Latest reviews by Trisha
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I ran my first Ragnar this past weekend. We started in Saratoga, NY and ended up in Lake Placid. We were told to be at the start at 3:30 and they weren't ready for us. We ended up watching the safety video several because the lady in charge decided our group couldn't watch it without other groups. The video then froze, so we had to watch it over again twice more. It became a joke by the time we were done. The race itself was a lot of fun. All of the paths were very well marked. If you don't like hills I wouldn't suggest running this race. The second leg of this race until the end is hills, hills and more hills. The views are wonderful. I ran Tongue Mtn at night and as I came over the mountain the moon shined off the lake and it was stunning. The medals you get at the end are the best I have seen so far. They have a great after party and are very well organized. The only thing that I was surprised at was that they didn't have people going along the route to double check on runners. To me it would be a smart decision to make sure they have someone following the course to make sure everyone is ok, especially when they are running at night.
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This was a phenomenal race for being the first time it was run. Before the race there were Job Corps members that helped the kids fly kites. There was free Starbucks which was an awesome bonus. The shirts were great and I personally loved the saying. This race was an awesome family event. The race itself was great because you take off down the runway and do that loop twice. It is nice for families that everyone runs at different paces, because you don't have to worry about anyone getting lost. It is also nice for spectators because you can see your family members multiple times. My son thought he was going to smoke his mother and took off with a friend without me. It didn't bother me because I knew he would be fine and he was kept to a smaller confined area. The race didn't happen like he planned and let's just say he was bent out of shape that mom was winning, but I let him win at the end. There was a water stop that you hit twice, which was a great bonus. The temperature was extremely high and since you are on a runway there is no shade. This is the first race I have ever been at that the water at the water stop was actually cold.
This was a run/walk and awards didn't start until after the walkers finished. Usually I hate waiting, but I am glad that the walkers weren't left out. There was a gentleman that was the last walker and all of the Job Corps Cadets got behind him and helped him finish his last lap. My sons and I also got behind him with a bunch of other runners and cheered him on. They even put a finish tape out for him to cross. This was probably my favorite part of the race. Cheering someone on that was struggling, but refused to give up was incredible. No one had to do that, but these kids all chose to and it really showed everyone else how supportive we should be of others.
The awards they gave out were very nice. One highlight was having former olympian Tony Staynings speak to the crowd. The inspirational speech he made was great and it really gave the crowd something to think about. My husband even noted how it was amazing how much Staynings had paid attention to the runners during the race, because he was giving pointers afterwards.
The only suggestion I would have for this race is to have the refreshments if possible closer to the finish. You would have more people cheering on finishers and especially in the heat getting water right away would have been great. Other than that it was a perfect race. You can tell the race director is a runner because he did a great job. We will definitely make the trip next year.
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I had heard great things about this race last year, so I decided to sign up. Expo was very tiny and hard to move through. There were a lot of people doing this race and you would think they would find a bigger place for it to be held. My marathon partner got a glass that had 2012 printed on it, instead of this years wine glass. We still haven't figured out why that happened yet. Shirts are great. They fit wonderful and I love their logo. Marathon morning we parked at the YMCA and walked over the bridge to get onto our shuttle. Runners were not allowed to be driven to the start due to security issues. I was confused by this because we never went through any type of security and it seemed like anyone could just drive up there if they wanted. They had a warming area for us, which consisted of what looked like a big garage. Runners were all huddled together and we looked like a bunch of homeless people. This race did have pace groups, but because of the way they lined up we couldn't even get close to our pacer. The course wasn't as scenic as I thought it was going to be and we ran mostly on roads next to a highway. The course was full of cones that we were supposed to avoid, which is really difficult when there is a swarm of people. I saved my friend's life by stopping her from falling over a cone at one point. The course was mostly flat, which was nice and the aide stations were wonderful. The medic tents were well stocked and the people that worked them were wonderful. I wasn't impressed that the only place they took photos was the last mile. No one looks good in photos during that time. I wouldn't travel a far distance to do this race. Personally if you want to do a NY race I think Mohawk Hudson is a lot nicer.
