Latest reviews by Tom

(2014)
"Run like Rocky"
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This is the first of two separate reviews I'm going to be writing about the 2014 Rock n Roll Philadelphia Running Festival Weekend, which is something new that Competitor Group started this year - Running Festival Weekends consist of a shorter race on Saturday (usually a 5K but not always), followed by a longer race on Sunday (either a Half Marathon or a Full / Half Marathon Combo) and participants can do either one or both of them. I did both, but since they were two separate races, I wanted to write about them separately. So I'll start with the 5K -

I have to say that this was one of the most enjoyable 5Ks I've done this year... and at first, I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy the trip to Philadelphia at all because getting to my hotel to drop everything off and then heading to the expo was a miserable experience. I'll add a disclaimer here though to say that this had absolutely nothing to do with the race or the race organizers and everything to do with the traffic in Philadelphia and the fact that it took me close to two hours to drive a total of about 20 miles. Seriously, if anyone on the Philadelphia City Council ever reads this - you guys need to do something about the timing of your traffic signals. I get it it was rush hour on a Friday evening when I got in, but cars that stay within a couple miles of the speed limit shouldn't have to get stopped by a red light every half mile. You know your city has a problem with traffic when someone from Chicago tells you it's bad. But that being said, that was really the only bad experience that I had throughout the entire trip. Everything else was amazing:

The race expo was at the Philadelphia Convention center and it was typical for Competitor Group - well organized with some official merchandise in one section and a variety of different vendors, sponsors and guest speakers in another (if you've done a Rock n Roll series race before, you pretty much know the drill). Technically you can do race day packet pickup for the 5K, but there is no race day packet pickup for the half marathon, so if you're doing that one, you have to go to the expo either way, and if you're doing both races, then as long as you have the time, it's easier to just go on Friday night and pick up both packets. The other added benefit of going on Friday is that the expo is a lot less busy than it is on Saturday. With the traffic though, just make sure you give yourself enough time to get there before it closes at 7pm.

The 5K and the half marathon both start and finish in Eakins Oval, which is right across the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I'll get to the reason why I liked this in a minute, but before that, I want to also mention that if you haven't heard of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, aside from being a world class art museum, it's also known for being where the steps are that Sylvester Stallone ran up during Rocky. In fact the steps are actually called the Rocky Steps and there's a bronze Rocky statue at the base of them. So if you want... you can run up the steps yourself either before or after the race. I did them before the race as a warm up and was kinda glad that I did since the steps were packed with other runners after the race. Regardless of whether you want to run up the steps or not though (there are 72 of them altogether in case you were wondering), you should still at least walk up to the top of them and check out the Philadelphia skyline - the view is breathtaking.

So onto the race itself - the course is fairly straightforward. It's an out and back course that has runners start off to the side of the art museum, head northwest for a little over a mile and a half along the Schuylkill River and then turn around and head back south and finish in front of the art museum. It's nice and flat and fast - there's a really steep downhill drop right at the beginning of the course (which means that there's also a steep hill right at the end since you're essentially running back the same way you came) but it's really not that bad - it's steep but also less than 1/10th of a mile long so it's over quickly and fairly painless. Afterwards, there's a big post race party in Eakins Oval.

One of the biggest benefits of doing the 5K the day before the half marathon (other than the fact that you get an extra medal for doing both races) was the fact that both races start and end in roughly the same place, so the second half of the 5K on Saturday follows the exact same route that the last mile and a half of the half marathon follows on Sunday. I'll add more details about this when I write about the half marathon but as a quick overview - the turnaround point for the 5K is right around mile 11 1/2 for the half marathon... which is when a lot of people are starting to look for that little extra bit of motivation to help push them to the finish line. I don't know if the race organizers specifically planned it this way or not, but I liked knowing exactly what to expect for the rest of the half marathon when I got to that point. I knew that right after I ran under the overpass that I saw coming up, I would see the 12 mile marker, and then I knew that the path I was running on would curve a little bit, head around the side of the art museum, up the short but really steep hill (which I knew was coming so I could prepare myself for it) and then across the finish line. I didn't have to play any mental games to remind myself that the finish line was coming up soon even if I couldn't see it because I knew exactly where the finish line was since I had run in that same spot a little over 24 hours ago.

Aside from that, the weather was perfect for running, the finisher's medal was awesome looking, and by the time I finished the race, I had all but forgotten about how annoyed I was with the traffic around Philly the night before. With the course being so flat, I also know a couple other runners who set PRs. I would say that for anyone that's planning on being in Philadelphia around the end of September, even if you aren't interested in the half marathon, you should still sign up for this 5K if you're looking for a race to do while you're in town - it was a great experience.

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(2014)
"Nice Local Duathlon in Kankakee State Park"
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A while back, I had a conversation with a runner friend who mentioned that he was getting tired of races becoming so gimmicky. I really don't agree with that statement myself, but I can see where he was coming from with it -

When I started doing races about 11 years ago, there were some big Marathons and Half Marathons... but a lot of the runners I knew tended to sign up for local 5Ks and 10Ks where they would pay about 25 bucks to run through some neighborhoods with a bunch of other people, and then get a t-shirt and a beer at the end of the race. Proceeds typically went towards a local running club or charity. Nowadays, there are color runs, glow stick runs, dress up runs, music runs, foam runs.... you name it. I even did a race a couple years ago where everyone ran in their underwear. The atmosphere at a lot of pre and post race parties has become more carnival like in recent years too with headlining bands and a variety of different restaurants serving various types of food, gourmet chocolate, craft beers, wine, etc....

