The b Strong 5k was held on July 29, 2017 in Bremen, IN. The weather was as close to perfect as you can hope for in a late July Race. Temps were right around 60 degrees, it was sunny, and a slight breeze.

This was the 3rd annual b Strong 5k, which also features a 1 mile fun run for both kids and adults. The inaugural year, I volunteered at the race while my wife ran. Last year we all ran in it, and this year we all ran it again. The 5k race began at 8:00am.

The race is held in honor of Karen Newley, who’s:

“love for God and his faithfulness gave her strength through her journey with lung cancer. Karen never smoked, was an avid runner, and lived a very healthy life. Her courage and positive outlook in a very difficult circumstance inspired and gave hope to many. She will not be remembered as a cancer patient, but rather as a brave and faithful follower of Jesus Christ. Karen leaves behind a legacy of hope. She had a deep love for people, and she made everyone she met feel like a close friend. Karen deeply loved children, and had a passion for teaching and mentoring students. Karen’s last words were, “pray for the children”. The mission of the b STRONG 31:6 fund, created in her honor, is to continue her legacy by helping children and families in our community thrive in faith, education, and fitness.”
Registration: we registered for the 5k when fees were only $15! Great price for an awesome race. Registration did go up as the race got closer to $20 and then $25. Online registration was completed on runsignup.com. There was race day registration.

Swag: along with your bib, you received a race shirt and a bag with sponsor information, as well as other local race information. Each participant also receive a green b Strong cup as well. This is the third year we have received this cup sowe have worked up a pretty good collection.

Atmosphere: prior to the race, the DJ was doing a great job playing upbeat music to get everyone pumped up to run. Also leading up to the race announcements were being made making sure people knew what was going on. Right before the race, a young girl sang the national anthem (she was awesome) and a prayer was given.

Race: the race started right at 8:00. The course is mostly flat with one hill right before mile 2. It’s not too bad of the hill but it has been named “b Strong Hill.” ​ The best part of this race is that it is a completely closed course to traffic. There are volunteers or police officers at every intersection making sure that no cars went onto the course. There were also 3 aid stations on the course. They were located at mile 1, mile 2, and a little past 2.5.

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Post race food: never a shortage of food at this race. Always have plenty of fruit, granola bars, and especially cookies. The cookies were awesome! There was also bottled water as well.

Awards: awards were given to the top 3 overall male and females in the race, plus top 3 in each age division. Divisions were broken down to every 5 years. There was a new medal for this years age group winners.

I do really like the medals, they are awesome, maybe go back to a little smaller. Just a way of saving some money for the foundation. But who knows, maybe they were donated. I really don’t know, but they are unique and specific to the race which I like.

Overall: as much as I don’t like 5k races (it’s the distance, not the race itself), this is a very well run event. It is a race that is on our schedule year after year and always want to make sure we are in town for it. The organization is always top notch, and the town really supports this race. Bigger towns can learn from them.

2017 Sunburst races was run on June 3, 2017. The temperatures at the start of the marathon and half marathon or right around 60°, sunny skies, and no wind. By the time the finish line closed, temperatures were in the upper 70s.

Following last year’s race, there were a lot of improvements that needed to be made to the race. The biggest concern from last year was the length of the course. Runners ran over a half a mile long last year. I had a chance to talk with the race director months before this years event and wasn’t sure that things would be different this year.

Registration

All registration occurred on line, opening on October 3, 2016. Registration fees for the marathon start at $70 and went up to $110, half marathon started at $60 and went up to $100, The 10K start at $25 at went up to $50, and the 5K start at $20 that went up to $45. Obviously I would not be willing to pay the higher fees, however I always register early and if you wait to register that’s your own fault.

Expo

One of the first major thing that was different this year was the race expo. Years past the race expo was held outside in front of the former College Football Hall of Fame. This year they moved it indoors, to the Century Center. For the first time it looked like a real race expo. There were a lot more local businesses, local races, and charities present. When you enter the Century Center you walk down the stairs to the main expo area, picked up your bib number, and your race shirt before going into the rest of the expo. The expo was on Friday from noon until 8 PM. If you were unable to make it to the expo, there was a race day packet pick up.

A suggestion I would give to race organizers, would be to eliminate race day packet pick up or if they want to pick it up on race day charge a fee. I think this way if you charged a fee, you could possibly lower some of the registration fee. I also believe this would influence more people to come and check out the race expo as well. I have seen Chicago races charge a similar fee, and a lot of other bigger races don’t even offer race day packet pick up.

