Latest reviews by Erin

(2015)
"A great way to kickstart your Summer running! "
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

Registration:
Easy, online registration which closed a couple of days before the event. Pick-up was to be held on the Friday (Sydney CBD location) and out at the race location on the Saturday. I was unable to attend the pre-event packet pickup but was able to organise pick-up the morning of the race with no issues.

Expo:
Unfortunately I didn’t make the Expo given that I’m out of the Sydney area. There was a small area at the start line where event information, volunteer check-in, access to water and bag check was (along with real toilets!). There was a bigger festival area across the park at the finish line.

Parking: Public parking out at Homebush was a plenty, with specific directions to the nearest carpark without being impacted by the road closures. Parking was $5 an hour to the maximum of $25 a day.

Swag:
No swag for either the 10k or 5k race.

Course:
The course started and finished on opposite sides of Cathy Freeman Park at Olympic Park, and overall was a nice & flat 10K, with the exception of a slight incline around the 8.5K mark. This area is full of parkland, and awesome buildings that were purposely built for the 2000 Olympic Games, so it’s a great way to see the area. Unfortunately there were a couple of other events going on which meant that the later time saw crowds trying to cross the route to their destination, leading to some confusion as runners head towards the finish line.

The course was all on road, with the exception of pavement around the stadium.

There were 3 water stations on the 10K course at 2km, 4km and 8.5km. The later stations also offered Hydrolyte as the electrolyte drink of choice. It was a warm morning so all water stations were welcomed. I also took my own electrolyte drink.

There is a water table set up as you exit the runners chute and bananas were offered.

The medal for the Summer Starter was the same for either the 5K or 10K (so I could have received the same medal for half the effort!!), which made sense for the volunteers when both sets of runners were coming down the chute at the same time.

Also the volunteers were a plenty, and were in awesome spirits cheering all the runners on and were more than happy to help. There was also plenty of medical staff who were responding to issues quite quickly.

This is definitely a great race to kickstart your Summer running!

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(2015)
"A great, free & timed 5K! "
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
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Parkrun is a free, weekly timed 5K year round on Saturdays. The Mt Penang chapter kicks off at 8am, with all levels of runner catered for. To participate you do need to register on the Parkrun website, print off your barcode and bring it when you run. If you don't have your barcode you won't get your time.

Course: This is a mixed course, featuring a mixture of road, grass and dirt road. The Mt Penang run starts off on the bridge of Mt Penang Gardens, running through the gardens out to the Event Park, up through the Parklands and past some amazing heritage buildings, out onto Parklands Road and up to the Central Coast Information Centre. This is an out and back course.

There are shared pathways and volunteers do try to handle traffic but it's best to be aware at all times of the environment around you.

The event is run entirely by volunteers.

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(2015)
"The hardest 6K I have ever run! "
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

Spartan Race really is unlike any other race, especially other obstacle races. This version of the Spartan Race was the Stadium Sprint, so there was less focus on the mud, more focus on cross-fit type obstacles such as the SkiErg, deadballs and sleds.

This was also the first release of The 300 - which was a "ninja-warrior" type course in the last 300m of the course. This was the first view of Spartan Race as you walked through to collect your number & timing chip. Don't watch too much of it though, you may psych yourself out!

They were running about 10mins late by the time it got to my wave start, one thing I noticed differently from the version that I volunteered at earlier this year was that there was a lot more running involved, however 6K around a stadium is hard and long. Oh, and it involves a lot of stairs. One thing that was cool was that you went all over the stadium, from the nose-bleed seats down to the locker rooms and VIP areas.

The first few obstacles started out easy enough, however after a couple of failed ones later in the piece (and the necessary burpees completed) - it started to become exhausting! At this event there was both the Sprint and the Super (12K) event being run, and unfortunately some of the course markings were confusing or easy to miss. I ended up missing a turn off for the Sprint and ended up failing on the Super obstacle (and thus more burpees). Perhaps larger markings next time around help in stopping any confusion.
Once on The 300 - there seemed to be more congestion as there were many different abilities trying to get their way around the course. I was disappointed that the ice bath obstacle was out of action by the time that I got around, it was the one thing I was looking forward to when I was climbing those stairs!!!
Overall, the obstacles were a good mix, although I was stumped at the really hard ones - some crazy climbing contraption and then there was the log leap that seemed to have everyone completing burpees.

It was a hot day and the drink stations were few and far between. Due to the small number of volunteers, most were self-service (which is ok by me) but I think there needed to be a couple more stations (at least just before the beginning of The 300) to combat the sun and heat. I think the limitations were due to the placement of hoses for constant water.

You do receive an incredibly large and heavy medal for your efforts. This also has a metal triangle piece that, if you complete a Super and Beast event, makes one additional medal. You also get a finishers shirt once you cross that line.

