Latest reviews by Gina Hanzel

(2015)
"Rock Starlet Challenge - 2.5K, 10K, 5K"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

The Women Rock race is an event put on my Team Ortho. It's one of six in the series for the year. I have done all of the Team Ortho events and this race is one of my favorites!
It is exclusively for women; hence the title of the race. It's a great day to grab your girlfriends and make it a blast! I had many friends running any of the combination of the 4 race distances.... so for me.. This was was fantastic!

This event at 6500 women is one of the least crowded by Team Ortho. It's great to have a little wiggle room on the run that's for sure!

I participated in the Rock Starlet challenge which included three race distances. The 2.5 K was Friday evening and it raced in front of the state Capitol. Great running route. With only 1000 runners it was not too crowded and seemed very well organized. a HUGE BONUS: you got a medal at the end and they are fantastic!

The 10k and 5k were the next morning. I was pleased with the setup of the morning. Parking is very close and reasonable at $5.

Let's talk about the importance of porta pottys!! They has at least 50! I never waited for a bathroom and I went 4 times! Big win for Team Ortho.

I was happy with race organization. Plenty of food and I went to the food line after both my 10k and the 5k.

Let's talk about the SWAG! It's amazing!!!! Again.... Amazing!!! Fantastic zip-up long sleeve jacket for completing the challenge and 4 medals! One medal for completing the challenge and all other race distances! If you like bling this race is for you! And we got a dri-fit vneck shirt with rock starlet challenge on it too!

The race is a bit pricey at $130. Bit that includes all the great swag and three races so manageable.

At the end you receive a champagne glass with bubbly to celebrate your victories!

Really the only drawback I found was the out and back course. Same route for both the 5k and 10k. Boring in my opinion. In addition, the distance markers were misplaced and out of order. It didn't effect my racking because I couldn't live without my garmin. But I do see how it may have been a detriment to some and quiet confusing.

Will definitely be racing again! Great venue. Great Swag. Beautiful river view at the end of the course!! If you want to grab your girlfriends for a fun weekend... This is the race for you!!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.
(2015)
"Great Race, Small Field Size"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

This is a fantastic and fun race, especially if you want to show your pride for two schools with some of the most tense rivalry! The University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin are two BIG 10 schools that battle each other yearly in the BIG 10 conference. Now, they can battle on the road as well! The first 5 winners across the finish determine who wins the border battle! I cheered all the way for the GOPHERS!! GO GOPHERS!!

The race starts in Stillwater and ends in Hudson - over the river and through the woods. Not exactly, but you do cross the river over the interstate bridge into Hudson. Parking was right downtown at the race finish. From there, buses shuttled you to the starting line. I came very close to the last bus leaving and I was still able to find great parking. This race was small, so there was no race expo - and I don't think that there needs to be one. The race offered three different packet pick up times as well as race day pick up. I very much appreciate race day pick up because I traveled an hour to this race and the convenience factor was huge for me.

The 5K had around 450 runners which I found refreshing! I'm used to running very large races. Even though the race course was sometimes tight, it didn't feel that way as everyone was running fairly spread out.

The elevation was flat and mostly downhill with a few very short gains in elevation. I think it was only 35 feet elevation gain. I would describe the course and fast and flat. This race also offered a half marathon option - I cannot speak from experience, but I did hear this this course was more hilly.

One of the biggest perks about this race was the SWAG! :) Fantastic huge medal for 5K and half participants and technical t-shirt. Who doesn't love a great medal! I know that I do and races that offer them even to 5K runners get my vote. I had to downgrade from the half to the 5K due to a nagging injury - and the transfer request was also easy.

This race was affordable as well. Extra bonus for following the facebook page because there were several deals for signing up with up to $10 off registration. I didn't get a refund for switching from the half to the 5K, but that was my decision - so no hard feelings there.

I had the pleasure of finishing first in my age bracket which was a FIRST for me. I was only 4 females away from finishing in the top 5 females for an extra prize. Next year.... I have my sights on this race! GO GOPHERS!! It's a must do. Hometown, affordable, great medal and great event overall.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.
(2015)
"Views of the Bluff and River"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

This race hit close to home. I was born and raised in La Crosse. I was excited to run it! The course started at the top of Grandad Bluff and worked it's way through the city to the river into Riverside Park. Throughout the race, we got fantastic views of the city and ended at the picturesque Blue Bridges that cross the river into Minnesota.
Temperatures on race day started in the low 50's - perfect weather. During the race it did get pretty steamy - but tank top and shorts weather really was perfect. All along the race course - for a small town race there were many spectators. Some dead spots, but I especially liked at mile 11 the local hockey rink had huge snowpiles and bagpipers that were throwing us snowballs! Great touch! Made the last 2.1 so much more bearable!
Post race food, in true La Crosse fashion was bratwurst and beer! Bounce houses for the kids and music. Great post race party. Truly, my ONLY complaint is that they ran out of water at the finish. This did not effect me however, I finished before it ran out. But, it was a HOT one that day, so my guess is that because of the heat, all of the runners were drinking just that much more water! If you're ever in this area, give this one a try! Great race!
Medals were fantastic too! Iconic with the two blue bridges!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.
(2015)
"Fantastic Race!"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

It couldn't have been a more beautiful day. Which always makes races a little better. Overall, for the large number of people running this race I felt it was very well run. The 15 k coral assignments were not too crowded and we got out of the corrals efficiently!
The 5k race corrals were much more crowded!
The Minneapolis course was nice... Although it wasn't completely closed so we did have to dodge people and run out of the cones the first 1.5 miles... Slightly frustrating. There were a few industrial building miles but all in all beautiful skyline views too!
Nice organization for the chocolate at the end and the race medals are a huge perk for this race! Who doesn't want a super cool chocolate bar medal??? It's sweet! No pun intended!
The only thing I thought strange was that they handed out chocolate during the race. Who wants a marshmallow at mile three??
Don't miss this race! I'll be running it again!!!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.
(2014)
"Fantastic Race Swag!!"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

Team Ortho has FANTASTIC SWAG. If you ever want to be decked out in great jackets and have fun medals.... these are your races. The Monster Dash is also a fun added bonus because many runners race in costume. I am never that brave. This year I ran in orange shorts and black tank top with pumpkin sleeves! :) I don't want to have a costume get in my way so I always choose to run without a costume.
The course for the Monster Dash is great. Small rolling hills, not many to slow you down and in my opinion a great variety of scenery. Lush tree lined streets, the beautiful St. Paul Cathedral, the river.... you really get it all. Post race food is the usual, banana, chips, nutroll - but the races are HUGE so I feel it's pretty well run for the crowds they draw.
PROS:
- Great Swag
- Costume themed - Halloween
- Great weather in October ( usually :) )
- Close and convenient parking
- Avg. race entry fee

CONS:
- HUGE race with 12,000 plus runners, this can be bad if you're a "slower" ( I say that with caution) runner because Team ortho has been known to run our of water,food etc .

I would highly recommend this race - it's always fun!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.