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Latest reviews by Kimberly Greene
Kimberly Greene recommends this race
(2015)
"NYRR Scotland Run 10K Recap"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
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In April I ran the NYRR Scotland Run 10K in Central Park. Even though there were 8,000 runners, the race did not feel congested at all. I was able to get into a rhythm early on (within the first half mile). The weather was great for the race considering the weather I have had for my past few races. You can't really complain with 47 degrees and sunny, even if it was a little windy!
I've done a few NYRR races and they have always been very organized. There were plenty of volunteers, water stations, port-a-potties, post-race food, etc. Since this was the Scotland Run, there were people running in kilts and also playing bagpipes every mile. As with all the races in Central Park, this race was very hilly. Basically there is one really steep hill and then the rest are more "moderate" hills. I do wish that I could run in Central Park more often because the hills are great for training. Plus there really is no better feeling than hitting the downhill after running up those Harlem hills!
Side note - My watch actually measured 6.3 miles which was weird because I didn't have to weave in and out of runners too much - but I did run primarily on the outside of the course so maybe that is why I ran an extra .10 of a mile.
I felt really good during the race. I was able to run without stopping for a walk break (even up the hills)
After the race I went in search of the post-race bagel. I was so happy to find my friend, a cinnamon raisin bagel, after the race. New York bagels are seriously the best! I really enjoyed this race and would do it again next year.
The swag was pretty good - water bottle, shortbread cookies and a t-shirt. The t-shirt is cotton so it will go in my "to make a blanket" pile of t-shirts.
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(2015)
"Rock 'n' Roll DC - The Expo & Race Recap"
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After checking in to the hotel on Friday afternoon, I made me way over to the Walter E. Washington Convention center to visit some companies and pick up my bib and shirt. As soon as you walk into the convention center, there are signs to direct you to the expo - very clear and easy to read. Once walking into the expo, I found the sign for my corral and picked up my bib.
After picking up my bib, I went to get get my shirt. As soon as I saw it I knew it was too small. I usually wear a women's small but this shirt looked like a kid's small! Luckily they also had a t-shirt exchange booth at the expo, so I quickly exchanged the small for a medium. This is the first time I have seen this option! It was nice to walk away with a shirt that I actually knew was fit (and it's a cute shirt).
Then it was off to the actual "expo" part of the expo. Tons of merchandise - souvenirs, jackets, shirts, socks, etc. I pretty much by-passed this entire section because I wanted to leave the expo with money in my wallet :) After surviving the merchandise area, I saw the GEICO lizard. Bizarre? Yes, but I love taking photos with people dressed up as characters so I had to get a photo with the legendary lizard.
After the photo, I took out my expo map that I had printed out earlier in the week. Rock 'n' Roll had a great interactive map on their website that had a detailed layout of all the vendors at the expo. I was able to go through the list and mark down which vendors I wanted to see which made navigating the expo so much easier. Also I'm a very type A personality so this was perfect for me.
I first went to visit Toni Carey, co-founder of Black Girls Run. I just love the organization and what she has done to help get an entire community of women moving and active. The mission of BGR is to be a leading resource of information and inspiration for African-American women who want to lead a healthy lifestyle. This is so important because obesity and obesity related illnesses affect the African-American community more than other communities. Of course she was an absolute sweetheart and I had so much fun talking to her. Hi Toni!
Next I was off to to see Jason from RaceDots. On Monday I was lucky enough to win a package of 5 RaceDots through a giveaway from Chelsea. As luck would have it, RaceDots would be at the expo so I was able to pick them up on Friday to try them for the race on Saturday! First impression - I am never using safety pins again! The RaceDots were amazing and my bib stayed in place the entire time during the race - even with all of the rain :)
Next up was MammaChia. I've seen so many pictures and posts on social media about this product, but I have never personally tried it. As soon as I saw that they were at the expo, I knew I would have to stop by to try their products. I tried the blackberry vitality beverage and it was so good! It's definitely not like a regular drink because of the chia seeds, but the flavor was great. I'll be looking for these drinks in my local supermarket. I also stopped by the Honey Stinger booth. I wanted to show some love now that I'm a member of the #HSHive, but they were crazy busy! I didn't get to say "Hi" but it was great to see that so many people were interested in their products :)
After hitting up a few more vendors it was time to go. I spotted free magazines near the exit (score! reading material for the train ride back home). I thought this was very nice and the magazines were great - all full of useful information for runners.
All in all I would give the Rock 'n' Roll DC Expo a 9 out of 10. I thought it was extremely well organized and the mixture of vendors was great. I went around 3 p.m. on Friday and it was not crowded at all - much to my surprise. I left the expo feeling great and ready to tackle the race the following day.
