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Latest reviews by Judy Litt
Judy Litt recommends this race
(2018)
"Ocean City Half Marathon 2018"
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I have been wanting to run the Ocean City Half since first visiting Ocean City on my way down to ZOOMA Annapolis 3 years ago. I've read nothing but good reviews about this race, and quite frankly, they're all true.
The management of this race is spot on: plenty of direction, well stocked aid stations -- even cold water on a hot day!, enthusiastic volunteers, an awesome goody bag of local treats at the end (plus other food available), and the cooling stations were quite welcome, too.
There is no expo, and the race shirt runs large and is pretty standard. Other than not starting earlier, there's really nothing bad I can say about this race. Be warned, though, that there is an MS Charity ride on Saturday and half the bridge is closed -- traffic backs up for miles.
I love running on the boardwalk with glimpses of the ocean. Most of the race is fast and flat (or would have been, if it had been cooler), with the exception of the bridge that you run over twice -- but that's within the first 5 miles, before the heat becomes too bad.
If you can tolerate the heat, this is a fantastic race. Of course, it's not always hot, but it was a sunny, cloudless day when I ran this so I didn't run the race I wanted to; not the fault of the race, though!
You can read my complete review at: https://chocolaterunsjudy.wordpress.com/2018/10/09/ocean-city-half-marathon-race-recap-9-30-18/
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Judy Litt recommends this race
(2018)
"1812 Challenge"
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I chose the 1812 Challenge, an 18.12 race (although my Garmin said it was a bit under 18 miles), as my first -- maybe my only -- race longer than a half marathon. I was very curious about what it felt like to run more than a half, but not willing to commit to a full marathon. I knew some runners that had run this race, and I'd never heard a bad thing about it.
The race is, indeed, a well oiled machine. About the only thing I can fault them with is the fact that there was a typo in their tagline -- "Challenge Accepted" turned into "Challenge Excepted". Oops.
The race course changed this year from a start in Watertown to starting and ending in Sackets Harbor. This worked very well for me, as we stayed in Sackets Harbor at the Harbor House Inn, and I was able to walk to and from the race.
It's a very small race, with just a few hundred each in both the half marathon and 18.12 mile races (there's also a 5k, which is even smaller). The volunteers are ample and enthusiastic, but there's almost no spectator support along the course, which isn't shocking as it's mostly two lane country roads and the course isn't closed to traffic the entire time.The scenery is farms, which can be pretty but it's not super exciting in my opinion -- except for the start and the finish, where you run along Lake Ontario at the Sackets Harbor Battlefield.
There are no killer hills, but most of the "rolling hills" start around mile 14, and of course by this point your legs think they're closer to mountains than hills. There is very little shade along the course, but I was blessed with a cloudy day.
There is some entertainment along the middle miles: a fiddler, bagpipe players, and an Irish Dancing Girl. I wear a hydration pack, so I don't stop at aid stations, but as far as I could tell they were always well stocked and the volunteers were very enthusiastic. I'm a BOTP runner, and I have run far too many summer races where they've run out of water, or cups, or both -- which is why I prefer to carry my own water -- but I never saw any evidence of that in this race..
There's ample food and a good variety at the end of the race. Again, I've run many races where a lot of the the food is gone by the time I cross the finish line. Volunteers are anxious to get you whatever you want.
Truly, about the only thing wrong with this race is that it's in August, when the weather is much more likely to be hot and humid (and of course, you have to train through the summer, and this summer was unusually hot and humid for NY). This would be such an awesome race in October, when the leaves are at their height!
If you do stay in Sackets Harbor, I highly recommend going to Tin Pan Galley and getting the Stuffed French Toast if you're a French Toast lover. I had already targeted this, but when my chiropractor actually recommended it . . . the portion is huge. I ate half the day before the race and then had the leftovers after my race. You actually can order a half portion (and the TPG Breakfast BLT was pretty awesome, too).
