I found this race to be very disappointing. Shirts were not included in the race fee (they wanted you to spend an additional $15 to buy one). Refreshements, especially considering this was a half, were really lackluster. Watermelon, a small bowl of bananas, some stale dry bagel halves and some stale Hannaford cookies. Dixie cups of water (no bottles). Cars were coming very close to runners. The roads were open to traffic with no shoulder. Awards.........wow. The website advertised custom awards to the top 5 male and females in each race and other awards for 5 year age groups. No matter which distance you raced or where you placed, age or overall, you got the same generic advertisement pint glass. Very disappointing! I raced the day before this nearby, also in a rural area. At that race we got shirts, TONS of food, trophies for overalls in each race WITH medals, medals for each age group, accurate timing, and free photos. The only positives here were that the scenery was very nice and the timing was accurate. Other than that, it was very very substandard compared to other area races. Especially considering this company puts on triathlons. It was one of the most poorly attended races I’ve ever been to, especially considering there were 3 races occurring today.

This event is relatively new; in its third year. It supports a great cause buying medical equipment for a rural community’s EMT service. The scenery of the race course is beautiful especially at the lake finish. The t-shirts are above average for design/wearability. Timing was professionally done and the course was well marked. Unfortunately, there were several major logistical oversights that made the race a disappointment for experienced runners.

1. No easily accessible bathrooms. There was one porta potty for nearly 200 racers and it was almost 1/3 of a mile down the road.

2. Hardly any refreshements. Dixie cups of water and a few granola bars. Standard snacks for a 5K are generally bottled water, bagels, bananas........something more substantial. If unable to get sponsors to donate, ask the runners to help out and bring a baked good or case of water to share.

3. Awards were sub-par. Only male overall winners were awarded money (not females). Everyone else who placed overall or age received a printed certificate. It’s okay to have a finisher medal, but that’s unnecessary and not expected for a 5K distance. Award winners do expect (reasonably) a medal or prize. Finisher certificates are not generally considered an award. A hat, water bottle, separate medal, mug, socks, even something local/donated like some fresh eggs, honey, maple syrup, jam etc, would be a much better choice to draw more runners back next year.

4. The course is very difficult and hilly for a 5K. It’s one way out to a beach and no transportation back to your vehicle. It would have been nice to swim post race as advertised, but most of us didn’t have extra cars or ways to get our swimsuits, food, vehicles and supplies to the finish.

This otherwise would be a great event. Hopefully some improvements can be made for next year. Bathrooms, at a minimum, are an absolute necessity.

The race directors, volunteers and timing company (ARE) are excellent. The negative is primarily attributed to some of the dining center staff which is unfortunate because it casts a negative shadow on an otherwise good race and good cause to support.

The shirts were decent tech shirts and the terrain is relatively easy with few hills.

The staff at the dining center (not sure if they are part of the race or just happen to be there) are very rude. They literally aggressively guard the door so runners cannot attempt to use an indoor bathroom. There are two outdoor secluded porta potties. Quite frankly, that’s sub-par for a race held at a college campus where people expect to have access to a real bathroom. The campus certainly has the means to allow access to a real bathroom for a small quantity of runners.

The awards are okay but the quality could be improved. Average quality medals are given in 10 year age groups. Overall winners get the same award as the age group winners. That could definitely be improved.

Food post-race was running low for the number of people there. Bottled water would be better than cups.

In the past this has been one of my favorite races. Two distances to choose from, easy terrain (flat and paved), decent wearable shirts, enough food and water, etc.

This year I was really disappointed that the organization omitted 2nd and 3rd places from age group awards to “save time” and did not reward the overall winners with trophies like they did in past years. Awards are a big part of the reason why the competitive runners pick one race over another each weekend and the Spring Run Off used to be one of the best for this reason. To so drastically reduce the quantity and quality of awards this year was quite a dissapointment and will probably turn away a lot of competitors for next year’s race.

This is a nice small race in scenic VT to benefit a church organization.

The course is relatively flat through a residential neighborhood.

The t-shirts were of decent quality and there was ample food and drink post race. The $15 race fee was appreciatively low.

The timing could be improved. Many people had wrong times and placements listed post race.

The award system could also be improved. Generally for overall winners you separate male and female and award at least one in each gender. This race awarded overall top two “people” (both male) special handmade trophies. That’s very unusual at a race. Other overall winners got various sizes of maple syrup. Age group awards would be a good improvement that would draw more competitors.