Latest reviews by Kayla
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I traveled from Kansas City to run this race. It's been on my bucket list for a couple of years, and when I found that I'd be in Colorado over Memorial Day weekend anyway - I couldn't pass it up. This meant running the race at 6 months pregnant, so it wasn't the race I would have preferred, but I was just happy to be there.
We picked up our packets on the Pearl Street Mall in downtown Boulder. The process was very easy. The swag was excellent - the shirts are by far my favorite race shirts. You are given a lot of different options as to which race shirts you prefer, which is a nice bonus.
On the morning of the race, we were thankful that we had paid for a parking pass on the CU campus. Traffic as well directed, and we quickly were able to park inside one of the campus parking garages. To our surprise, the building attached to the garage was open, and had indoor restrooms. Because we had to head straight to the airport after the race, this was so so appreciated. It gave us a space to change and get settled before heading back to the airport.
Finding the start line was simple (follow the crowds!) and the wave start was incredibly organized. Aid stations were not only organized, but had more than enough volunteers. Despite being one of the later waves (again, pregnant and slow), none of the aid stations were out of anything.
One of the big selling points for this race is the local community involved. And it did not disappoint. Boulder shows up, and they show up big. Slip and slides, keg stands, trampolines - it has it all!
I really hope to run this race again in 2018 for the 40th anniversary. It is a race experience unlike any other.
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The unique thing about this race is that it's located underground. The nice thing about that is that the weather is consistent, and since the race is in January, a nice change from winter weather running. The downside is that it's actually just an underground office park - so while it's cool to run in a cave, the scenery is basically the same as any other office park, and not that exciting.
I picked up my packet the Friday before the race (which was on Sunday). You could pick up your packet Friday, Saturday, or race day - so there were plenty of opportunities. You get a t-shirt (not a tech shirt) and a finisher's medal. The 10k finisher's medal is a good size.
The 10k starts at 10:00am, and I enjoyed the late start time. Parking is across the street at the casino, and you're bused over to the underground entrance. We didn't have to wait for the bus at all, either on the way to race or back to the parking lot afterward.
The race itself is well organized with a wave start based on approximate finish time. I was in the middle wave. This helped a great deal with congestion on the course. It gets warm and muggy in the cave, particularly farther back when the airflow is more restricted. I felt a little overheated, actually, and I was wearing capris and a tank. The 10k course is two loops of the 5-k course. Luckily, the two races do not start at the same time. There were a good number of aid stations, with just water at each station as well as porta-potties (something I don't usually see at the 5k and 10k races).
This race does have a gear check, although I did not use it so I can't speak to how well that part of the race was organized.
The post race food was pretty standard: chocolate milk, bananas, bagels. Again, the medal was good size for the 10k.
The only negatives that I have is that I think the swag could be a bit better, and that I wish the airflow was better in the caves (nothing they can do there!) but this is a large race and a charity race, so I'd rather the money go toward the charity than better swag. This is a fun and unique race. I'll be back next year!
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The Kansas City Chefs Association feeds you a hot breakfast after the race. Do you really need to know anything else?
This race is on the campus of Johnson County Community College. The gym is open both before/after the race, which is quite nice because it's typically pretty cold and it's really convenient to have an indoor space to wait before the race and recover afterward. The other nice thing about that is that you can use actual bathrooms instead of porta-potties. The course has a couple significant hills, but also a few downhills and flats to make up for the hills. There was one aid station on the course, with just water, and it was staffed by friendly and cheerful volunteers.
I ran this race in 2015, and the swag was a scarf instead of a shirt. This year, the swag was a hoodie. Both years, they have handed out some great medals, and this year's included a flashing Rudolph nose, which is really fun.
Packet pick-up was the day before the race as well as on race morning. I picked up my packet on the day before, and waited in a long time, but the line went quickly and everything was smooth sailing.
KC Running Company usually does a great job organizing their races, and this one was no exception. This was my 2nd year running this particular race of theirs, and I'll run it again next year too!
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Packet Pick-up was at Ward Parkway Mall and was very easy. This packet pick-up was at Genesis Health Club, but the sign on the door still said 24-hour Fitness. Unlike my previous race packet-pickup at a Genesis location, the race organizations for this race mentioned in their email that Genesis purchased 24-hour Fitness, so it was clear we were at the right place.
Because the race begins at a shopping mall, there was plenty of parking. The mall entrance was also open, even though the stores were not, so it was nice to be able to wait indoors for the race since it was a little cold that morning.
The course is a nice road race along Ward Parkway. The aid stations were well stocked with water, but nothing else was provided. I would have liked a little Gatorade has a 10k runner, but this wasn't a huge deal.
This was the first year that this race had a 10k distance. I was glad for the addition, but think that the routes could have been set up so much better. The 5k and 10k starting lines were in two different places, about one block apart. The 10k starting line was a block south of the 5k starting line - but both races started at the same time. This means that the fast 5k runners were quickly blocked by a wall of 10k runners, forcing them to jump into the grass to move to get around everyone. If I were a fast 5k person, I would be very frustrated about needing to jump a curb.
Because the 10k runners ran two loops of the 5k course, this again became an issue when 10k runners were coming around for their second lap, and began trying dodge those that were walking the 5k. Even as a middle of the pack runner, this began an issue for me. The 5k walkers didn't seem to have any clue that another distance was going on, and so weren't purposely in the way, and I think the race organizers could have done more to make everyone participating in both distances aware of how to give everyone involved the best possible race experience. I understand that road closures are difficult and inconvenient, but changing the course a little to better accommodate both distances could prevent some of these logistical issues.
This race provides a long sleeved thermal, which is very nice. And all finishers receive a 6' pumpkin pie. Those were the two reason that I signed up for this race! There were a few vendors at the finish line festival as well. It was not easy to tell where to get our pie, and we stood around for a few minutes trying to figure things out.
Because of the number of options for Thanksgiving Day race in the city, I honestly probably wouldn't run this one again.
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I really enjoyed my race day experience - but I wish I could say that same for packet pick up. This was the worst packet pick-up that I've experienced. I couldn't find the location at first, which was Genesis Health Club, because the sign outside the building said 24-Hour Fitness. I didn't realize these two were the same thing, and would have appreciated the heads-up in the email notifying us about the pick-up location. The pick-up was in a teeny tiny room with no space, which made it very difficult to maneuver. They did have free stickers and free shirts from previous year's races, which was nice.
On race day, I had a much better experience. We parked at Kiewitt and were bused to the starting line. Full marathoners were able to park on-site, but I'm not sure that all of them did because were were still spots available. There seemed to be plenty of porta-potties available. The only negative experience was that the race began late, and I was cold, so I wanted to get things going! But they did announce that it was starting late, so everyone was aware.
The reason to run this race is the course itself. It's very scenic, both through Shawnee Mission Park and on the Mill Creek Trail. This race, at the end of November, offers some beautiful views of the lake and the fall colors are gorgeous! The race is entirely on paved trail, with rolling hills and a very tough uphill finish (but you get to start downhill, so that's fun). I thought the aid stations were well stocked with both water and Gatorade. A few of the stations had gel as well, although I didn't take any.
I also really liked the swag for this event. Long sleeved, tech shirts and a very nice (and large) medal! The full marathon medal is massive. The post race food included pumpkin pie.. what's not to love about that?
Aside from packet-pick up, I really enjoyed this race.