Latest reviews by Kimberly Greene
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When I first heard about this race, I signed up right away. This was the first time that the organization was holding a walk/run in Stamford. I love this organization and all that they do to help children battling cancer and their families. It's one of those organizations where I wish I could do more because of all the great work that they do.
What was pretty cool about this race was the 11:00 a.m. start time. Luckily the temperature was very "Fall" like so it wasn't too hot at the start. I appreciated the late start time.
We arrived to the race around 10:15 and it was very well organized. It only took a few minutes to get our bibs and find our friends.
Before the race, there was an opening ceremony filled with music, zumba and a warm up to get everyone ready for the run/walk. They also had a photo booth available to take photos before the race.
Overall the race was very organized from start to finish. Bib pick up was a breeze and they had food and water available before and after the race. I also liked that they had entertainment and a Kids zone for the children.
My only one recommendation would be about the course. The 5K race started 15 minutes before the walk. The route required two loops in a park and by the second loop the runners were merging with the walkers. It caused the runners to slow down and/or run on the grass just to get by the walkers. To avoid this, I think the walk should start 30 minutes after the run. In addition, the mile markers were way off so it made it hard to know when to "push it" and the end. Even with these issues, I still think it was one of the best local races that I have done in Stamford and I would definitely do it again.
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It was definitely a very HOT and HUMID day for the half marathon!
Let's break down the Pros and Cons of the race...
Pros
Course - This is a primarily flat course, so of course you have to love that. In addition, since this was my first time in Chicago, I really enjoyed running through the streets of downtown during the first half of the race. Although the pavement was a little uneven in some areas, as long as you were looking at where you were going, it was fine. Also the tall building provided much needed shade for a majority of the race.
Crowd Support - Because the first half was through downtown, crowd support was AWESOME for the first half of the race (it did die down during the second half). I also want to give a shoutout to the Kingdom
Runners. Their volunteers were so encouraging and uplifting. They were some of the loudest cheerleaders on the course!
Sponges - I can remember the exact mile (it was somewhere between 11-13) but there was a bucket with cold water and sponges. This was a very welcomed thing because of the heat!
Volunteers - As always, the volunteers worked extremely hard, especially in the hot weather. I would like to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all of the volunteers because they were energetic, friendly and helpful. I can't imagine it was easy for them to stand out in the heat for hours on end - you are all rockstars!
Port-a-Potties - Tons of available port-a-potties. I did not really see any lines so I believe they had more than enough available.
Post-race food - They had bagels! I repeat, they had bagels! This warmed my carb-loving heart. I was also able to get water and ice from a Dunkin Donuts station. I also saw granola and bananas available as well.
Medals - I did the remix challenge so I got 3 medals and all of them were awesome. I will say that I like my Rock 'n' Roll DC medal better, but these were pretty nice!
Cons
Water Stations - Coming off of the 5K, I was hoping that there would be enough water stations. Before the race I heard from a few people that there were supposed to be water stops at every mile - this didn't happen. I don't even know where the water stations were - I'm assuming every 2 miles? My GPS watch was off so I couldn't really couldn't figure out how often the water stops were on the course but they didn't seem to be spaced out well. It was weird.
Medical - I saw medical staff running with us during the race, which was great but I heard from others that runners needed assistance and medical was no where in sight. They may have needed more medical personal.
Course support - As I mentioned, the volunteers were absolutely amazing, but there were not enough volunteers. At several water stops I saw lines of runners waiting for water or they were pouring their own water. Not only is this not fair to the runners, but its also not fair to the volunteers. They were working their butts off, pouring as often as they could, but couldn't keep up with demand.
Bands - I only counted two bands on the course but there was a live DJ somewhere between miles 8-10. There were also huge speakers along the course for the last 3 miles so we could hear the music from the DJ. Since the first half of the race was downtown, I could see why there may be a lack of bands but there should have been more in the second half of the race.
Overall, I just think that the hot weather made the race not so enjoyable for me. If I forget about the weather and just focus on the course itself, it's actually a fun course and not too difficult, considering its mainly flat. I'm still on the fence about signing up the race in 2016 because I do feel like the water stations and medical support are two things that definitely need to change for next year. Is it a coincidence that Rock 'n' Roll sent me an email while I was typing this review asking for feedback?! LoL
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The weather here has been unpredictable to say the least! Everyone was prepared for tons of rain on race day. Not just rain, but thunderstorms as well. NYRR was concerned as well. On Saturday evening we received word that the race had been pushed back an hour, from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. due to the predicted heavy rain. NYRR made sure that all runners got this information. Not only did they post the information on all their social media outlets, but they also sent an email, text and voice messages to all runners. I was very impressed that they used a bunch of different communication tactics to reach the runners!
