When you're in Alabama for work, and there's a race in the area, you have to sign up for it right? Did I mention that this is in the middle of July?

The Hotter N Hell race has both a 9 mile and 18 Mile option and is a part of the Southeastern Trail Series which culminates in a 50 and 100 mile event in November. I can't even imagine.

The race has packet pickup both the Friday night before the race, as well as on race morning at the park. I opted for race day pickup since I couldn't actually go to the other one. Super quick, though, and it was barely an inconvenience.

Runners do need to bring $5 for the start, because the race is run at Oak Mountain State Park in Pelham, AL. That's pretty par for the course for a state or county park, so don't worry about it. The parking lot is very spacious and there was no problem parking either.

The bathroom situation at the start was both pro and con. The pro was that the bathrooms were indoor. The con was that unless you wanted to use nature's bathroom, there were only 4. Plan accordingly for that, but it was a minor issue.

I have to make a quick mention of the start. Runners line up on the road, since the first half mile or so is on roads to separate the crowds. As it nears 7:30 (race start) the RD sneaks behind some cars, and without any warning starts the race by shooting a shotgun into the air. If you weren't awake, you will be then.

Other than those road sections, the race is run almost entirely on single track (and rocks). The first lap of the loop is a gradual uphill, but nothing unrunnable. Plus, it's actually beautiful. I've run in some cool places, and this was one of my favorite venues for a race.

Around the halfway point, and at the top of the mountain, there's a fully stocked aid station with all kinds of food, drinks, and spectators. It's awesome. The second half of the race is where you need to strap on your climbing shoes. My goodness. The climbs are steep, unrelenting, and some resemble rock climbing more than running. When one downhill has a rope so you don't tumble down the mountain you know its steep.

18 milers get to do this twice. I didn't have 18 in me as I got beaten down by the hills and humidity of the south. If you just do the 9; you'll be greeting with water, beer, Gatorade, and a cookout while you sweat out all the water in your body.

Quickly, some thoughts on the race shirt. I didn't love the men's shirt. It's a yellow shirt (runs a little bit) with the race logo. The women's shirt, however, was a white/gray singlet with the race logo. I almost asked to get the women's shirt because it looked SO. MUCH. BETTER.

This race is super well organized, and makes a point of being sure you have all race info, and know you need to carry water for the race. I would probably do this again someday if the opportunity presents itself. But I need to wait until the memory of the pain the race brought fades away.

The Yorkville Summer Solstice run is a Friday night race held in conjunction with the Summer Solstice Indie Music festival in Yorkville, IL (SW suburbs of Chicago).

Your entry fee gets you your bib, t shirt, one beer, and entry into the music festival. Not a bad deal.

Unless you live near Yorkville, it's a bit of a drive from anywhere in the Chicagoland area; plus unless you try to arrive super early, you'll have some rush hour traffic to contend with. The race starts at 7, and packet pickup is from 5-6:30; there is no pickup on previous days.

Yorkville isn't the biggest town, so parking is a little interesting. There are a couple gravel lots available if you arrive early enough. It's kind of a free for all, but I had no issues getting in or out. There's available street parking in town as well.

Packet pick-up is pretty non eventful, as it should be. The shirt this year was, in my opinion, super nice. It's a soft cotton blend, that you probably would not run in. But it's maroon with the festival logo in yellow/orange. Very 70s looking, and I'm here for it.

The race is very local, so you can imagine the start line is pretty laid back. The course itself is a simple out and back. For the 4 mile, there are literally two turns, so it's pretty easy to figure out. There's water at the turnaround at Mile 2, and maybe a station at Miles 1/3 (I can't remember). The course is hilly, but not HILLY. Enough that you'll notice, but not enough to really effect anyway.

When you finish, you can grab your beer, and listen to some music, which is perfect in my book. I'll likely be back next year.

I stumbled upon the Norsk Run while I was spending a weekend in Madison with friends. For $20, how could I not try my hand on a 5 mile race?

This race is definitely a hyper local race, and a park of the Mt Horeb Summer Frolic festival. It offers a 5 mile and a 2 mile. Packet pickup is only offered morning of the race, but it's a pretty simple process.

Not being a local, parking was a little tricky for me at first. Turns out, you can park on basically any street in Mt Horeb, so just find an open spot. Just don't park on the course.

Speaking of the course, you line up on a cross walk line to start the race. I had to ask a volunteer where we started, because it really wasn't obvious.

The race starts you odd on a steep downhill, before hanging a left onto the road where you'll spend the rest of the race. Yes, it's an out and back. The out portion (which I didn't notice until it was too late) is almost entirely downhill, and sometimes steep downhill. This means that the back is entirely uphill, including the finish. Run accordingly.