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This race was held on beautiful Killington Mountain. I was surprised how little was at the expo, but very impressed on the gondola ride that we got to the top of the mountain for 1/2 price. Race morning started out ok, but then the announcement that the race was delayed came. Personally, I think all 1/2 marathons should start at 8am or earlier and the start time for this was 9am. There was a strong storm front and because part of the race is riding a chair lift they had to delay it. We kept contemplating what we would do if they delayed it anymore. We were 3 hours from home and needed to get back for our kids. At 9:45 they told us they were delaying until 10:30 and then the race would be on. We figured we'd give it until then, but then had to go if they delayed any longer. At 10:20 we all headed out in the pouring and cold rain to line up at the start line. They had two former biggest loser contestants start the race a little after 10:30. The race started great all downhill. I had the fastest mile that I have had all year. I kept telling my husband we should probably slow down. Then the hills started. I have never ran more hills than I ran today and most I walked. It got to the point I was so upset at myself that I couldn't run the hills that I wanted to cry. Mile 10-12 was all hills and my slowest pace ever. Finally at almost mile 12 we got on the chair lift to ride part of the way up the mountain. This was a nice treat, but they must have included that distance in the 1/2 marathon distance because at the finish my watch only recorded 12.39 miles. The only issue I had with the chair lift is sitting on it and then getting off to run my body was not pleased. The rest was all down hill. The terrain was very rock and it was trail running not road running. My husband loved this. This was my slowest 1/2 marathon ever and a very frustrating one. I was really surprised that as this being a Biggest Loser race it would be so tough. Personally, if this was my first I would have never given another one a chance. There were people of all different fitness levels and I felt awful that for some of them this would be their first and last experience because they would feel defeated after finishing. Race management was awesome and they did a great job with the delay. I just feel that if there is anyway to make it flatter they may want to think about it to help those who are doing this as their first. I thought it would be easier because it was a Biggest Loser race.
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Boilermaker is an experience everyone needs to have at least once in their life. It is the largest race I have ever run and it was definitely the most fun. We visited the expo on Friday, which was actually smaller than I thought it would be, but still had a lot of stuff. My biggest complaint is that with the Boilermaker you pay $50 and all you get is a glass and a pin. If you want a shirt you need to purchase it at the expo and they do have medals if you would like to purchase them there as well. This year was the first year they threatened to cancel Boilermaker due to weather. On Saturday they had a news conference at 6pm, but never sent out the information to people who couldn't watch it until hours later. Sunday morning they decided the race would go on, but the party would be cut short. We were very lucky because we had someone drop us off at the start, so we didn't need to use the shuttles. The start line is really a mess though. They have what I thought were corrals to start each color at a separate time. I was the last color so we just stood there for at least 5 minutes after the race started before we even started to move. My husband was in an earlier corral and he said everyone just went. I personally think they should have time paces listed for the last color, because there were so many people in front of us that were walking.
Once we got started I have never experienced a more interesting race. There were people all along the course cheering us on. I have never been part of a race that people are always there to cheer you on, give you a high five or hand out free popsicles or beer. There were aid stations every 1/4 mile with water or ice. The worst part of the race is because there were so many people in our group, we were constantly weaving in and out of people. It wasn't until the last 5 miles that we finally had a break and could run without hitting into people.
Besides having people all over to cheer you on, this is the first time I have been at a race that was televised. It seemed at every turn there was a camera snapping photos or a video camera recording us. As well as music at every mile, if not every 1/2 a mile. When we crossed the finish we were given our finishers pin and ushered to the finish line party. I have never seen so many people. We didn't even make it to the free beer, because we wanted to leave before the storms hit. It was great to have popsicles and fruit handed to us as we walked towards the area though. If you love crowds this is a race I would highly recommend, if crowds are not your thing I would stay away from this race.