Latest reviews by Kelly

(2017)
"Decent Course, Great Cause"
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This race seeks to raise awareness of ovarian cancer and raise funds for research to develop an early detection test as well as more effective treatment options for women with recurrent ovarian cancer.

The walk that starts before the race is inspiring and is a highlight of the event. The majority of the attendees are there for the walk, but the 5K had a decent turnout as well. The race starts and finishes at the Washington Park Lake House on the west side of the park. It's a two loop course with small-to-moderate hills, depending on your experience and comfort level with hills. The park scenery was nice and the volunteers at aid stations were great.

The mile markers were a little bit off and my Garmin had the race a little short, at a distance of 3.03 miles. Prizes were awarded for the top three overall male and female finishers and the top finisher in each of the 10 year age groups. There were also raffle tickets for sale for a variety of baskets.

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(2017)
"2017 Race"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
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This is a scenic half marathon on Rochester NY's North side. It's the flagship event of Fleet Feet's racing season. The course is challenging, starting in Maplewood Park and finishing at Frontier Field, home of the Rochester Red Wings minor league baseball team. The course is scenic and pretty, but hilly. There are at least four major inclines. I would recommend the half marathon, because the full is a two loop course, which would not be my preference.

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(2017)
"Good Local Race"
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This race suffered from weather beyond it's control. At race time, the start line was buried under water. However, the race director was fantastic, he made all the pre-race announcements under the gazebo so the runners could stay dry as long as possible which was a nice touch. Then, he personally walked the runners to the start line. This race has both a 5K and 10K option with the same start and finish lines but different courses. In fact, the courses crossed each other a number of times. I'm not sure if this was planned or weather related, but that always provides a challenge. The race director was there directing traffic and I did not have any issues going in the correct direction. However, my family members who were also running reported some issues.

The race offered cotton t-shirts for runners. I had pre-registered for the race and requested a medium shirt, but they were all out. It was too bad that I had to go up a shirt size because they had a nice design.

All in all, a good local race, especially since the 10K distance is harder to find than your run-of-the-mill 5K.

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(2017)
"2017 Race"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

I have run this race each of the past several years. It's always been a good race to me, I've PR-ed here twice, whether it's the course, the temperature or the time of year, or some combination of all of these remains to be seen. It's a Saturday morning race, so it doesn't take up your whole weekend. Don't pick up your bib expecting a true or any expo, bib pickup is at the Fleet Feet store in Rochester or on race morning. They offer a tech short-sleeved shirt, but two out of the four times I have run this race the shirts have left something to be desired in the coloring. For example, the shirts this year were olive green with powder blue writing

The Fleet Feet team runs a great event. They are organized and I love how Ellen reads out as many finishers' names as possible. It's great and encouraging. The pace groups are good too. They were able to think fast on their feet this year, as the historic rains in Rochester flooded the last mile of the standard course. I even liked the new course better. There is nice crowd support in the last mile.

If you're a runner who needs a lot of water, make sure your bring some for the course. The water stations are a little farther than every two miles, just a little too far for me.

All in all, a good local event, I'll be back.

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(2017)
"2017 Race"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

This was my 2nd year running the Cedar Point Run N Ride Half Marathon. Each year it gets better organized. We arrived on Friday for packet pick-up. The SWAG for this race was great! I only marked it down because the tech shirt was not my style. I just can't pull off the Charlie Brown print on a red tech shirt with a lot of text. Two years ago the shirt was a long sleeve tech shirt that I still wear frequently. The SWAG also included a running baseball cap, a buff, and depending on what you chose, reduced admission to the park.

After experiencing the park on Saturday, I tackled the half marathon on Sunday. The first couple of miles are the highlight of the course. It's great to run with coasters swooping overhead. After running through the park, you run over the bridge and get a great view of the water before your on your way to downtown Sandusky. The turnaround on the course is downtown and then it's back to the parking lot of the park for the finish. The course is pretty flat and fast. I wish there were more spectators and aid stations on the course. But overall, it was a lot of fun!

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