There are two aid stations with water, one at the 1 mile mark and one at the 2.5 mark (the turnarounds for both races).

There was a shirt, but I opted to save $5 and not get one, so I'm not sure of the quality, look, etc of that.

Overall, I enjoyed this race, and would run it again if in the area.

The Quarry Crusher series is a national series put on through Vulcan quarries. In 2019, the race series came to Chicago for the first time. I don't remember how I found the race, but growing up less than a mile from a Vulcan quarry (in Wisconsin) made this a must run for me.

The race offers two distances, the Quarry Crusher (3 and change miles) and the Double Quarry Crusher (5 and change). The difference between the two is pretty self explanatory. Run down into the quarry, run around, and then come back out.

The race offered packet pick-up the day before at a pizza restaurant (race sponsor) as well as day of. It seemed like most opted for the day of pickup (yours truly included). Pretty simple, sign a waiver since you're running in an active quarry, grab your bib, shirt, and swag bag: full of Vulcan Quarry things.

Around the start, parking was across the street in a gravel lot. Maybe a half mile walk, maybe. So not too bad. There were plenty of bathrooms at the start area as well. The only thing the race didn't have was a gear check. Since we had to park further away, it would have been nice to have, but no big deal. There were a few local vendors at the start/finish as well.

For the race itself. The first mile is almost entirely downhill, and a fairly steep one at that. You're running down into the quarry, so what do you expect. The second mile features mostly climbing, including two steep hills close to the second mile marker. The third mile is a mix of gradual climbs and descents, but nothing like miles 1 and 2. The Double Crusher does this again, the single loop (and second time for the double) heads back up that big hill you ran down to start.

The surface is almost entirely crushed limestone that the quarry smoothed out the day before. Road shoes with some grip, or light trail shoes, would do the trick just fine. For reference, I wore the Saucony Freedom, and had zero issues.

The post race had your standard water, bars, and fruit; nothing to wild.

It's worth noting that the volunteers for this race, and the Vulcan staff, were absolutely incredible. You would be hard pressed to find a better volunteer staff.

Most of the Vulcan races are in the south (plus Cali) so if you find one in your area, I highly recommend it! Or come up for the Chicago race next year, I'll see you there.

Another year, and another Run for the Zoo in the books. Last year, I ran the 10k and this year opted for the 5k, so I think I've had the full experience now. The race made a couple changes from last year, which I'll get to below (spoiler: they were good changes).

Because of course limitations and the size of the event, the 5k starts at 7:30 and the 10k gets going at 8:15. I'd still love to see the race add in a scored "15k" challenge and add the 5k and 10k times of runners who did the double.

The start times are also relevant for the parking situation. If you're coming for the 10k, get there EARLY. If you're coming for the 5k...still get there early. I arrived just after 6:30, and the zoo lots were almost full. There was a decent amount of street parking a short walk from the zoo, but that was filling up while I parked. If you give yourself time, you'll be fine, but make sure you give a solid 30-45 minutes before the race to ensure parking.

Packet pick-up is available the Friday and Saturday before the race, and on race morning. This year, I opted for race morning pick-up, and after seeing the lines last year I was a little concerned about how long it might take. BUT the race made some clutch adjustments. First, packet pickup is now located inside the zoo (it used to be outside) which made it was easier to find. Second, the race used dynamic bib assignment this year, which made it a significantly faster process.

There is a bag check for runners (also moved inside the zoo this year), and it's still one of the most efficient bag checks I've ever done. Allegedly the bathrooms inside the zoo were open as well, but I couldn't find them; which is probably more a personal problem than anything. There are porta pods just in back of the start line, and had almost no line, which was amazing.

The start area is pretty straightforward. "Corrals" such that they are, are broken down into pace; and the race also operates on a wave start.

The course heads south past the zoo, hops onto some of the dirt/gravel trails by the lake, and heads north. If you need it, there is an aid station right around the halfway point of the race. The last mile is mostly through the zoo and over the zoo boardwalk. Note, the boardwalk has lots of sharp turns (if you've played the boardwalk level on Mario Kart 64, it's like that) and is slippery when wet. But I love running on boardwalks, so this is a great end to the race.

The finish chute is very straightforward. Water, gatorade, freeze pops, and some fruit. And if you're above 21, you can grab your post race Goose Island beer as well.

Oh, and the race shirt. Personally, I liked last year's shirt better. But it's a tech shirt, and very comfy. It was blue with the race logo and a rhino on it this time around.

All in all, it was a perfect morning for the race, and excellent race management as well. Definitely recommend if you're looking for a solid early summer race. Or if you just want to get some exercise at the zoo