Latest reviews by Kate Bunting

(2019)
"My First Trail Race"
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When I signed up for this race, I made sure to pick an easy course for my first trail race. I am not experienced in running trails, so I just wanted to try one. Due to heavy rain, the original location was flooded so they moved it to another park nearby. This course was rated challenging. I was definitely nervous because the original race location was rated easy. They also made the course longer than the original one.

The week of the race we had packet pick up at the REI in Kennesaw, GA because they were a sponsor. It was an easy way to pick up your race goodies. Plenty of parking and you could shop for any needed gear when you went to pick it up.

The morning of the race I made sure to get there at least 45 minutes before the race started. There were bathrooms, porta potties, and several vendor tents set up. We had plenty of options for parking so that was great. They released the runners running the 8 mile course 10 minutes before us. Then they blew the horn and we were off. The course was definitely challenging. By mile 2 my legs were burning. It felt like it went on forever. The trail was muddy in some spots, but not too bad. It was a nice wooded trail, but really hilly. We gained 545 ft in elevation over our race. I was so glad when I finished. After finishing, we were offered snacks and drinks and they were showing the race results.

Overall I'd say this would be a hard race for a beginning trail runner. If you are more experienced and looking for a challenge I definitely recommend this race. I'm glad I did it, but I would have preferred that we rescheduled the race at the original course than switch to one that was a lot harder.

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(2018)
"Inaugural Reformation Brewery 5K"
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This was the first ever Reformation Brewery 5K. I had always wanted to visit this brewery and had heard really great things about it so I decided to sign up for the race. When signing up they said you'd receive a medal, shirt, commemorative glass, food and beer. All of that sounded pretty great.

The morning of the race I met my friend and parked down a nearby street. The crowd was large, and people were already in line to get their 21+ wristbands for beer after the race. The line was way too long so we just got ready behind the starting area. The races was an out and back at the nearby park. We ran on sidewalks from the brewery to the park, then on a paved path through the park until you hit the midway point which was where a busy road was. There you turned around and went back the way you came. A lot of people running realized this so they would turn around before they even reached that midway point (thought that was really lame). The course wasn't tough, but there was an odd smell along the way almost like it was near a sewer or something. The final stretch of the race was back up the one hill we started out going down. That was the most challenging part.

After I crossed the finish line I got in line for my 21+ wristband and commemorative glass. After waiting in line at least 20 minutes I received my glass and wristband. Turns out the commemorative glass is a plastic cup with the brewery logo on it. That was definitely a let down. Then I got in the food line. I was the last person to get food. They ran out before everyone go food so they need to have more food planned out next year. We got half of a grilled cheese and a small side cup of tomato soup. It was a little early for me to get beer so I tried their coffee on tap which was very smooth and tasty. The shirt was pretty nice, it had the logo on the front and race info on the back. The medal is a bottle opener on a lanyard.

Overall I would recommend this race to locals. I wouldn't travel very far to participate unless you really want to visit the brewery anyway. It was enjoyable, I was just let down by a couple things. It was the first year they put on the race so hopefully some of the issues will be worked out for next time.

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(2018)
"Not Well Organized Race"
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My friend and I saw this race and thought it would be a fun one to try. We both signed up several months in advance. The packet pickup was a little messy, and the location was a challenging one to find and park at.

The day of the race there wasn't much set up in the park. It was all in just one little area. We arrived at the time they recommended in our pre race info. It was still light out when we ran. They did not give clear instructions on when the different racers were to start, so our times weren't recorded properly. There were very few marked areas along the course. At one point there was a fork in the path and we asked the one person standing there which way to go and they sent us in the wrong direction. It ended up cutting .10 off our 5k mileage. There was one aid station in the middle of the race distance. We enjoyed the location of the race, but overall it was all messed up because it was so disorganized. I wouldn't do it again or recommend it, there are so many better races in the area.

You got a shirt and very thin bag at packet pick up. They also gave you a plastic lanyard at packet pick up. After the race you clip your medal on the lanyard. Definitely not my favorite race swag, but at least the medal glows!

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(2017)
"My Very First Half Marathon!!!"
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This was my first ever half marathon. I set my sights on this race late 2016. I hadn't run a race in years and was really nervous. The great thing about Disney races is how nice everyone is.

We are arrived for the Expo on Thursday. The expo was great. There were all kinds of brands represented, and tons of things to look at. The only negative was the line for the race specific merchandise was really long. I never ended up getting anything because I couldn't get in.

On the morning of the race, I got up at 4:30 am, had my oatmeal and walked to the race check in area. After peeing like 100 times (I was so nervous!) I made my way to the last corral. I had no qualifying time, and my many bathroom breaks put me at the absolute end of the corral. The first two miles were very slow, with lots of bottlenecking. There were very narrow areas on the course and it would be so full everyone would be walking very slow. The first couple of miles are mostly in the parks which I really enjoyed. Then you hit your middle miles and go into a more residential area, but it's cool because people will show up in costume to cheer you on. Even a band played as we ran. I felt like I was dying by the 11th mile. I wanted to stop, but kept going. It's a good feeling when you are looping back around toward the front and know you're almost there. When I finally crossed the finish line, my whole body hurt, but I was so happy. Some nurses taped me up with ice, and I got my medal. It was a great experience and really got me hooked on racing.

Disney does a great job with races. They have the best swag!

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