Race Day

This year, just as they did last year, the Marathon and half marathon started at the same time. However, this year they push the start back a half an hour to 6:30 AM. I am not sure what the reasoning behind pushing the start back a half an hour, but it does not seem to make much of a difference other than a little more sunlight. It may seem like 630 is a very early start, however with this race in the early part of June, it can be very warm on race day. I would not wish for this race to start any later.

Course

There were changes to the course. The most notable change was the start location. In years past, as far back as I can remember, the Sunburst races started in downtown South Bend. This year the races started just a few blocks south of the main part of downtown by Four Winds Field, home of the South Bend Cubs. This allowed for wider street, and a longer stretch before the first turn. While some parts of the course changed, the most notable part still remain, and that included running along the Riverwalk in Mishawaka which is probably the most attractive part of the course.

The course really isn’t all that difficult until you approach the hill at Miles 12 on the half marathon course. This is where Hallelujah Hill is at. It really isn’t that big of a hill, however it is Right at the end of the race. Other than that the race is mostly flat.

A big issue on the course happened at mile 11. Shortly after mile 11 some of the lead runners of the marathon and half marathon missed a turn because the police officer at the corner did not tell them to turn. I would also put a small part of the blame on the race for not having appropriate signs at that turn on the telling runners to turn, however the police officer at the corner saw the lead biker take the lead marathon runner the right way but did not assist in telling the other runners which way to go. For an officer getting paid to be out there he should be able to tell the runners which way to go. I did see other officer on the course telling runners which way to go. By the time I got to the corner, there was another volunteer telling runner which way to go. Unfortunately some of the marathon and half marathon runners ran over a mile long. This probably effected 5-8 runners.

The finish line was located on the campus of Notre Dame. As in the last couple years and the race did not finishe inside Notre Dame stadium, however it did finish on the Irish Green on the south side of campus. The stadium has been off-limits to the race for the past couple of years due to renovation to the stadium.

The volunteers on the course were awesome. I would possibly like to see more at the aid stations. The aid station seemed very short and the volunteers that were out there were so close together that if you miss the 1st cup you may not get one after that. So I would suggest they have more volunteers or have their volunteer stand further apart at the aid stations. Two of my favorite volunteers, father/daughter Paul and Lizzie Kern.

Swag

This year I liked the shirts and medals. They were both simple and design but I like that. Both featured the race logo. Also this year, age group award winners received a pint glass with the race logo on one side and Fleet Feet Sports logo on the other. Also for the first time, the race offered free race photos.

Overall

After talking with the race director earlier in the year about the Sunburst races, I had high expectations coming in. Other than issues after mile 11 of the lead runner is going your own way, I thought this race was much improved.The one thing I would suggest is that they possibly consider eliminating the marathon race. There were only about 250 participants and it just does not seem like it’s worth the effort to put it on anymore. I do think that there are plenty of participants in the half marathon, 10K, and 5K that this can still be a very popular event.

The 2017 Vermont city Marathon was held on May 28, 2017. The weather on race day was temperatures in the upper 50s and climbing into the 70s by the time the race ended, and sunny skies. The race consists of a marathon, two person really, or a five person relay team. The event is held every year, the day before Memorial Day.

I will start off with my overall thoughts on the race itself. If you would like to know who my race won’t continue reading to the second half of this blog entry.

Registration and everything else leading up to race weekend.

Registration opens on October 10, 2016 at $99. Prices would rise to $110 and $135 leading up to the race. If you waited to register on race day it would’ve cost you $135.

Leading up to the race, the promotion team use social media in a way that I have never seen Avery still before. Every Thursday afternoon they would do Facebook live on different areas of the race from nutrition to what to expect on race day. These were great source of information to get you ready for your 26.2 mile run. Along with that, email reminders were sent out frequently as well.

Expo

The expo is held at the Sheraton Hotel. Expo hours were from 1 PM to 8 PM on Friday and 9 AM to 7 PM on Saturday. The hotel was real easy to find as it was right off the highway when driving into Burlington. I arrived at the expo on Saturday at around 10 AM. As you can imagine most of the vendors were local from local businesses to local races. I did also stop by the official race merchandise table as well. They had some nice looking shirts there but I was disappointed that they were all cotton. I would have liked to see more of a selection with some shirts and sweatshirts being polyester.

The Race

I am not sure I can say enough about this race. Everything was great from start to finishline. First off, I found that getting into the prefered corral was easy. There were also volunteers making sure you belonged In the preffered corral. This was easy to tell by your bib number.

