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Latest reviews by Theresa
Theresa recommends this race
(2016)
"Get Lucky 21K (Half Marathon) 2016"
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The Minnesota version of the Get Lucky consisted of 3 different length races in 2016. A 7k, a 14k and a 21k. The 7k is held in downtown Minneapolis. The 14k and 21k is held in St. Paul. It is sponsored and run by Team Ortho, and typically, they have a huge turnout. This is why there are two locations. I usually choose the longer runs, because they are less crowded. I enjoy running in St. Paul, as well.
This year, the 14K run and the 21K run began simultaneously. The 14K folks just turned around a little earlier than the 21K runners. They did release the runners in waves, just to keep the turnarounds from getting too hosed up. That was a smart thing. There were some complaints about that last year.
There are two turnarounds in this run. One is early, at about a mile or two into it. The other is a mile or two short of halfway. The first turnaround was a hop, skip, and a jump over a sandy center island in the middle of the road. It could have been catastrophic for anyone who didn't watch their footing, but once you were passed that, then the remainder of the run posed little to no hazards.
Team Ortho always does a great job with water/aid stations. The courses are well marked and well staffed by city officials and volunteers. This course is basically one I've run so many times. It isn't particularly steep as far as hills go, but the grades can be killer, especially near the 12 mile mark where you are pretty much headed up at the end of a long run. That could turn your experience into a negative one pretty darn fast.
Team Ortho also has great sweatshirts and medals for the Get Lucky. They are always "Irish" in themed, with the lucky clovers and the Get Lucky logo. They really are appealing in color and fit. If you collect 4 of the Team Ortho medals, they piece together to form a complete circle, which is kind of cool, too.
The expos are always well staffed and have quite a selection of vendors, as well as the Team Ortho store. I'm a regular volunteer with them and working at the expo gives me "bones" or points towards free race entries! MAJOR BONUS! In fact, this race was a freebie for me! The only downside is having to pay for parking for both the expo and the event itself. Parking in St. Paul isn't cheap, and the parking facilities are notorious for hiking up the fees at these events. It is very frustrating to say the least. If you can find metered parking on the streets, then that is the way to do it.
The race starts at the Union Depot in downtown St. Paul, and ends a few blocks shy right along the Mississippi river. You are allowed access to the heated Union Depot prior to the event. There are indoor bathroom facilities there, as well as ample portapotties outside which are always vacant since everyone tries to use the indoor ones.
The depot also houses the post race party, which consists of some Irish folk dancers, bagpipe players, music, pizza, and a free beer to the runners. Beer isn't my thing, neither is pizza, in fact, so I couldn't tell you much more there. But you can get your post race goodies here as well. Team Ortho now has a partnership with Luna Bars, so those were in good quantity post race. Also, the banana, bottle of water, Pearson's Nut Roll, and a cup of Dole fruit were included as always.
I believe for the most part that the Team Ortho races are well run. They have had hiccups in the past, but they are few and far between. I enjoy the Get Lucky half marathon because it is a smaller attended race, and it's location in St. Paul makes it easily accessible and also makes for a very scenic run.
I'd for certain recommend this event to a friend. I can't speak for the 7K run, but the one is St. Paul is a definite great addition to your race roster.
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Theresa recommends this race
(2016)
"Half Fast Half Marathon by Tri FItness Race Review"
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I ran this race in 2015 and it was a completely different experience. I returned this year hoping for another age group place award despite the fact that I had an upper respiratory thing going on. That didn't make things any easier.
This event is put on by Tri-Fitness, a retail store in White Bear Lake, MN. They also sponsor triathlons, and training programs for any athlete looking to excel at their sport.
It takes place in the middle of February, which means any kind of weather is possible here in Minnesota. Last year it snowed. This year, there was no snow, but it was a wee bit brisk. You can pick up your bib prior to the race at the store prior to the run, or at the race the morning of the run. It is always well organized. And there is never an issue getting your race materials on the morning of. The event crew takes up space in the elementary gym and you can use the indoor facilities which is always a plus. There is also ample parking, provided you arrive early (within 45 minutes of the start), but parking on the side streets isn't an issue either after the lots fill up.
There isn't an "expo" so to speak, but there are a few vendors on site race morning. The typical chiropractor, and massage therapist, and some local running groups selling their shirts and accessories.
The race shirts handed out by Tri Fitness are long sleeved tech shirts, which is always a nice touch. Last year they were slate grey. This year, a neon yellow, more my style!
