This was the first time I ventured to Saint John for the Marathon by the Sea. As I'm working on completing all six events for the Ultimate Running Challenge in the Maritimes this summer, I decided that 5k would be enough for this race.

While the location of the start is quite nice, the 5k course was not particularly scenic. There were a few rolling hills and a couple of changes between pavement and hard packed trails which made a moderately difficult course - not the easiest I've done, but certainly not the hardest, either.

Parking at Lily Lake and the side roads was an adventure as it certainly did seem that car pooling was not an option taken by many people. The shuttle bus to the start location from the parking was a convenient option, but could have been organized a little better as it was not clear where the pick up was and there was a concern shared by many runners as to whether or not we would make the race start on time.

The t-shirt and medal were both very well done. The medal was one of the nicer I've gotten this year and the colour of the shirt was nice and it is certainly a shirt I have worn since and will continue to wear both for running and casual occasions.

There was actually a small fee for bag drop, which is unusual and surprising. Of all the events I have done in the past two years, this is the first time I remember having to pay for a bag check. Even if it's in support of a local charity, I feel like a donation would be better or just have the fee included in the registration. I rarely have money on me at the race start for obvious reasons.

Overall, this was a very nice event and any negatives were certainly minor and easily remedied. If I was to come back to this event, I would certainly choose one of the longer runs, as from my understanding, the scenery is quite impressive.

Out of all of the races I have done in 2014, this event is the first I have chosen to not recommend. I will say that many people whose opinions I respect spoke highly of this event, so it may have just been a case of increased numbers surprising organizers this year.

The event certainly seemed to have more than it's fair share of logistical problems, so I will start there and then move on to the positives. My biggest issue was the value - 40 dollars for a 5km is a bit steep, but not altogether unheard of these days. However, there was no t-shirt included, no mention of the cost supporting a specific cause or charity and the finishing medal was pretty generic. There was a towel included (although some people did not even get the towel) and a couple of other small things in the race kit, but nothing of particular note.

Another issue was that the organizers ran out of bibs, meaning that some racers received plain white bibs with their number written on with a sharpie marker. This seemed to be more of an issue for those running the half marathon event, but was still unusual to see at an event of several hundred people.

A third issue was how the separate events were started. For some unusual reason, the half marathon runners began 200 m ahead of the 5k and 10 k runners. What this meant is that the quicker 5k/10k runners very quickly found themselves weaving in and out of all of the slower half marathon runners. It was particularly annoying given that most of the course was an open course, meaning vehicles were in play. Inconvenient at best and dangerous at worst. There was also a bridge as part of the course - 5k runners (300 of us) were told to confine ourselves to the sidewalk and run in single file. Having the turn around in such narrow confines made NO sense at all.

My last issue was the bag/key check. As you would expect, this was near the start line at the local civic centre. What wasn't communicated to runners was that everything that was checked would then be transported to the finish line, about 1 km away. After finishing my race, I walked back to the civic centre where I was told that my car keys were back at the finish. I have never done a race where the drop off point is not the pick up point. It's not that it's a terrible idea - but at least communicating this to people would have been helpful.

The course itself was fine. The bridge and river were quite beautiful and it was a fairly quick course with only a couple of small inclines. The on course management for the 5k was fine with all turns being clearly marked, plenty of volunteers and local police doing a great job directing traffic for runner safety.

If this race had not been part of a provincial and regional challenge, I likely would not have done it. I will definitely follow it with interest next year to see if the logistical problems were dealt with. Miramichi has a very vibrant running community and if some of the concerns I have mentioned with are addressed, the Rock n Run can definitely become a much improved and worthwhile event.

The Bluenose Marathon is one of, if not the largest running events in Atlantic Canada. 2014 marked it's 11th year and was the first time I had experienced it at all. Having competed in a full marathon the weekend before but still eager to find out what the Bluenose was all about, I signed up for the Johnson 5km run.

Like many other large events, the Bluenose has a variety of options for runners of all ages. This year marked the first year that the 5 km race was moved to Saturday, as well as the 2km and 4km kids races. The 10km (with two waves now, due to demand), as well as the half and full marathons remained on Sunday.

The 5km race was held at 3 pm, which was very convenient for me, as I live a couple of hours away. This meant I could save on hotel costs and drive down the day of the event. It also meant I could check out the Active Living Expo, pick up my race kit and still not feel rushed at all. Some people felt that this time of day was tough as it would be very warm, but for a 5 km race that wasn't a concern of mine at all.

The only hiccup we experienced was parking - which was expected with the number of visitors in town and the road closure. We did find a parking garage nearby which was laid out in a confusing manner but we eventually found a spot and made our way to the Expo and kit pickup.

The Active Living Expo was amazing. Lots of great businesses, causes and other races were represented there and the WTCC in Halifax was a great location to hold the expo. It was very close to the race start and had plenty of space for athletes and others to move about and check everything out. A number of impressive speakers were scheduled throughout the weekend, although I missed out on them (including 3 Kenyan athletes who were participating in Sunday's marathon or half). Kit pickup was smooth and easy with no delays at all. There wasn't a lot of swag with the kit, other than the t-shirt but the handouts and other things at the Expo more than made up for this.

The race organization was also top notch. Considering there were well over 2000 runners for the 5km, I can't imagine things going more smoothly. Runners were asked and repeatedly reminded to line up according to expected paces and for the most part they seemed to stick to that. A guard in full regalia from the Halifax Citadel fired his musket to start the race - a first for me!

The course was relatively flat and considering it was downtown in a city, fairly scenic. Halifax is definitely a beautiful city and it was a perfect day weather wise. There was only one aid station, standard for a 5km race and all turns were well marked and staffed by race volunteers. There was also a misting station set up just past the 4 km mark, another first for me which I though was pretty neat.

At the finish, runners were handed their medals and then funneled into the Metro Centre where they could grab some food and drinks as well as instantly find out their time and placing by talking to one of the many volunteers armed with tablets connected to the Chronicle Herald website for race tracking. Another great touch!

Overall, I just can't say enough positives about my experience at the Bluenose. Everyone I spoke to seemed to really enjoy themselves and the community support was fantastic. A huge congrats to the organizers and especially the volunteers on course.