My 6:00 a.m. wake up call on Sunday morning came quickly. I checked my weather app on my phone - it was 75 degrees with 95% humidity. I already knew the race was going to be hard based on the humidity. Thankfully it was pretty overcast for most of the race so we didn't have to deal with the sun. Also, it was already pouring outside - bummer :( On the drive to Queens it rained a little but nothing too crazy. There was a LOT of traffic to get into the parking lot at Citi Field. I think if I did this race next year I would take the train. Driving is faster but the train is less of a headache (sometimes - more on that later).
I was able to pick up my bib and shirt within a few minutes which shocked me because I was expecting long lines since it was 8:20 a.m. and the bib pickup closed at 8:30 a.m.
Pretty soon it was time to get lined up and start. I ended up crossing the start line around 9:10 a.m. so it wasn't too long of a wait. The course is mainly flat so I was secretly hoping for a PR, but I was already drenched 5 minutes into the run. The humidity was already unbearable. We got some cool breezes here and there but it wasn't enough to help. It's funny because I was on track for a PR after the 5K mark but then the humidity just got to me. I took 3 walk breaks between miles 3-4 because I felt like my body was on fire and it was getting harder to breathe. It didn't help that my allergies were in full force as well. As I was approaching mile 4 I knew I didn't want to take any more walk breaks so I adjusted my running pace to about 1 minute slower than my "normal" pace. This helped a lot and I was able to run from mile 4 until the end.
During those last 2 miles I saw people get sick on the course. A lot of people were vomiting (sorry for the TMI) and I saw one runner that needed medical assistance. Then around mile 6 I heard an ambulance on the course behind me. All runners were asked to move to the right in order for the ambulance to get by. After I crossed the finish line I saw a runner in a wheelchair so I think the ambulance must have been for her. I felt so bad for her but she was awake and answering questions so that was a good sign.
Its always scary to see that stuff on the course and that's why I never push myself past my limits. Let's face facts - I'm not exactly a "speedy" runner and I'm surely not going to break any course records, so there is no need for me to put myself in a not-so-great situation. I try to make sure I am staying as safe as possible. I didn't want to slow down my pace but it was necessary. I did notice something strange after I finished the race. I felt fine - no dizziness or anything - but my vision was blurred and then I started seeing double. It didn't go away for about 20 minutes. It was really strange but everything was back to normal yesterday afternoon and today so hopefully that never happens again!
So back to the train issues. The 7 train lets you off right at Citi Field so its a great option for people that live in NYC and the neighboring boroughs. I didn't know this until I got home but there was a HUGE problem with this train. I'm not sure what exactly happened but tons of runners were stranded or late. Because of this, NYRR kept the start mat down for an additional hour to give these runners the opportunity to run the race. I'm not sure if all the runners actually ended up making it to the race (talk about stressful!!). As of today NYRR has a message on their website asking any of these runners to please contact them.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I LOVE NYRR! They know that this is a very important race for many runners because it is part of the Five Borough Series so they are trying their best to accommodate all of these runners. Besides that, they had sprinklers on the course to try to combat some of horrible humidity, they gave us a pretty cool medal - I'm all about the bling-bling :) and a kick-ass race shirt.
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The race started and ended in the same area and we ran along the lakefront trails. The last mile of the race was BRUTAL. You run along the water and the sun reflecting off the water makes for an extremely hot and shade-free run. It was really bad and I actually had to stop to walk because I felt my body over-heating.
There was nothing overly exciting about the race, but here are some of pros and cons (in my opinion).
Pros
Start time: With the heat and humidity, it was nice to have a somewhat early start time of 7:30am. Also the race started on time!
Medal: 5K races usually do not have a medal so it was cool to not only get a medal, but a pretty cool one :)
Cons
Corrals: They were SUPER tiny and cramped, which made for a unique start line experience.
Route: The route was a little tight in the beginning as it seemed we were running on a sidewalk. When you combine this with lots of people walking, it makes it hard to navigate the course and get into a running rhythm.