This particular morning, there were some icy patches to look out for. My husband came along, and he was grateful for the open gym to hang out in while I ran.
For the most part, the run takes place in neighborhood roads, but there are a few points where you pass some pretty scenery, There are plenty of lakes and ponds on the route, but mainly it's homes. I remember 2 or maybe 3 water stops along the way. There is little in the way of fanfare or fans of any kind. In fact, I'd say the volunteers along the route were the only cheerleaders out there.
Here is the bummer about this year, which is why I gave the race management a poor rating. This run is a two looper. At mile 6ish you should pass the start/finish area, but it was poorly marked this year, and the majority of the runners ended up passing the start/finish area at mile 9! This really messed everything up, because then runners began to make up their own routes to finish at 13.1 miles. I, on the other hand, began the second loop with a handful of other runners, following the signs thinking that this second loop had somehow been shortened. It hadn't. So in the end, I ran over 15 miles.
I was sure to tell them when I crossed the finish line. The response was "So did everyone else." I wasn't too pleased with that.
I could have been an age group winner with this one. That is why it was a bummer. Yet, no apologies were issued, no discounts offered, and I still think they handed out awards to those who DID finish with 13.1 miles. Again, I wasn't too pleased with that.
Afterwards, there was a nice treat bag, and a medal, of which they gave me 2 so that I could give one to my #irun4 buddy. I did appreciate that.
If you had asked me last year if I would recommend the race, it would be an overwhelming YES. This year, not so much. All I can say is you'll have to ask me again next year. I'll likely give it another shot. It is one of the few half marathons you can find in Minnesota in February. So it will stay on my race docket for the time being.
Theresa recommends this race
(2016)
"Securian Winter Run Half Marathon"
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The Securian Winter Run is one of the races included in the MDRA Grand Prix. What does this mean? Well, the MInnesota Distance Runners Association has a little internal contest for it's members. Run certain pre-selected races throughout the year and gain points as you go. Normally, I would opt out of a half marathon this deep into the winter. In fact, I wanted to run this last year and I'm not sure why I didn't. It may have filled up? I do believe there is a registration cap. Or maybe it was the colder winter that stopped me.
This year, I took a chance since it was a rather mild winter for Minnesota. And it played out in my favor.
I did pick up my race bib ahead of time. It was at a running store and I wanted the opportunity to be able to show my running charms. It worked well, because they ended up purchasing some for their stores!
My husband accompanied me to this race. According to the race website, covered parking was available for free, but we passed the entrance, and my husband didn't want to fool around so he pulled into the closest corner lot. It was only a few dollars, but with construction near by, we had quick access to the start line. In fact, it was just a block away!
It was a brisk morning, but not overly brisk. Still, we sat in the car for as long as we could, then headed out. As luck would have it, at the construction site we passed, there was a porta potty...and it was HEATED...and there was no one around. SCORE! A quick pee and we were on our way!
There was some slick spots on the roads. The temperatures dipped below freezing overnight, yet the day before they were close to 40°. This meant a freeze on top of a melt. And this meant a slick start to the event, at least in the shady areas of the city.
The start was on time, and not very crowded. I think many opted to run the shorter events.
After the National Anthem (with a flag proudly displayed on a city fire truck suspended over the start line), and a great announcer, we were off.
We weaved through the city streets to start, again, with lots of slick spots. I couldn't blame the event organizers for that, though. There was little that could be done. Once we got out onto the main stretch along the river, there was little to no ice to be found. In fact, the course is one I've run so many times with Team Ortho races...up and down the Mississippi. There are long, gradual uphills and downhills. It is always rather challenging because it ends with the bit uphill at mile 12. This time, though, we ended in the city rather than the riverside.
There were well placed and well staffed water stops with this event, and what seemed like a plethora of city officers and police officials. It was very VERY well manned, and run, for that matter. There was a turn around point where we basically retraced our paths until we reached the city limits again. Clearly, this was run by folks who knew what they were doing. And since it was the Securian FInancial Group, clearly they had the money to spend on it. This race will stay on my list as one to run annually!
When we were done, we were ushered into the Securian Financial building where we were able to get an immediate printout of our finish time and our rank up to that point in time. Very cool! We go to pick up our awesome finishers coffee mug (they gave me an extra for my #Irun4 buddy Delaney) and our delicious treats, from which they had quite a few. This was more like the expo that they didn't have beforehand. But we didn't linger, as we had to get home to our kids that morning. But I would have liked to. They had more photo opportunities and quite a few vendors there. They allowed you to use the YMCA showers in the building, too...for free! Nice bonus if you needed them.
