Check out my blog for a recap of the 2014 Turkey Chase! http://thriftyrunner.blogspot.com/2015/06/catching-up-on-races.html
And here's a short recap of the race in 2013
http://thriftyrunner.blogspot.com/2015/06/quick-race-catchup.html

I'm totally torn about this race. On the one hand it's lovely having a race that is so close to home and before the Thanksgiving holiday, but on the other the course is boring. There really aren't very many sights along it since it's through neighborhoods. It was fun to run it when my husband and I were looking for a new home so we got a bit of a longer look at some of the houses on the market. After the second time and we were familiar with the race course and bought a new home it didn't seem worth it to me anymore.

There aren't any portajohns along the route and the organizers lied to my mother as far as why there weren't any. (They said that there weren't allowed to be any in neighborhoods, but judging from how the organizers have no problem putting them in neighborhoods for their half marathon that was a lie.) That being said, the only portajohns runners have access to are at the start and finish line for the 10k, but not the starting point of the second leg of the 5k relay.

The on course support was okay--the water stops had a lot of people handing out cups so it was easy to walk by and grab some. There weren't very many (if any) people cheering on runners, and seemed to be mostly the local police cheering for us while they and us runners got glares from the drivers being held up by the race. (They had ample warning.)

The first year I ran this race post-race support was pretty great. They had the usual bananas, bagels and water but also nice hot chili (which that year with wind chill in the teens was awesome!) But the second year they had chips, bagels, cookies and bananas. I appreciate that they tried branching out in the post-race snacks, but I'm not a fan of greasy post-race snacks (like chips!) or anything super heavy (like cookies!)

I love running races with medals, but both years I ran this the medal didn't deviate much between years and they were pretty similar. The shirts are also pretty boring as well with the only real difference between the two years were the color of the shirt itself. The shirts are also one of the few race shirts I never wear because the cut is terrible and they aren't any sort of technical fabric and hold onto sweat terribly.

Overall, do this race once if you like but then move on. You aren't missing anything.

For a full recap of the race visit my blog: http://thriftyrunner.blogspot.com/2015/06/more-race-catch-up.html

I did like how it was a small field (limited to 300 runners) and that the race was in a place where I basically grew up but had never run. The time of year (Easter Weekend) also made it easy to find a place to stay in town close to the boardwalk.

Despite that I wasn't impressed with the way this race was run. I registered for this race pretty soon after registration opened up after asking organizers if the shirts were unisex or gendered sizes. (They said the shirts would be unisex.) I ordered my husband and I's shirts based upon that, and at packet pickup I found out that the shirts were gendered. I was unhappy that they had changed the shirt sizing but very happy we were there soon after packet pickup opened up, because they ran out of shirts and had nothing to offer runners to replace the shirts that they paid for.

Race morning it was easy getting to the starting area and the after party was nice until the 5k finishers began to trickle in. (It got super crowded in Mango Mike's very fast.) The race course for the 10k was nice, but a little boring (it was basically the 5k course twice.) It was totally flat and very competitive because the organizers asked that you are able to maintain a 10-11 minute mile for the first two miles to allow for spacing between the 10k and the 5k. (They've since relaxed this policy slightly and have said you can maintain a 12 minute mile for the first two miles.)

Not only did race organizers run out of shirts, but they also ran out of medals too. At one point I heard the organizers scrambling trying to bring out a box of medals from the previous year and they started handing those out too. As far as I know, they didn't have anything for runners who managed to finish after they ran out completely but I do know the medals were only for 10k finishers. The only thing they offered runners who missed out on shirts and/or medals was a public apology during the awards ceremony and that they would try better next year.