Since this was my first Rock 'n' Roll race, I was very extremely excited, but I think my expectations may have been a little too high. To be honest, I didn't really enjoy the race. But first, lets start off with the positives.
Despite the rain, and yes there was lots of rain, I didn't get any blisters! Thank you PRO Compression :)
I discovered that my Nike GPS sportswatch is truly waterproof. Seriously, that watch was in the elements for over 2 hours from start to finish and it functioned perfectly.
The medal was impressive and I was so happy to receive it after crossing the finish line!
Spectators and Volunteers - Even though the weather was horrible, there were still a good amount of spectators out on the course. The volunteers were also wonderful. I'd like to say a big THANK YOU to all of them. Spectators and volunteers really help to enhance the race experience, always!
There is a massive, and I mean MASSIVE, hill just before mile 6 of the race. There were photos of fallen soldiers all along the hill and focusing on that made me forget about the pain I was in and focus on how much respect I have for the soldiers that risk their lives for our freedom. I got a little emotional, but I was glad to have something else to focus on, something more important, while going up the hill.
As I said earlier, I think I may have had high expectations. I really expected to stop and dance along with all the bands on the course while seeing some of the sights in DC. That didn't exactly happen.
Bands along the course - I think there were 3 or 4 bands along the course (can't remember the exact number). That would have been okay, but 2 of the bands were playing slow tempo music when I ran by so that kind of sucked, lol. However I was able to rock out for a minute or so with 2 of the bands on the course. Also, I'm thinking the weather may have been the reason there weren't as many bands out on the course.
The course - For some reason I thought the race would also be a semi-sightseeing tour as well. We could see some things in the distance but that was it. Most of the route was through neighborhoods and streets, which was fine but just not what I was expecting.
Port-a-Potty - So before the race I didn't think I would have time to use the restroom so I decided that I would try to find the first one on the course. About a 1/2 mile into the race I saw two port-a-potties - one of the left and one on the right. Yup, just ONE on each side - FAIL! I ended up waiting 15 minutes to use the restroom. So after that debacle, I ran like a crazy woman to try to make up time, which worked for about 4 miles. I did notice that there were crazy lines for all the port-a-potty locations on the course, so this is something that I think could be improved for future races.
The finish line - I was ecstatic to see the finish line. I knew that my parents had a change of clothes for me and I just wanted to put on dry clothing! After collecting my medal and space blanket (heat blanket), I went in search of food. There was chocolate milk in a bin and volunteers were handing out water. I also spotted tables with bananas, potato chips, and granola, but no bagels. I was so bummed! I'm a total carb addict and I always look forward to the post-race bagel. I couldn't believe that a race of this size (over 20,000 runners) didn't have bagels?! Needless to say, I was very underwhelmed with the post-race food options.
Bag Check - Luckily I didn't have to check any items, but I've read that this was not organized that well. Some people waited for over an hour to get their checked items - yikes.
Transportation - It took me about 2 hours to get back to the hotel after the race which is a little crazy. Riding the Metro was quite the experience and it took about an hour just to walk to the Metro station from the finish line, wait to get into the Metro station and then board the train. It would be great if Rock 'n' Roll could provide a shuttle back to the start line - anything to make it a little more convenient for runners, especially out of town runners.
So would I run this race again? No. This race fell short of my expectations, but I am still excited for my other two Rock 'n' Roll races this year - Chicago and Brooklyn. Again, I think my expectations were probably too high so I won't make that mistake for the next two races.
(2015)
"Faxon Law Greater Danbury Half Marathon Race Recap"
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I ran the Faxon Law Greater Danbury Half Marathon in Danbury, CT.
You would think that by the end of March we would have warmer temperatures right? Nope! Mother Nature still thinks it is winter. Although it did warm up later on in the race, it was cold at the start. The wind didn't help either and the real feel temperature was around 20 degrees. Because I refuse to wear a jacket again for another race, I wore 3 layers underneath my sweatshirt.
To say that the race was a little hilly would be an understatement. The hills on this course are no joke. I felt pretty good during the first half of the race and I was actually able to power up all the hills.
So what were some of the pros/cons of the race?
Pros:
Awesome 9:15am start time. Since this was a somewhat local race for me (about 50 minutes away), I really appreciated the late start time. Much better than 7am!
Super easy bib pickup - I arrived at 8:30 to get my bib and t-shirt. There were no lines and the workers were really, really friendly
Water stations - Plenty of well manned water stations every other mile. In addition they had Nuun on the course (instead of Gatorade). I always bring my Nathan quick shot handheld filled with Nuun, but I ran out on the course (I was so thirsty!) so I loved being able to refill with Nuun on the course.
