Latest reviews by Tim

(2012)
"One of the greatest halfs in the Midwest"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

THING THAT WAS AWESOME ABOUT THIS RACE

I feel like I mentioned everything else that is awesome about this race, but I feel like I should still give props to the best post-race party of any half marathon party. That's right Competitor Group: suck it. Most of this has to do with the locale. The Wisconsin Union Terrace is one of my favorite places on the planet. It would have single handedly led to me flunking out of college because it is a beautiful place to hang out. I am sure it's a great place to study, but I associate the Terrace with scenes like Saturday. It was a beautiful day to drink a beer, talk to other runners about the race and running in general, and people watch. Knowing that you will be able to do that at the end of the race gives me personally that little extra motivation to finish and finish well.

THING THAT WASN'T SO AWESOME ABOUT THIS RACE

I find it hard to insult this race, so once again I find myself grasping straws. However, there are two things I can probably raise a small stink about. This is probably my fault, but I was placed in the wrong corral. I used to not care, but I have learned how important it is to get a good start and not weave through the masses. I didn't submit a proof of time because I figured they knew who I was from last year and most races look up previous year's results and base their corral assignments on that. Luckily, that wasn't a big deal and I was able to get a preferred corral. Second is my problem with most races of this size. I like beer and don't get me wrong: free beer is good beer. However, Madison is a good beer town. They are within a hour of three breweries I love (Great Dane, Capitol, and Tyranena) and if you expand the footprint a bit, you can include New Glarus. What was our free beer? Shock Top. Don't get me wrong, it is WAY better than MGD 64. However, this is a big race that draws from all around and the microbrewing world is very supportive of local events like this. I'd love to taste what Great Dane would do for the Madison Mini crowd.

For more, check out my blog entry: http://tkmarathonman.blogspot.com/2012/08/race-report-madison-mini-marathon.html

Login or sign up to leave a comment.
(2012)
"Conquering Hero Hill better than winning"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

WHAT WAS AWESOME ABOUT THIS RACE?
Most races do the typical race recap survey. I usually fill them out and needless to say, I don't always see the differences. I just always figured that I was either in the minority on what I didn't like or I just liked the race too much. Last year, Fort 2 Base had its issues. It did some things that were confusing to many. Some races would have brushed back the comments. Fort 2 Base did not. They embraced every comment they could and made the necessary changes. The biggest complaint last year was parking. People were waiting to get on to the base to park for hours starting at 4 a.m. because of mandatory car and ID checks. It was hard to get upset because we were parking on an active military base. Race officials responded to this by communicating with a local college to use their lots. There was no waiting to get into lot and busses were very easy to find. The second complaint were the medals. Personally, I loved last year's challenge coin. It was a bit weird because you had to carry the challenge coin around in your pocket or your bag and not around your neck. However, when you learned more about it, the more meaningful it became. For those who were able to, extra 3NM medals (with a chain on it) were used to treat the challenge coin as a medal. This year, the medallion part was a little smaller, but it was supported by a chain so the runners could wear their medals around town.

WHAT WASN'T SO AWESOME ABOUT THIS RACE?
Back to the buses for a bit. Getting to the race start was awesome. Getting back to our cars from the Naval Base was not so great. From my perspective, there were four buses making loops from the base to the college transporting finishers and their families. Forty-five minutes later, we had appeared to lose two buses. The post-race party was supposed to go till noon, so it was sad that we lost the two buses as most people were leaving. It was a minor inconvenience, but something that definitely should be addressed. My other complaint was a lack of course marshals. The water stops were well-staffed, but there were a couple places along the course where either people were in their car staying warm or were out of view when I was running by.

