before 7:00AM for an 8:00Am scheduled start (more on that in a little bit). When we arrived, we went straight to check in to get out shirt, race number, and chip. Nothing else was given such as flyers or other sponsor stuff. Check in seemed real slow and a little disorganized. They became more evident the hour before the race as the line became 20-30 people long and stayed that way right up until 8:00.
As 8:00 approached all runners and walkers made their way to the start in anticipation of an 8:00start. As 8:00 came and went, it was obvious we would be starting a little late as people were still registering. After a little bit, we noticed that there was no longer a line. Then we learned that they still needed to add names in the computer. And do we waited, and waited, and waited.
Anyways, at 8:42 the race finally started. The first 3.3 miles were gently rolling hills. Not huge hills but constantly going up and down with very little flat running. The next 4.7 miles were then mostly flat. The course does run a little around the lake and the second half is fast.

Let's start with some positives:

-I like the course. It is a challenge but can be run fast as well
-Good competition
-The races are odd distances (at least in this area) which makes it unique.
-Start finish line was by the local park which was key due to some of the things that needed to be improved...

What needs to be worked on:

-For this being the 39th annual race, the 42 minute delay was really surprising. Something will need to be done about that to avoid it in the future.
-The 3.3 mile race was the only distance that was chipped times. The 8 mile race ended up finishing before reaching the timing mats even though 8 mile runners were given timing chips. I did ask the timer why the 8 mile was not chipped time and I was informed that their system could not handle two different race distances. This was the first time I have heard of this being a problem. I would say if you are going to have chip timing, get a company that can do both distance. That leads to the next issue...
-Unfortunately, the start was not the only thing delayed. The awards for the 8 mile race were delayed as well. Since the 3.3 mile race was chipped timed, the results were quick. But it took a long time to get the 8 mile results completed. For a race that was scheduled to start at 8:00, we didn't leave until around 11:30. Luckily we didn't have anything else going on in the afternoon.
-Awards for the race were long sleeve tshirts for age group champions, and drawstring bags for 2nd and 3rd in division

After the race, there was also oranges, apples and bananas to eat. There was also bottled water. Registration fee was $20 early and $25 the day of.

The B Strong 5k is held on the last Saturday in July. I assume that it is because it is the last weekend that Indiana High School cross country runners can run in road races until the season is over. The race is held at Bremen High School and starts and finishes right outside its main doors. It offers a 5k and a fun run mile. First 50 kids who finish the mile gets a medal.
Packet pickup is held the night before or the morning of the race at the high school. We choose the morning of the race. It was quick and easy. Included in the bag was your shirt (tech and gender specific), your bib with timing chip on the back (first year they did chip timing), a souvenir cup with race logo, and some other flyers.
The 5k starts first at 8:00, the 1 mile fun run starts at about 9:30 (depending on when the last 5k participant finishes.
The course is simple and the route is closed off to all traffic. You start heading east from the school, then you reach a park and run on some of the side walks through the park (can get a little tough to pass). Then it's roads the rest of the way. Basically think of it as a rectangle and that's the course. There is a hill that is called the B Strong Hill. It can be a tough one but not too bad. It's about at the half way point. Other than that, it's a flat course.
The race provides water at the 1st and 2nd mile marks, and a little odd, but Gatorade at mile 2.5. Just seemed like an odd place for Gatorade. Honestly, I don't think 5k races need to offer Gatorade at all. At the finish, the race had ice cold water, otter pops, fruit, and cookies for all runners.
Awards were held right after the 1 mile run. Not a bad idea to have the kids run last to give the race time to process results. Doesn't feel like there is as much down time waiting for awards. As soon as the last miler finished, the 5k awards began. The awards were scaled down from last year (probably to help pay for chip timing), but the medals were nice and custom made with the race logo.
My one and only complaint is the course was 3.17 miles (other runners measured the same). I am not sure how to change that except to have the start finish at two locations. Overall though, a very well run race and would highly recommend it.

This was my first time running in a Ram Racing event. The North Shore Classic in an annual event held in Highland Park, IL just north of Chicago.

Packet Pickup
There were a couple of ways of getting your race packet. You could visit one of their packet pickup location in the week leading up to the race, or have it mailed to you. The locations that you could pick your packet up from was Fleet Feet in Old Town (Chicago), and Fleet Feet in Deerfield. For someone like me who lives outside of the Chicago area, you can pay the fee to have it mailed to you, or you can have someone pick it up for you. Ram racing did a great job of informing runners of these options through emails leading up to the event. If you provided the right paper work, someone else could pick up your packet for you.

Included in the race was your bib number, drawstring bag, race shirt (real nice) and flyers for local races and businesses.

I arrived in Highland Park at around 6:00 local time, that means an hour and a half early. This allowed me to find a parking spot right by the start. Parking was real easy to find.