(2018)
"Freakin Fast Half"
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This should be called the Not Enough Half, although I will admit for me, it was Freakin' Fast. It was also one of the more disorganized races I've run. I wouldn't recommend it, but then again, not long after the race the Race Director closed down his company, Final Kick.
I signed up for this race because I'd been looking at races in ID for a while and a couple of other people I knew would be there -- one I only knew online, the other I'd met in person at a race in WA in 2017. Plus, downhill race. I love a downhill race.
We'd come out early to visit with relatives in WA, then gone on to vacation in ID. We had an awesome vacation (luckily before the fires started). Apparently I had a typo on my email when I signed up for the race, so I was blissfully unaware that the race course had been changed until a few days before the race. Due to road construction, the race was moved to an unpaved logging road for the majority of the race, and the Website said that "if you're a timid runner, you could wear trail shoes".
Since I'd come out from NY and that's where my trail shoes still were, you can imagine this caused me a bit of stress.Trails shoes weren't necessary, but the unpaved portion was closer to 11 miles than 10, as claimed, and you did have to be a bit careful because of loose stones and some sandy portions of the road.
I had some back and forth with the RD, and he was very responsive. There was a bus leaving from the Boise race hotel for out of towners, for instance, but I wasn't staying at that hotel. He told me I could still be on that bus (which was true). The bus left late, and we stopped to pick up more local runners eventually, finally arriving at about 6:20 for a 6:45 race start.
They had canceled the day before packet pickup in favor of picking up your packets the morning of. Wouldn't you know the line for my last name (it was done alphabetically) was the longest? By the time I got on line for the 6 portapotties, it was almost race time. And the race wasn't chip timed.So I rushed through that, which came back to haunt me later. At the time they were suggesting people go in the bushes . . . no thank you.
The race started (late, as it turns out), and thanks to the steep downhill I was, indeed, freakin' fast. Until I realized for the first time that I needed to make a pitstop. I realized this around mile 5, but at the next aid station, mile 7 . . . you guessed it. No relief.Not until after mile 9. All the portapotties did have hand sanitizer, though.
There is no spectator support, as you are running down a mountain. The road is also not closed to traffic, and while there wasn't much, it did kick up a fair amount of dust. I wear a hydration vest, so didn't need any of the aid stations, but they seemed well stocked.
When I finished, I was told they'd run out of medals. I wasn't even BOTP as I often am, I was solidly in the mild of the pack. Apparently if you asked, though, they gave you last year's medal -- my friends finished quite some time after me but they got their medals. The RD told us they'd mail them to the out of towners.
Which is not the end of the story. I figured I'd give it a month. But about that time an email was sent out. The RD's company was deeply in debt and he was closing up shop. We would never get our medals. I am grateful I got to run this race; we had a great time in ID and I did have a large PR, despite the pitstop..Final Kick was also putting on other races later in the summer, and continued to take entries, only to cancel the races & no refunds, of course.
In addition, they claimed the new course was USATF certified,and that runners could use it as qualifier. In the email later on, they said that you could submit it as a qualifier, but good luck with that and you might want to run another race as a qualifier.
I know that there are bad race companies out there. I know that some people have races canceled for no known reason and never get their money back. I believe that the RD had good intentions, initially, but without a doubt, this was a bad experience -- but oddly a good race for me personally (aside from not having enough portapotties).
Judy Litt recommends this race
(2018)
"Firecracker 4 2018"
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If you ever find yourself near Saratoga Springs, NY on the 4th, you should absolutely run this race! It is one of my favorite local races. There isn't much swag, the tshirt is just okay, and the race starts too late for a summer race . . . but -- the spectator support! It's pretty darn amazing. Spectators are plentiful, and they also come up with hoses in several different areas of the course, which believe you me, feels really, really good because this race is almost always hot.
You can stay for the parade afterwards, too. And there's usually other activities going on as well.
If you come, though, come early, because parking isn't easy. Packet pickup is in the City Center, which is air conditioned, and has real bathrooms, too.
I first ran this race in 2014 and I have come back every year since.