The Frosty 5k is another part of the Chilly Willy Winter Series in southeastern Wisconsin. It’s also a part of the Waukesha Jamboree which takes place in the community.

What does that mean for the race? Not a ton. Except that there is a Pancake breakfast that you can attend after running.

Packet pickup was only offered race morning for this race. Fortunately all of the Chilly Willy races have an indoor area, so you don’t have to freeze while waiting for the race to start. The indoor area at Frame Park, where the race is held, is also the Parks and Rec building in Waukesha, so there’s plenty of space.

You will probably never run a race so flat as Frame Park. The path goes around the park and Fox River. To get the 5k you do the loop twice, so it’s very simple. To be right on a 5k we started at a different spot than the finish (having the start/finish line the same gets you about 3.4). This year, we started on a narrow part of the path partly because of the distance aspect, and partly because it was snowing like crazy.

The city of Waukesha did a great job clearing the paths in the morning, but as the snow continued to fall the course got covered in a layer of snow and/or slush depending on where you were.

Overall the course was in good condition for the weather, and there was no mistaking where to go with both signs and volunteers.

The post race featured a hot chocolate bar and the aforementioned pancake breakfast.

The shirt was very meh. Cotton and blue, like so many race shirts now. Probably not one you’d run in, but nice to just wear around.

Overall, as always Silver Circle Sports puts on a nearly flawless event, and this one is no exception!

The Big Chill is the 4th race in the WI Winter Run Series, and the only one that takes place outside if the Milwaukee Metro area.

Overall, this series had its fair amount of issues with new ownership, but this race was one of the better run. Likely since it’s one of two that didn’t change from last year. The only issue this year was a stalled car that was leaking gas on the course that we were told to “avoid as best you can.” Cool.

Packet pickup like always was either at Performance Running Outfitters the day before, or on site race morning. If anything improved the most, it was the efficiency of packet pickup at the series.

Parking for this one is always an adventure. Hartford Union HS has a somewhat limited parking lot, limited further by the fact that the race uses part of it for staging and the start/finish line.

This year, the indoor hangout area was also limited a bit as we were in the school cafeteria as opposed to the gym like in years past.

In years past, the a Big Chill was notorious for being a little bit short of a 5k. So the new owners added a small section onto the course...and now it’s a little long. Whatever.

The course itself runs almost entirely through neighborhoods. While I like this, I always question the wisdom of neighborhood routes when the roads aren’t closed. Granted on a January Sunday that isn’t much of an issue, but you still need to be on the lookout for cars.

It also isn’t the flattest course. It isn’t “OMG hills for days.” But you’ve got some nice inclines (especially around Mile 2). It also seems like without fail there are parts of the course covered in snow. And yes, I know it’s a January race in Wisconsin, so that’s expected.

At this point I could probably copy and paste the post race for all the Winter Series runs. Long wait for awards, poor communication for when overall awards will be, and no beer despite our beer ticket (only redeemable at the brewery).

The shirt is fine. Soft cotton with an ok design. You wouldn’t run in it (probably) but it’s comfy at the least.

You also get a finishers medal for both the 5k and 10k. I don’t love that, but if medals are your thing, you’ll get one

Halfway through the 2019-20 Winter Run Series in Wisconsin, we encountered the biggest shift from previous years with the Run into the New Year. This year, the race was moved to City Lights Brewing on the Lower East Side in Milwaukee, and came with a few problems. We’ll get to those in a minute.

Packet pickup for the race was, again, at local running store Performance Running Outfitters. Or you can do race day pickup as well. It was pretty efficient this time, except the scanner didn’t work for my QR code (so why have it?) but that’s no problem.

The race’s pre-race email was where issues started to arise. Since the Start/Finish line was in the parking lot of the brewery, there would be no parking at the venue. Nor street parking on that road. Runners were told to either street park on St Paul Ave, or park at the intermodal lot (almost 2 miles away).

On social media, runners asked if there would be a shuttle from the lot to the race. The race replied that there wouldn’t be one. Yikes. A couple hours later, though, the race reversed that stance and said they decided to have a shuttle. I decided to forgo that entirely and park at the casino about 6 blocks away.

The other big red flag was that, for pre-race, there would be no indoor facilities. For a winter race. In Wisconsin.

Fortunately (I don’t know if the race or brewery made the call) City Lights Brewing opened their doors early for runners, allowing a place to stay warm. With no bag check at the race, we were told we couldn’t leave our bags in the brewery, so most people set them outside.

The course itself wasn’t too bad. After 2 inches of snow overnight, lots of us were concerned about the course. But the roads were (mostly) cleared and for the first time in the series, we didn’t have to run on the shoulder; but got to use the entire lane.