Overall, it was a good challenge and I'm glad I attempted it. One other thing to note: It was a little difficult running by myself for obstacles like the high wall, but the volunteers were really awesome to help out where needed. I'm sure it would be a different experience if running with friends.

Cheers to all those who volunteered at the event!!

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(2015)
"A perfect 10K! "
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

Registration: Once again, this event sells out quickly. Registration is via Active and it's wise to ensure that you set a reminder or alarm for the on sale time to avoid disappointment. I went through a Travel Agent for my bib and it was an easier and stress free experience.

Expo: This year runDisney changed the rules on packet pickup so that all competitors must pick up their own bibs. Packet pickup was located underneath the Disneyland Hotel Convention Centre alongside the commemorative item pickup and then followed back upstairs straight to the T-Shirt pickup. New to the event this year (it has been at other runDisney events since late 2014) was the need for a picture to be taken for challenge competitors.
Merchandise queues were handled efficiently, with the majority of the queue located upstairs in the Convention Centre, and then moved down to the merchandise area in rows.

Swag: Included in the race cost was a t-shirt. For the 5K it was a unisex plain cotton tee celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the 5K. For the 10K, Half and Dumbo Double Dare shirts they were gender specific Champion technical tees - true to Champion size. All shirts also commemorated Disneyland's Diamond 60th Anniversary.

Course: The course followed 2014's course - The 10K course was again outside the Disneyland Hotel, however continued down to the Convention Centre, looped around and back behind the Tower of Terror, through Cars Land and around Paradise Bay. The with such a length of time before the start and the entrance to the park the crowds do thin out. The course itself is rather flat until you run in the secret tunnel connecting the two parks, there is a slight incline but nothing to be too concerned about. This way avoids the main plaza, which you do run through in the 5K and the Half. As you follow the park around Tomorrowland, through backstage and back down Toontown to Fantasyland and through the castle. There were enough parade floats, and Disney employees cheering you on backstage to pass that time. There were a large amount of characters out on the course this year, and they seemed to be rotating them. Again, there were signs that announced upcoming character meets.

Aid Stations: There's three aid stations supplying water, and one medical station located on the course.

Post-run: Once again, post-run is super organised, moving through from collecting medals to verification of photo ID for the challenge medal. From here you can pick up water/Powerade and then take pictures (you can also skip this part if you'd prefer), the medical tent is located in this area with both manned and self service stations.

All walkways back around the resort were well marked, and volunteers were able to advise the route to walk. Downtown Disney is affected after 10K, as the course does go through it - so don't be in a rush post-run or walk through Disneyland Hotel to get where you need.

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(2015)
"Another magical race!"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

Registration: Once again, this event sells out quickly. Registration is via Active and it's wise to ensure that you set a reminder or alarm for the on sale time to avoid disappointment. I went through a Travel Agent for my bib and it was an easier and stress free experience.

Expo: This year runDisney changed the rules on packet pickup so that all competitors must pick up their own bibs. Packet pickup was located underneath the Disneyland Hotel Convention Centre alongside the commemorative item pickup and then followed back upstairs straight to the T-Shirt pickup. New to the event this year (it has been at other runDisney events since late 2014) was the need for a picture to be taken for challenge competitors.
Merchandise queues were handled efficiently, with the majority of the queue located upstairs in the Convention Centre, and then moved down to the merchandise area in rows.

Swag: Included in the race cost was a t-shirt. For the 5K it was a unisex plain cotton tee celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the 5K. For the 10K, Half and Dumbo Double Dare shirts they were gender specific Champion technical tees - true to Champion size. All shirts also commemorated Disneyland's Diamond 60th Anniversary.

Course: This course changed from 2014's version, rather entering the park right at the start rather than running down Katella Ave. The issue with this was that there was no thinning of corrals, so the park miles were definitely a lot more crowded. There was a range of characters out, as well as some iconic photo spots to take pictures with 10th Anniversary props. In Disneyland itself, the course had changed bringing a little more time in the backstage area. Once out of the park, it was the standard run down to the Santa Ana trail, through to Angels stadium and then back around Paradise Pier to the finish line.

Support: Once again, the support was a plenty for the race, outside the park there were plenty of cheerleaders, dance and cultural groups, and the famous car mile. Additionally the locals were back out and saving runners from the awful sun and heat with candy, pretzels and sponges.

Aid Stations: There's plenty of aid stations supplying both water and Powerade. Mile 9 aid station offers Clif Shot Gels. Medical stations were also scattered during the course.

Post-run: Once again, post-run is super organised, moving through from collecting medals to verification of photo ID for the challenge medal. From here you can pick up water/Powerade and then take pictures (you can also skip this part if you'd prefer), the medical tent is located in this area with both manned and self service stations.

All walkways back around the resort were well marked, and volunteers were able to advise the route to walk. Downtown Disney is really only affected after the 5K and the 10K, while it is clear for the Half (as runners are directed behind Paradise Pier hotel).

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