Water Stations (part 1): There was only 1 water station for the race, located at Mile 1.5. Typically this may be okay for a 5K race, but the heat and humidity was brutal. There really should have been water at each mile, or at least at miles 1 and 2.
Water Stations (part 2): Not only was there only one water station, but there were only a handful of volunteers handing out water. The volunteers were amazing and working so hard so I felt very bad that they were so overwhelmed with runners. Rock 'n' Roll should have had about double the amount of volunteers.
Medical (pat 1): I didn't see any medical staff on the course. I'm not sure if I missed them on the course but again, with the weather, this could have been a problem.
Medical (part 2): I stopped at medical after I finished in hopes of getting ice for my knee, but they had run out of ice. I'm a middle of the pack runner (for 5K races) so I knew there were still at least 1,000 runners coming in after me and the medical tent had already run out of ice? Not good
Post-race food/drinks: I think I saw bananas and granola. I'm not sure who eats granola after running in 90+ degree weather, but I need to meet that person. A bagel would have been nice, cold water would have been even better.
Overall I was not impressed with the 5K race and I heard the same from others. I don't think it was particularly organized that well.
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Before getting into the race recap, I think I need to break down the significance of this race.
Waaaaay back in 2011 I participated in the Hope in Motion walk with a team from my job. I always knew about the 5k run that took place before the race, but never thought I could do it. During the walk I told my mom and friend that we would run the race the next year. Guess what, we did! This race was my first official timed 5k. I wouldn't say that I was totally on board with running after that race (in fact, it took a few more years), but this race will always hold a special place in my heart. I also ran the race in 2012 and 2013. In 2014 they added a 10k option, which I happily signed up for, and I also ran the 10k this year.
This is by far my absolute favorite local race. When I say local, I really mean local. The race start is about a 5-10 minute drive from my house, bib pick-up the day before the race took approximately 2 minutes, and I run past my house on the race route. More importantly this race, which celebrated its 20th anniversary on Sunday, helps to raise funds for the Bennett Cancer Center. Even better, 100% of the funds raised through Hope in Motion go to the Bennett Cancer Center to provide free programs for their patients. So far the event has raised over $800,000 and they have a goal to raise $1 million. I personally know cancer survivors that have received treatment at the Bennett Cancer Center and I know that it's a great facility with caring doctors and nurses. I love this race and all that it stands for and I will always make an effort to participate.
As I mentioned before, bib pick-up was easy breezy - we were in and out in two minutes.
Before I knew it, we were off! My mom race the 5k race and had a good time. The great thing about this race is that I know the route very well. I know where the inclines and hills are, etc, which made it a little easier to pace myself. My legs didn't feel 100% before the race (I'm blaming this on the #RWRunStreak) so I knew I probably wouldn't get a PR. After the second mile, I knew I wouldn't PR, so I just tried to keep a steady pace. Shortly after mile 2, I ran into a friend on the course. Once he started walking I tapped him on the shoulder and waved for him to run with me. Secretly I wanted to pace him to the end of his race (he was doing the 5k). We ran all the way to the finish for him and then I veered to the left for the 10k turn off (The 10k is basically two loops of the 5k course). After I finished the race, I found my friend and he told me that he got a PR by 2 minutes. Score! If I couldn't PR, at least I could help push someone else to a PR.
The second half of the race was much like the first. The 10K is based two loops of the 5K route. Just keep a steady pace and keep moving. Unfortunately I had to stop to tie my shoelaces on both sneakers and then later on I had to walk for about a minute up one of the steeper hills. I kind of hate to take a walk break for a 10k, but my legs were just shot so I didn't have a choice.
All in all it was a decent race. We had really great weather with no humidity. There were plenty of water stations and mile markers on the course. The volunteers were also great and offered a lot of crowd support. After the race they had tons of yummy options - bagels, orange slices, apples, fruit bars from Trader Joe's and water. In the same general area, they also had a mini petting zoo. I refrained myself petting any of the animals because I would have wanted to take one home with me :) Right next to the food they had a rock climbing wall. It looked like fun but I didn't have time to try it since I had to meet friends and co-workers to participate in the 3-mile walk.
I always participate in the walk after the race. This year the walk had over 4,000 people. People do the walk for different reasons - some people walk in honor of loved ones that have passed away from cancer, others walk to support a loved one currently battling cancer and some walk solely to support the cause. It's a beautiful thing to see so many people walking to raise money for cancer research.