Next, the crowd support. For a smaller city marathon, the support was second to none. Fans were out with signs and cowbells at key locations on the course, especially the large hill. In the neighborhoods, there were families out on their lawns, garage bands playing, and some with sprinklers. The finish line was the best. So many people lined up, ringing their bells.
The Course was great as well. Some complain about the Beltline from miles 4-8 because it is boring but I think every course has that one boring stretch. At least at Vermont City Marathon, its early in the race when you are in more of a pack and not hurting. My favorite parts of the course was Church Street, the last 4 mile stretch on the bike path, and the hill by Battery Park. Yes, the guy who hates hills includes it as part of his favorites. Probably only because I ran it perfectly. This was also a great spectator course. You could stay in one place and see your favorite runner go by 4 times without moving.

The aid stations were great, filled with awesome volunteers. Aid stations were operated as a Gatoraid sandwhich, water, then Gatoraid, then water again. So easy and the same at every station. There were also aid stations with gels, fruit, and candy. An unofficial aid station at mile 18 had Maple Syrup shots.

Swag

The shirt was a nice short sleeve maroon colored shirt. The finishers medal was nice as well with the race logo on the front, showing the runners running down Church Street. Also, free race photos!
Post race

After crossing the finishline, you are given your medal, a bottle of water, a reusable grocery bag for post race food. The food was fruit, granola bars, yogurt, chips, and pizza. Oh yes, of course chocolate milk.
There was also a results tentwhere you could go and print off your results. Also you could type your number in on a key pad and your name and finishing time would be displayed on a sign.

The price: For a half marathon, and marathon, I felt the price was real reasonable. The marathon fees start at $70 and goes up to $95. The half starts at $60 and moves up to $85 leading up to the race. There is also a relay option that starts at $40 per person and goes up to $55. The only Race that I thought was over priced was the 5k. The fees started off at $30 and went up to $45. Given that they got a cotton shirt seemed to be a little high. The steal of the weekend was the kids fun run. For $10 ($15 on race day), your kids got a shirt, medal, teddy bear, and Chic-Fil-A kids meal.
Race day parking: while not right by the start line r, it really wasn’t that bad. We walked about a mile from our car to the start. We managed that with 2 kids. If they can handle the walk, so can you. Haha

The Expo: the expo was easy to navigate and if you were just wanting to get in and out quickly, you could do so. There was a wide range of vendors as well as other races represented. The kids expo is also a great touch with a lot of activities for the little ones.

First Time Marathoners: One of the great things that the Glass City Marathon has to offer is special perks to first time marathoners. This is not for those who this is their first Glass City Marathon, but rather for runners who have decided to make Glass City their first ever full marathon. Includes for these runners were:

Personal Concierge Service at Expo
Elite Athlete Escort at Expo
Special Recognition Package
VIP Status at Post-race Party
More…

Kids Fun Run: just awesome. That’s about all I can say. It would be worth the 2 hour drive alone for our family. Well done!
Start line: the starting line is on the north end of campus. Very nice location. It was a little confussing on where gear check was at. Maybe just a little more signage is needed in this area.

The course (half marathon): I loved the course. There are a few hills but nothing big and scary. This course is FAST!!! It also goes around the outside of the college campus and through some very nice neighborhoods with quiet a bit of crowd support. My one complaint about the course is out of race managements hands, and that’s the road surface. Some roads were rough and need repaving.

Finish Area: the race finishes with you entering the gates at the North East corner of the Glass Bowl stadium and you run to the finishline at the 50 yard line. The field turf so it were raining, it wouldn’t be muddy. It was a pretty sweet finish.

After race party: following your finish you could get your finishers photo taken and then head out to the party outside the north end of the stadium. First you got your glass finishers mug to be used for your post race beer, then onto the food line with fruit, pretzels, and pizza. Tables were set up in the post race party area to stand at and east. The party was also right by the last stretch of the race so you were able to cheer on other runners as they finished. There was also a cover band playing at the party that would also take requests (play “Free Bird!”). But seriously, they were good and played a variety of music.

Swag: I like the race shirt. Nice simple design and not cluttered with sponsors. The medals were cool and in the shape of Ohio. The glass mug at the finish was a nice touch.
Overall, this was a great race. Will I come back? Well, my wife has already registered to run the half marathon. They are running a special for the 10th anniversary of the Half by allowing the first 500 runners register for $35! Even before she decided to do that, I wanted to come back and run the full marathon and get another BQ.