All in all, one of the best produced events I have been to in the Twin Cities. If you can deal with the Minnesota January cold, and the unpredictable weather, then I highly recommend this event!
Theresa recommends this race
(2015)
"The Hot Chocolate 15K at Boom Island, MN"
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The Hot Chocolate 15K in Minneapolis had special meaning for me this year. This particular race allows you the opportunity to raise money for a particular charity. This year, it was the Ronald McDonald House Charities. A few years ago, my daughters' BFF passed away from Lymphoma, and her family used them quite a bit while Carina was in and out of the hospital. All in all, I raised over $1000 and was given a free race in return. I also received a $50 gift card to spend at the Hot Chocolate store at the expo.
I volunteered for this race as well at the expo, handing out race bibs. Afterwards, I used my gift card at the Hot Chocolate store in the expo itself. The expo was well staffed and organized and had a lot of great vendors. You could easily spend over an hour there if you like to shop for running stuff.
The bibs weren't preassigned. This made it easy to hand them out and kept the lines to a bare minimum. Give your name, and it was entered into a computer, printed out, and attached to a bib. It was so fast! It also gave group or family members the opportunity to have consecutive numbers!
The Hot Chocolate jackets were a nice touch, although they ran small. I couldn't exchange mine on race day because they had run out of Ladies Mediums, but i did get to exchange it for a Men's Small. That was OK, although it was green rather than pink. But I'd rather have something that fit. I might also add that they didn't wash very well. They shrunk up and got a little misshapen.
Somehow, I had a huge issue parking because of construction. I'm not sure how everyone else did. I ended up parking on Boom Island, which I wasn't supposed to do. Thank goodness I didn't get a ticket, but I did have to wait a little bit before I left as there were still runners on the course.
The course itself was a bit of a shocker to me as we wound through some industrial areas. One road scares the heck out of me to drive on, let alone to run on. But at that time of day on a Saturday, I guess it is as safe as it's gonna be. But running along the river is always nice, and crossing it as many times as we did made for a challenging, but occasionally scenic run.
There were aid stations along the way. I'm guessing 3 or 4 for the half marathon. They all had candy of one form or another. I don't eat sugar, so this didn't interest me at all. I also carried my own hydration, so I didn't use any of the water stops. But the volunteers were all very friendly.
There weren't many fans on the course, which meant most of the support came from the volunteers, but they did a great job!
After the run, there was an after race party featuring music and lots of chocolate, both hot and cold, and in the candy form. Again, I don't eat or drink it, so I gave away my hot chocolate and brought the goodies home to my family. Like I mentioned earlier, there was a gear exchange, but I had to settle for the men's jacket.
Overall, I recommend the Hot Chocolate 15K. It is a well run event. And the swag and post race party is fun, especially if you are with a group of friends or with the family. And if you like lots of sugar!
The best part is, however, that you get FREE race photos! And I was super excited to find mine was showcased on the website that year! The race meant a lot to me because of the fund raiser and because I was running in memory of Carina. I even had a special bib made for the run. You can read more about it at http://www.neonismycolor.com/hc15k-race-recap/
Theresa recommends this race
(2014)
"Twin Cities Medtronic Marathon – Race Recap"
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I can not even tell you how amazed I am. I had no idea I had this in me just waiting to come out. Take it as a lesson. There is nothing any of you CAN’T do if you put your heart and soul into it…and believe in yourself!
The night before the marathon, I seriously rethought my clothing choices. The forecast was still looking grimly cold, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized I’d be miserable if I were too cold. I had my husband giving me hourly forecast updates. He was stressing me out. So, I tried on a few pairs of capri’s to wear under my shorts before I went to bed…and picked out a long sleeved shirt to wear under my Superman tee. In the end, I’m glad I did. It ended up being just perfect.
And I’m glad I wore the sweatband with the ear covers, AND the gloves with the hand warmers. I never tossed them. I wore them the entire run. (I do owe an apology to my new friends at Louva. I didn’t get to try out their arm warmers on the run. But I’ll be sure to take care of that in another blog post!)
I was ready. My Keurig was not.
