Latest reviews by Jessica

(2016)
"The Scorcher"
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Yesterday was the Stillwater Scorcher and boy was it a fun one! This is the first time that I have run this race or any half marathon in the month of June. Deciding to run this race was a bit of an impulsive decision on my part as I was sick most of the week leading up to the race. The late decision to run made no difference on my ability to register for this race with ease AND still get a cool race shirt. I did walk up registration on Thursday at my favorite running store in Oklahoma City where the race offered packet pick up and that was a delight. The fee was the same 65 bucks that everyone else paid from the time registration opened until the time walk up registration closed the day of the race. That seemed unusual and pretty awesome to me!

The race was held in Stillwater, which is about 40 minutes north of where I live in the OKC metro area. My girl friends and I loaded up at my home and headed out to the race together at 5:00 am. We arrived in Stillwater and were able to find parking with great ease and hop out of the car to walk to the start line which was SO close to the available parking. Another pleasant and unusual occurrence. The start was located in the local high school football stadium (and it was LOVELY), but even more importantly there were bathrooms as far as the eye could see inside of the stadium. No one had to mess with porta johns or wait in long lines because there were actual bathroom stalls available for everyone to use!

The start line was uncrowded and the start gun was easy to hear and it was easy to tell that the race had started! The course was pretty well marked and staffed with volunteers along the route to keep the runners on track. The weather was great and the volunteers were so pleasant. The aid stations were very plentiful and the course was gorgeous. We spent some time meandering through town and then in the middle of the course we were able to run through the OSU campus (GO POKES!) which was my favorite part. After the OSU campus we went back the way we came out and continued out past the start to the big lake in Stillwater. This is where things got a little confusing and hot. The sun was bright and the shade had dwindled (there was so much good shade in the first part of the race!). I struggled here around the lake, but there were great amounts of aid stations and at one point there was a spray rig that had cool water to spray the runners with! The finish line was located on the back side of a very steep driveway which was brutal, but the end was sweet and the medals were cool! The race had great amounts of the typical post race food, bananas, bagels, granola bars, and the coldest water on the planet.

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(2016)
"Russvegas Half Marathon"
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This was my first time to run the Russvegas 1/2 marathon in my hometown of Russellville, AR. Over all I have to say that this was a really fun race and that I very much enjoyed the experience.

I was blown away at the websites description of swag included in the registration price. I think it cost me 65 bucks to register a few months before the race and I was expecting a zipper pullover shirt (awesome), a cotton race t-shirt, timing chip and medal provided that I finished. Those were all really big draws to the race for sure! I think that the race did a great job of getting emails out prior to race day with information regarding the event. I have never seen a race go to so much trouble to offer so many locations for packet pick up before a race. I was very frustrated with the packet pick up once I got to the location the evening before the race. I was not sure where exactly to go to pick up my packet once I arrived and there was a carnival type thing happening downtown, with the color run that night and it made parking a huge nightmare! Once I was parked and hunting down my packet, I found a line that was very long, full of people waiting very orderly to pick up their packets. It took me a while to get through the line and when I did get to the front of the line, they had run out of my size in the cotton tshirt and told me that I would be contacted for delivery of my shirt in the future. That was not a big deal at all, the volunteers were obviously very busy taking care of things and were still very polite. When I went over to pick up my pullover, the volunteers took the time to make sure I was aware that the pullover was running a bit large and that I might do well to try it on. They were awesome volunteers!

Race day was really by the book and lovely. There were plenty of volunteers on the course and an amazing amount of local police were available to keep the roads closed for the runners. The aid stations were wonderful and very well managed. They had water and gatorade at every two miles from what I can remember. The miles were very well marked and the course was lovely.

The finish line was a great party! They had all kinds of great snacks and bottled water at the end of the course. Today I got an email from the course saying that the race pictures were available to view and were free! What a treat! I was hard to leaf through all of the photos to find the ones that had my bib in them, but you can't beat a free race photo! This race is wonderful and the town is very welcoming. THE RACE MEDAL IS AWESOME!!

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(2016)
"Oklahoma City Go Girl"
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This is a great race and the people running it are fantastic. There is a training program attached to the race that is free. The people involved in training are knowledgable and helpful. The race day went amazingly and the overall attitude at the race was positive and uplifting. I cannot believe the amount of post race goodies the organizers have available at the finish line. The race medal is so big and cool!

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