Latest reviews by Annabelle

(2013)
"One of the best neighborhood races in Chicago!"
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I ran this 5k in 2011, 2012, an 2013, and I fully intend to do it again this year. Each year the race has seemed to grow exponentially in terms of participation, however, the experience has not become at all tedious or chaotic as often happens when races grow so fast. The race benefits a charter school network, so if helping kids receive an education is your bag, then you can feel good about that too.

The "Day of the Dead" theme for this race is a blast. Many participants dress up as "Catrina's" and the like. I would love to see more of the lead runners get into the theme! There is a costume contest, dancing, really delicious posole (soup), Mexican hot chocolate, and much more after the race. Each year the long sleeved t-shirts are a different color and typically also have one subtle change to the design, the race website had an "el camino" tab where you can see (and submit your own) all the place the famous shirts have travelling nation and world-wide.

As for the field, this is a time of year when a lot of Chicago runners are in great shape so it can be a decently competitive race, however, this is also a great family event so there are runners and walkers of all speeds out there having a blast!

An additional claim to fame for this race are the awards. 3-deep in each age division receive a sugar skull hand painted by an UNO student. I have three so far, and cherish them.
Pre-race and along the course there is some traditional and local entertainment from school kids and other local neighborhood groups; music, dancing, and so on.

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(2013)
"Big, but reliable."
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I'm trying to think of a clever analogy here but can't come up with something else that has grown rapidly but is always the same...

What I mean is, the Bucktown 5k has been around for a while now, I've run it 4 times (non-consecutively), and was a little overwhelmed at first in 2013 when I saw how many people there are now. It's a 5k that is tucked onto neighborhood streets, so a 5k that requires start corrals seems like a recipe for disaster. But whaddyaknow, each year it is reliably held without any drama (to my knowledge).

I do wonder if they can get any bigger without moving to the lakefront of onto some major streets, and that would definitely changes the feel of the event. It might slow you down a little bit, but I really enjoy 5's that have lots of turns and stay away from major intersections, it makes you feel like you are flying, even if you are having a bad day. It also means that even if it's only a handful of spectators, they seem like the world.

The race swag is different each year, but they do stay (as I think all R.A.M. event tend to) away from t-shirts. 2013, was a hoodie, a fairly snuggly one at that.

The biggest challenge for this race is possibly navigating over speed bumps (as with any neighborhood course) while trying to run fast, and getting tucked into the appropriate spot at the start. Given the large number of runners, and the limited space, you could potentially have a very rough start, so mind the corrals.

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(2013)
"Buyer beware"
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Blantant trend chaser. Poorly managed, and more about being "a woman" than running. Frankly, I found my experience, and the continued marketing of this event to be a bit offensive.

I'll preface this by saying that I am not a fan of women's only races, and that, in fact, I think they are not an effective way of promoting women in running (or in sport, for that matter). I ran this race in order to make sure I wasn't acting ignorantly biased. I gave this event more than a fair shake, and it was just terrible. The t-shirts were rather nice, everything else was disappointing.

Being a Chicago Lakefront trail style race there was great potential for it to be a wonderful opportunity for a PR race. In fact, I targeted it as such.

The course was poorly marked and virtually unsupported, I only saw one or two bonafide course marshals. Myself and the majority of other runners who weren't in a large pack (and even some of them) mis-navigated the course to varying degrees. I ended up with over an extra half mile in the end.

To her credit, the race director was hugely apologetic and offered comp'ed entries to any other Zooma event of their choice to everyone who went off-course. I declined. I appreciate the gesture but also recognize that it is business and customer service 101. Look, I understand that in any sort of business, and more specifically events/parties/sporting events, things are going to go wrong. That's a guarantee, but this event actually frustrates me a great deal because it seems like they invest a huge amount of money and effort in the marketing, but very little in actual event execution.

This is a pricey event (I guess most half marathons are now), but I think even their target audience (which, based on their marketing are women who will only run if provided with a shopping opportunity and champagne, oh! and jewelry, at the finish) would like to see more effort on race day. The much promoted after-race festivities were really sparse and the vibe was not very happy.

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(2013)
"Good enough if you like that sort of thing."
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Perhaps it goes without saying, but if you don't like arbitrary running challenges, and you don't want to see some of your running friends at their most cranky, then maybe you shouldn't do a 24 hour relay event. That said, if you're not sure whether or not you'd like an extended relay event, then Ragnar Chicago is a great event to try it out.

The event is well managed, you are provided with all the maps and logistical support that you need in order to predict hand-off times, and to drive between them and so on. There is support on the course with the caveat that you have to either provide 3 volunteers for your team, or you have to pay an additional fee. The cost's really add up, and you should expect to spend several hundred dollars on this event BEFORE you purchase your food and anything else you want along (but remember: Alcohol is NOT permitted during the event, for what are hopefully obvious reasons - you're DRIVING, duh, and running in the dark).

The best parts of this event really are the general overall culture of goofiness. The more your team commits to a theme, the more fun you'll have, I think. A minor detractor of the event is also one of the events strengths, and that is all the rules and regulations: to be sure, the long list of rules is necessary when you have hundreds of teams out there running all over 200 miles of roads and paths. But it seemed pretty weird that even though the sun was up and shining we had to wear lights and vests, because it wasn't 6:30am yet. But again, in the grand scheme, no-big-deal.

The course for Ragnar Chicago has varying difficulty for each leg, there are a few nice legs on paths, and really only a few legs that are hilly. Running on major road-ways in the pitch-black of night can be really nerve-wracking if you don't find yourself with other runners around.

To the relief of beginners, the course is REALLY WELL marked, provided you turn off your brain, and don't turn until you see a sign telling you to do so. It's a lot like using a GPS in the car: don't argue with it, you will lose.

You get a tech shirt that is of decent quality and a bottle-opener medal at the finish. The medals a re nice and heavy so it's a decent opener, that said, bottle-opener medals are much of a novelty at races anymore, and how many do you need, really? So don't factor that too heavily into your decision to do this event or not.

In the end, this is a great relay for the first-timer, or for a group of running friends that want the endurance relay experience in a very safe and controlled (and expensive) package.

You can read about my personal experience here: http://fluencysfolly.com/2013/06/13/ragnar-chicago-2013-rookie-relay-yogger/

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