GU - GU was available at mile 9. This was great if you needed some extra energy during the race. Luckily I had my honey stinger chews and gel so I didn't need the GU.
Course support - Probably the best on course support I have ever experienced. There were people literally every half mile cheering for you. It was amazing and a great confidence boost at times!
Cons:
Course description - "Hills of death" should be somewhere in the course description on the website, lol
Post-race food - Again, this is a personal rant but no bagels. This just makes me sad :( but it's not a big deal. They did have pizza so that's a good alternative :)
I don't think I would run the race again unless I trained with hills for a few months prior. Hills are my enemy at the moment.
Kimberly Greene recommends this race
(2015)
"Michelob Ultra Queens 13.1 Race Recap"
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Funny little story - Friday, March 20 was the official first day of Spring. Obviously the Tri-state area didn't get the memo and we had a lovely snow storm. I think it only dumped around 4 inches of snow in the area, but the irony of this happening made me laugh.
Moving along...I ran the Michelob Ultra 13.1 race in Queens, NY. The entire race takes place in Flushing Meadows Park. You may think that would be boring, but it's not. I was born and raised in Queens and I was at that park almost every weekend. The park is HUGE and there are so many things to see. It makes the run very enjoyable. This was my second time running this race, the first being last year when I selected the race as my very first half marathon. Luckily the race staff and the parks department did an excellent job of clearing all the snow from the route for the race. Some areas were a little slushy/icy, but overall the route was great.
The positives:
Free race photos! I think this is such an awesome gesture. I've already received most of the photos and they came out great.
Mile markers - HUGE mile markers at every mile and a time clock every other mile. Sometimes its hard to see the mile markers but not at this race!
Race course - The course was relatively flat with some hills thrown in but nothing too awful. I love Flushing Meadows Park so I'm always happy to run races there.
Medical and Water Stations - Tons of water/gatorade stations on the course and I also saw many medical tents as well. GU was also available on the course.
Volunteers/Spectators - The volunteers were great on the course. Very friendly and encouraging. One volunteer told me "I was almost there" at mile 8. Bless his heart, but no, I still had 5 miles to go lol. There weren't a ton of spectators on the course but the ones that were there were so great - many offered high fives and encouraging words along the way!
Things that could be done better..
Signage - More signs directing people where to go. Finding the parking lot wasn't the easiest thing in the world..
Beer Garden - Since it's a Michelob race, each participant gets a free beer at the end of the race. Well they closed the beer garden at 11:15am. The race started at 9:15am. Basically this didn't give all the runners (including me) a chance to get our free beer. It's not a huge deal, it's only beer, but I believe in offering what is advertised. Luckily they were also giving out beer to spectators of the race so my mom gave me her beer she received earlier that morning :)
Post-race food - Okay, this is more of a personal thing, but I love bagels...like really LOVE bagels. This is the second race in a row where they didn't have bagels. I just don't get it - where's the bagel love?! LoL
I really loved the medal and long sleeve shirt for this race. Love the blue and the fabric of the shirt. Also the medal also serves as a bottle opener, so of course I'm all about that (haha).
Kimberly Greene recommends this race
(2015)
"NYRR Gridiron 4 Mile Race Recap"
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I completed the NYRR Gridiron 4 Mile Race. This was my second qualifying race for the NYRR 9+1 program, 2 down, 7 more to go!
Even though it was colder today (26 degrees) when compared to the race last week (35 degrees), it was still very fun. I had on 3 layers on top and 2 layers on the bottom. For this race it's encouraged to wear clothing items to represent your favorite football team. I couldn't run in my New York Giants hoodie (too bulky), so I decided to wear one of my Giants shirts underneath my jacket.
The course was pretty manageable compared to all the inclines and hills. There were still quite a few rolling hills (I think 4 or 5). In the beginning of the race, it was hard to get into a rhythm because I couldn't feel my feet and I had to weave around people. This lasted for about 2 minutes but after that everything felt much better (I could feel my feet and hands).
Halfway through the race, runners were able to "vote with their feet" by running under either the Seattle Seahawks or New England Patriots banner. Of course, I picked Seattle. Seems like many runners (57%) agreed with me because Seattle won the competition! :)
I ended up finishing the race in 43:10. I'm happy with that time since my ankle is still bothering me from last week's half marathon. After picking up water and a green bagel (dyed for the Seahawks), I ran into my friends. No bling for this race but we did get a nice long sleeve shirt. I was so happy that they actually had size small shirts available at bib picket this morning (they never happens!)