The 5k was up at 7:00 and the half was at 7:30. Both races had corrals. The 5k had corrals A-C and the half were D on back. Each corral started 3 minutes apart. This was a good size race but not huge. I had never seen a race start like this. I am sure it made for a smoother start of the corrals further back. After the national anthem was sung, the first corral was sent off with the sound of the air horn.

Race

I was in corral D, the first coral to go, so I got to start right behind the elites. First half mile was down hill followed by an uphill on the second half mile. This was a sign of things to come, a lot of rolling hills. The course ran through a lot of beautiful neighborhoods in the area. The streets did have some crowd support cheering on the runners at various points in the race, as well as kids looking for high fives as runners pass.

The course had aid stations at about every mile. Of course you have your standard water, but unlike most races, the aid stations had Nuun. At least in the local Indiana Races, Nuun is not an option. I am not a fan of Nuun, but I am not a fan of Gatorade either so it doesn't matter to me. The course was also very well controlled by local police. Tried my best to thank as many of them as possible for taking the time to be out on the course.

The rolling hills continued, and then right after mile 7 came the tough hill. The down hill on Park Ave towards the lake was real nice, the uphill on Egandale going away from the lake was a different story. Wow! That was a good challenge.

The rolling hills continued after that but really no other major hills. My favorite part of the course was the area around Fort Sheridan. Just a beautiful area between miles 9 and 11. The last couple of miles, the crowds started to build more as you approached the finish. Trying to slap the kids hands as you ran by (you never know who you are inspiring) you can tell by the crowds you are getting close. After a slight left turn, there was the finish line. As you crossed, they read off your name as a finisher.
The course was a real challenge but I loved it. It is probably one of my favorite half marathon races that I have done. Very nice neighborhoods, mixture of hills and flat. Not too many twists and turns, well marked course.

After you crossed the finishline, you are given a medal, a ice cold towel (felt so good), a bottle of water, and a bag of food. In the bag was banana, chocolate milk (soy), rice crispy treat, pretzels, and a bagel. My one complaint is the soy chocolate milk. I would much rather have regular chocolate milk, in fact it's the one item in the bag that I threw out when I got home. The race also has free photos of the race. I know that there were photographers at the finish line and also after you left the finishers shoot.

I will be keeping this race on my radar for future years. The folks at Ram Raving showed me that they know their stuff, and they put on a first class race. You can tell that they care about the runners and want to do their best.

The 3rd annual Randy Miner Memorial Miner Memorial Country Run will go down as one of the hottest on record. With a 5PM start time, temps were in the low 90s and the real feel was in the upper 90s. Not a cloud in the sky could be found. It was a brutal day. The hottest day of the year by far at this point.

This is the third year of this event being brought back to this small town by fellow runner and friend, Todd Hoffer. Todd calls this race "The biggest little race you will ever run." It is a small race, but that's what I like about it. Todd does a great job of putting on this event and you can tell he spends the whole year making sure it goes off well. Todd takes the time to go as far as to hand craft the overall winners awards for the 4 mile run as well as the age group winners and overall winners awards in the 1 mile race.

At the race this year there was Port-A-Pit Chicken (famous in Northern Indiana), baked goods, and ice cream treats for purchase (proceeds go toward the Etna Green Museum). There was also a small car show and a bounce house for kids (free).

Starting at 4:30 was the 1 mile race. This is open to runners of all ages, it isn't just a kids fun run. If you break the course record, there is a $50 award (same for the 4 mile race). Tina and Chloe ran the one mile race.

After the mile wrapped up, At 5:00, the gun went off to start the race. Right at the start there was a hill, not a big hill, but enough to keep you in check. The course is simple, it's a square. Not quiet a true country mile square, more of a rectangle. 4 turns on the course and that's it. The first mile provides some rolling hills. As it was at the start, the hills are not that bad, just enough to notice they are there.
At the end of the first mile, you could see a small lake/pond to the left. Jumping in that seemed like a far better idea than what we were currently doing at this time. Between miles 1 and 2, a farm house had a sprinkler out for us. Very nice, but could have used an aid station.

The first, and only aid station came at mile 2. there was another sprinkler at about a mile and a half. After that, there was no aid until the finish. Miles 2-4 were flat for the most part, just no shade.
At the finishline, you are greeted with and cold bottle of water from the race directors wife and a cold rag that has been sitting in a cooler full of ice water. Pretty refreshing. Post race food included fruit and cookies.

After awards were announced, door prizes were given away. Stuff like gift cards to running stores, training logs, running books, running movies, and other prizes were given out. Last came the 55" smart TV.

This is a great small town race. Would love to see it grow. There is traditionally very good local talent in both the one mile and 4 mile races. Only complaint I had was only one aid station but possibly that will change next year.