I’m also glad I went to bed early that night. I got some good sleep, relatively speaking, and that always helps. I woke up rather spry at 4:50 am and managed to get out the door at 6am, which was the plan. My breakfast? A cup of bullet proof coffee…and a half a Quest bar. Too many butterflies to finish it. So I brought it with. We decided NOT to have my husband drive me to the start line, rather, he took me to the Light Rail station instead at the Mall of America. I was able to use the heated restrooms there, which was nice to get all that out of the way. There, I hopped a train at 6:46 am which got me to the start line at 7:17 am.
And right THERE, at the drop-off, were the porta-potties! Good thing, because clearly, I did NOT get all that out of the way. That cuppa Bulletproof coffee was already through my system. I hung in there a bit to organize my stuff and I realized that I forgot to hand off my eyeglasses to my husband. I brought my sunglasses to run in, and I had no idea what I was going to with my eyeglasses. Luckily I brought along my check bag, and a fleece blanket that I had planned to toss. Instead, I wrapped my glasses in the fleece and handed the bag to the check peeps from UPS who toted them to the finish line for me! Gnarly!
Then, I headed to my corral. I have to admit, it was super well organized. This is a top notch marathon. I only had ONE complaint…and I’ll get to that in a moment.
It was chilly. And I was happy to have the capri’s on. There was little to no sun as promised, and there was a stiff breeze. This kept the temperatures up a bit, but still made for a cold morning. I warmed up a little bit, took my Energybits and got my watch and phone ready to go. Five minutes prior to the gun, I tossed the throw away pants and my disposable water bottle. But I opted to run with the sweatshirt for a little while.
It went fast…next thing I knew, the gun had sounded and we were off. I had lined up behind the 3:25:00 pacer just for fun, but quickly lost sight of him over the first hill. I had read that I should take it easy up these early hills so I put that plan into action. Starting nice and slow may have made all the difference for me this run. In fact, soon after the 3:35:00 pacer passed me by as well. I tried not to let it deter me.
Coming through downtown Minneapolis was a blast! I passed by all of our weekend joints, and the bells were tolling melodically at the Basilica of St. Mary. It was glorious and it reminded me that it was Sunday morning and I wasn’t at mass. So I said a prayer for all those less fortunate than I.
And we continued on. The next thing I knew, there was a lake directly ahead, and I recognized it as the route I ran with Michael Scott from Run Nerds Rock back in March. It brought back brilliant memories of running with friends from afar, and hopefully having the opportunity to run with them again. The winds picked up a little here, and the sun tried hard to make an appearance, but it just didn’t have the strength.
I should mention that I opted to run sans music or podcasts and just enjoy the crowds like I did in Boston. And I’m glad I did. Because it was a great crowd! There were folks lined up on about 90% of the route, and I was happy to thank them often for being there.
Then another lake, and yet another..and the sweatshirt I had on was ready to come off. I was at mile 6 now, and thinking just 3 more of these to go, plus a little bit. I was getting excited because I felt so good. I stuck with the sweatshirt up to hour 1, or the 7th mile or so when I tied it around my waist until mile 10. By then, I decided it wasn’t going back on, so I tossed it. I fueled here with my bits.
And here is my ONLY complaint about this run. It was shoulder to shoulder…for a LONG time. I remember it opening up at Grandma’s after mile 6, and at Boston around the same time. But this one? At least mile 13 when I got some space to spread out. I think the issue was there were two Clif 3:35:00 pacers. One was from Corral 1, and the other from Corral 2. Around mile 8 or so, they caught up with each other…and there was a crowd. Well, two crowds that kind of merged into one. It was hard to pass by them. And I felt like they were slowing me down. That was probably a good thing in retrospect. But I didn’t care for the overall closeness with my fellow marathoners. It just kind of gave me the heebie jeebies. And I knew that if I felt like I did at Mile 13, I’d be ready to pick up the pace again.
I believe it was around mile 14 where the lot of them stopped for water…and I took the opportunity to skirt past them. And I’m glad I did. At that time, the route leveled out nicely and I was able to make up some time.
The course continued to get a bit easier and it loosened up tremendously. With my sweatshirt gone, I was being recognized as “SuperGirl”, “SuperWoman”, “SuperLady”, “Pink SuperMan Girl”, etc. It was SUPER FUN. I just ate it up and spit it back out! The fans were great! I waved and yelled and hollered like I did at Boston…I was the only one so I got some attention. There were a few runners around me shaking their heads in disgust. I’m not sure why. My next dose of Energybits were waiting in my pocket. Down the hatch at around mile 16.