For more. check out my blog entry: http://tkmarathonman.blogspot.com/2012/09/race-report-fort-2-base-10nm.html

Login or sign up to leave a comment.
(2012)
"Needs to fix some kinks after first time with runners"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS RACE
I absolutely loved the course. I am ignoring the out-and-back nature of the course of course, but the scenery was great. Like I wrote earlier, there are some beautiful houses in Evanston. The portions we saw of campus doesn't do the campus justices as a whole, but we did still see some cool buildings on the course. I was pleasantly shocked with how picturesque Northwestern's segment of the lakefront path is. I don't know how far south it goes, but to see the Chicago skyline in the distance and running between the campus and the lake was really fun. If you have read this blog before, you know I love running through stadiums. Don't tell stadium authorities but I have ran on the field twice, but this was the coolest experience of the the three times. That was a lie. Nothing is better than running on the field after beating Iowa.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT THE RACE

It only takes one time for this to happen for one of the following things to happen:

Use the opportunities to pick up your race packet and t-shirt ahead of time.
Order extra shirts in popular size and hope for a sizable walk-up crowd.
Pack participant-specific race packets so everyone gets the shirt they are signed up for.
This is more for my uncle than me. Surprising enough, there were plenty of mediums to be had, mostly because Northwestern students won't be found on campus for awhile yet. My uncle showed up a little tardy and therefore, missed out on the extra large shirts. This would be fine if he had signed up on race day. You deserve whatever comes your way when that happens. That wasn't the case for my uncle though. He signed up for the race months ago. We made sure that five other people signed up for it. I have had this happened twice to me before and it is ironic that I haven't done either race since. If you pre-register, you should get what you signed up for. In this case, my uncle should be a happier man today with this Run for Walk. Props go to race organizer Shawn Sullivan. He talked to my uncle after the race and was in contact with him later that day.

Read more at http://tkmarathonman.blogspot.com/2012/07/race-report-run-for-walk-41-m.html?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=50

Login or sign up to leave a comment.
(2012)
"Perfect Postlude to the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

WHAT WAS AWESOME ABOUT THIS RACE?

The community support for this race is absolutely ridiculous. I know this is a Green Bay institution and most likely one of the longest running events in Green Bay, but at the end of the day we're still talking about a 10K. Don't tell that to the neighbors, family, and friends lining the course. If people had a long enough hose, there was a sprinkler by their mailboxes. If they had a good enough sound system, music was being played. It didn't matter how old or how young you are, how hot or cold it is, or any other factor: the community support was fantastic. As I was saying in the last paragraph, it is amazing how many people turn this into a family affair, a block party, or just a gathering of friends. I recognized dozens of people and came to the event with a group of nine. It always amazes me, but it never shocks me how awesome of a time I have because of the people.

WHAT WASN'T SO AWESOME ABOUT THIS RACE?

With all of the adjustments to the race aid because of the heat, I still feel they could have done just one more thing. With so many people sweating profusely and becoming dehydrated, what does a brother have to do for some Gatorade? I know there was one stop with Gatorade, but it would have been nice if at just one more stop (preferably two more stops) had Gatorade to help replace what was dripping from my head band for 6.2 miles.

For more, check out my blog entry: http://tkmarathonman.blogspot.com/2012/06/race-report-bellin-run-10k.html

Login or sign up to leave a comment.
(2012)
"Tripped up by the Heat"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

WHAT WAS AWESOME?

The volunteers get a lot of deserved credit. That goes without saying for yesterday. They saved the race yesterday for a lot of people, including me. Many of the volunteers were out on the course well after the race was officially closed, knowing that runners are a stubborn breed. Volunteers were still making and pouring Gatorade, grabbing bags of ice, passing towels, and everything else. My uncle got a first hand experience on how great the volunteers were yesterday when he got dizzy and needed some medical attention. Volunteers had to deal with the heat just as much as the runners did, but no medals to show for it. Words really can't express how much everyone that ran yesterday owes the volunteers for everything they did for us.

WHAT WASN'T SO AWESOME?

The heat obviously, but I'm not huge fan of how the results are shaking down. Marathon officials have prize money for 10 runners, which accounts for the top 5 in each gender. Based on USATF rules, this is based on gun time. However, click on the results link I posted and take a look at those times. Only four of those times really should be considered official. One male and all the female runners finished AFTER the race had been officially cancelled. I'm not complaining because I want money or age group awards or anything like that. I'm speaking for all the people who in theory don't have times for yesterday. To tell thousands of runners that they don't get a time because they finished after 9:35 a.m. but still reward six runners who also didn't finish before the cutoff but were considered "elite" and give them times is kind of bogus. Gun time is better than no time, and I think we would all take that today.

For More, check out my blog entry: http://tkmarathonman.blogspot.com/2012/05/race-report-cellcom-green-bay-marathon.html

Login or sign up to leave a comment.