The 5k was one out and back and the 10k did it twice. I questioned the wisdom of starting the 10k at 10am and the 5k at 10:05, but whatever. The course itself had one long gradual climb, but you got most of that back on the downhill. Not flat, but not HILLY. For what it’s worth, we were told there would be an aid station, but I never saw one.

In the post race, the same issues that have plagued the series persisted. Slow in posting results, and ever slower giving out age group awards. For this one, runners had to physically show the results on their phone to claim awards. And the awards tent was also outside.

Basically, this race was the same takeaway as the previous two in the series. The race course itself is solid. The rest of the race day experience isn’t very good.

The Last Call is the final December race in the Silver Circle winter series. It's also (for the most part) the last offered Half Marathon in the Midwest for the year; thus the name. I'll touch on the Half a little for this review (because it's relevant) but know that I ran the 5k.

I feel like I could copy paste the packet pickup info from all the Silver Circle races. Packet pickup was either at Silver Circle's HQ or at the race venue itself. Since I'm doing the entire series, I got lucky and was able to pick up my Last Call bib the same day I picked up my Turkey Trot bib.

On a morning where it was 35 and kind of rainy, I think we were all thankful that this race has a building where runners can gather. The only drawback for this building is that parking is super tight. All this means, though, is that if you don't arrive early enough you'll have to street park a block or two away. So minor.

The bathroom situation is an interesting one. There's an indoor bathroom which the lines fill up for almost immediately. But. If you've run this race before (or read this review) know that there are a few outdoor porta pods as well. These will eventually have an equally long line, but almost no one knows they exist at the start.

This year, the race course was a little different than prior years. Normally the race is an out and back along the Glacial Drumlin trail. Super flat, and super fast. But due to construction on the course (the tunnel is closed) the race had to adjust. This made for a double out and back: half on the Drumlin and half on the Fox River Trail. The Half would do that twice, the 10k would do the Fox River twice, and the 5k the Fox River once.

This also altered the start times slightly, as the Half would start 5-10 minutes after the 5k/10k to avoid congestion (and confusion) at the first turn. Here is where I should point out that I hear a lot of chatter from runners that they thought the race started at 9:30 (it started at 9). I don't know where that came from since everything on the website and emails all stated 9. Whatever.

Personally, I was excited to run the alternate course. Mainly because I've run the Drumlin for both this race and the First Call. Changing scenery is always nice. And it might be because of that, but I REALLY liked the alternate course! There are lots of pine trees (so we actually had some green!) along the river, and you get to, know you, run along the river. My only disappointment was that we didn't get to run over the boardwalk, but I get it.

Alright, time to talk swag. The shirts are ok-good. I loved the color (I like green shirts), the design, and the witty slogan on the back. This was also the first shirt in the series to be a tech shirt. But they did run kind of big. I'll also admit my swag assessment is a little bias since I took home the W in the 5k, I got the overall trophy and flowers. So the swag for me was excellent!

Overall, if you're looking for a flat and fast race to wrap up your year, this is the one to do.

The Vets Day 5k/10k is the first of Silver Circle Sports Events winter series (The Chilly Willy Series) each year. With snow on the ground in Wisconsin, this one definitely lived up to that name.

Historically, packet pickup for SCSE races are at a local running store, but this winter they are at the company HQ. The series is using dynamic bibs for the first time, so it hasn't rolled out to running stores yet. So the "expo" was in the warehouse/HQ for the company. In addition to bib and race shirt, runners could sign up for the entire winter series, the 2020 Trail series, the Christmas lights 5k, and/or purchase shirts from races this summer. For runners who ordered series gear, it could be picked up here as well.

The race is hosted at Menomonee Park, one of two winter races and one of three overall hosted here. There is ample parking on the south side of the lake (the start/finish as well) and additional lots in the park.

All races in the Chilly Willy series have an indoor area before the race. While this one was cramped, it was indoors and had indoor bathrooms, so tough to complain about that.

The 5k and 10k start at the same time, which is no problem. The course itself is pretty easy, a loop around the park with an out and back to the other pavilion (which is the start/finish of the other race here) and another out and back to the entrance of the park. 5k does the loop once, 10k twice.

The course is mostly flat, but has some sneaky hills in the last mile. This year, those were made a little tougher with a headwind heading out in that section. For perspective, I got about 106ft of gain (according to Garmin) and most of that is in that last mile.

The shirt of the race, and the winter series (I believe) is cotton, so nothing to write home about. But a nice shirt with a nice design. Medals are given to top 3 age division.

Silver Circle Events always puts on a well organized and great race day, and this one was no exception.