At Mile 17, we passed the Clif Gel tables. I’m so glad I don’t need that stuff anymore to fuel. I passed them by and just kept running. At Mile 19 we crossed the Mississippi and I remembered to look left and right at the amazing fall foliage. If I weren’t running as well as I was, I would’ve stopped to snap some photos. I opted to continue on.
Then, Mile 20 and the proverbial wall. No, really, there was a wall, the Alarc Wall, and we had to run through it! It was kind of neat, actually, and they were playing a song that I just had to dance through when I went through. I got a lot of cheers for doing that. And now I thought, “I have this SO licked!” because I felt incredibly amazing. Yeah, being fat adapted? There is no other way, I tell ya. My time was 2:39:something when I ran through the wall. That was 2 minutes faster than my 20 mile training run, and I still felt good as gold! I knew I could whip out a 50 minute 10K, and that is what I needed to get that 3:35:00 number I was after.
I never truly struggled. Oh, I take that back. At around mile 23, I dropped my phone. It just fell out of my HipsSister. I was doing a lot of waving and enticing the crowd to make noise, and it just jarred itself loose. I had to stop, pick it up, plug it back in…then I was so afraid I’d drop it again, I kept reaching for it every 5 minutes to be sure it was still in it’s pocket. I was either losing inches, or my hydration belt had loosened itself to the point that I was constantly adjusting it, so the last few miles were rather haphazard. And this got me rather frazzled, and I felt my heart rate go up…so I had to regroup and breathe and fix it. I don’t know that I actually did. That was the only thing that bummed me out about this race as far as my performance went. I’m just glad those last few miles were mainly downhill. That helped with the negative splits…plus I had some kind of second (or third) wind just before the finish. I saw all these tall, young, guys ahead of me slowing down. Seemed the thing to do was to pass them.
After that, more crowds and a lot more waving. Somehow I missed the Summit Avenue climb. It just didn’t seem like much of an issue. Either that, or my heart rate was already up from dropping my phone, so it just got buried. Either way, I had an incredible burst of energy here, and I realized that I never fueled up with more bits at hour 3. Oh well, didn’t seem like it mattered at this point.
Mile 26 and we are passing the St. Paul Cathedral and yet another amazing round of church bells! It was magical. And I just kept running.
The finish line now was in clear view, and I upped my pace again. I wanted to sprint to it as best I could so I could stop short and raise my arms for the photo…and I did. I hope the pictures came out! There were two clocks overhead and I wasn’t sure which was mine. I just assumed it was the one that read 3:34:00 and not the one that read 3:31:00. I turned off my Garmin and my RunMeter soon after but I couldn’t read the time with my sunglasses on. I just wanted to stop them. And it didn’t matter anyway because I had beat my goal of 3:35:00. I grabbed a water bottle and got my thermo wrap, then I looked for anything low carb to eat, but found nothing. Still, I collected some stuff for the family. And I stopped to get my photo taken in front of the Twin Cities backdrop.
I also picked up my check bag with my glasses fully intact, and my race shirt. I haven’t tried it on yet, but it looks kind of small. And they wouldn’t let us exchange it right there. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to keep running so it will keep fitting!
I passed up the free beer (barf) and left the gates to find my husband. He was right there. He told me my actual finish time, I was astounded. 3:30:14? REALLY? Are you SURE? I couldn’t fathom that. I just couldn’t fathom it. That was almost 15 minutes faster than Grandma’s. Did I really just do that? My husband said “I kept checking your estimated finish time and it kept getting faster and faster.” Dang, I thought…I must have run some killer negative splits!
And it would appear that I did! Who knew I had it in me?
Apparently, I did. I asked my husband to take my picture when we met up.
Then we grabbed some free Caribou coffee and headed out. Me shaking my head the entire walk. “Did I really just DO that?”
I couldn’t wait to get home and into a hot shower. I got so many great comments on my Runmeter that I couldn’t wait to get home and re-read all of them and thank EVERYONE for their support. It really got me through as it always does. That, and my Energybits. I couldn’t be more grateful to them, either.
So what is next for #NeonIsMyColor? I’ve got a 10k scheduled for Sunday. And a half marathon that I’ve run the past two years is Saturday. I’d LOVE to run it again. It is a grueling, challenging, hilly 13 miles, but I’ll play it by ear and decide last minute.
But for now, I’ve got my Boston Qualifier (by 25 minutes) and the blessing of my husband to go again. It looks like I’ll begin my 50th year with a bang. I’m very excited for the opportunity to avenge my time at Boston!