Personally, I think this is all great. Big races with different themes not only attract new people to the sport, but they also create opportunities for other related businesses by allowing them to participate as well and get exposure for their products or services to people who might genuinely be interested in them. Plus the newer, bigger races also tend to support charities and because of their size are able to raise more money for them.

That being said though, I get it that there are some people who would rather ignore all of that stuff and just go out and run.... and one of the other downsides to all the extra race day celebrations is price - registration for most 5Ks used to be about $20 or $25 but these days it's not uncommon to see prices in the $50 range. Marathons and half marathons are even more expensive - I've seen registration costs ranging from $65 to over $200..... So even for someone who likes all of the race day festivities, I do have to admit that every now and then, paying a few bucks to run a local race with some friends without all the hoopla can still be a lot of fun. And honestly plenty of those races do still exist (do a search for 5Ks in your area on active.com and you'll be surprised at how many you find) - they just don't get mentioned as often as some of the bigger ones because they tend to have a more local focus and attract smaller crowds.

If you're looking for such a race though, and you're interested in doing something a little different from a traditional Road Race, I would suggest checking out the Tri the Du Duathlon that's held during the last weekend of September every year about 45 minutes south of Chicago in Kankakee River State Park.

First, let's make sure we're on the same page about what a duathlon actually is since there seems to be a lot of confusion whenever I mention them, even among runners: imagine taking a triathlon (swim-bike-run) and replacing the swim leg with another run leg (so it's run-bike-run). The second run leg makes all the difference - a duathlon is never just run-bike or bike-run... and it also shouldn't be confused with a biathlon which is an Olympic sport that involves simultaneous skiing and skeet shooting (still not sure how that works exactly). Also just like triathlons, there are different types of duathlons with different distances for the legs. In the case of Tri the Du, the legs are: 5K run - 14 mile bike - 5K run.

Like I mentioned earlier, this is a stripped down local race sponsored by the Tri K Triathlon Club in Kankakee. Most of the participants are local to the south side of Chicago (or the south suburbs) and there are typically only around 100 - 200 participants total. There's no race expo, no goody bag (although you do get a pretty nice t-shirt) and no finishers medal unless you're one of the top three finishers in your age group (although truthfully with such a small number of participants, the odds of getting a medal actually are in your favor). What you do get though is the chance to run through part of Kankakee River State Park on wooded packed limestone trails (twice) and bike through several of the local country roads without constantly being surrounded by huge crowds of other athletes. The weather at the end of September is usually perfect for a race like this too.

There are two options for doing this race: you can either sign up as an individual and do the entire thing yourself or as a two person relay team with one person doing the two run legs and the other person doing the bike leg. The transition point is the same for everyone though - just like a triathlon, there are racks where athletes hang up their bikes and any other gear (helmets, bike shoes, etc...) so they can change really quickly between legs.

The 5K legs are both exactly the same route - they start in front of the transition area and head out and back on a wooded, packed limestone trail which runs alongside the Kankakee river and is mildly hilly (and even though it runs alongside the river, the trees are pretty thick so you won't actually see the water but you will be provided with plenty of shade). Just past the 1 1/2 mile marker there's a turnaround and a water table where runners can get a drink and head back towards the start / finish line / transition area. If you haven't done a duathlon before, I'll say that the second run leg is a killer on your quads and calf muscles. After running one leg and then biking for several miles, getting off of your bike and running again can be pretty rough so make sure to keep that in mind during your training so you can prepare yourself for it.

The bike leg is pretty flat for the most part. The only thing that makes the bike leg a bit of a challenge in this particular race is that since it's on country roads, the only thing around you most of the time is corn and soybean fields which means that there's nothing to block the wind.... so if it happens to be even a little bit windy on race day, you can find yourself battling through some pretty rough headwinds. This seems to be pretty hit or miss though. This was my third time doing this race and 2012 and 2014 were both fine. 2013, however, was pretty brutal.

With such a small number of participants (including a lot of people who know each other and belong to the same running or triathlon clubs), the group can be pretty competitive as far as finishing times go, but everyone is also really supportive of each other on the course, which makes for a pleasant experience. At the end of the race, there's a small awards ceremony where medals and other prizes are handed out to the top finishers and all participants and their friends and family members get food and drinks (there are no food tickets - just a big tent that anyone can stop in and eat). The only downside is that there's no beer at the finish line since alcohol isn't allowed in the State Park.

So, again, there really is nothing fancy about this race but it's still a lot of fun and for being such a small race, it's surprisingly well organized too. You also can't beat the price - I registered late and still only paid $40. I also mostly do road races so getting a race like this in every once in a while to mix things up a little bit is pretty nice too.

I don't know that I would necessarily travel out of my way for this race. I happen to live about 25 minutes away from the State Park so it's convenient. Most of the other participants live in the area as well (although I did hear that someone drove in from Minnesota to do it this year). If you do happen to live in the Chicago area, particularly in the south suburbs, and you're looking to change up your routine a little bit by doing a different type of race which also happens to be pretty small and isn't gimmicky, I would definitely suggest giving this one a look.

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(2014)
"Great Tribute to a Local Runner"
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Cory Blanchette was a teacher and coach at Manteno High School in Manteno, Illinois. He was hit by a car and killed while he was out running in 2011 and he left behind a wife and four kids and countless other people who lived in the area or attended Manteno High School who loved him dearly. So dearly in fact, that in 2012 the town decided start hosting an annual 5K in his honor with proceeds from the race going to his family. This past Sunday was the third year for the race and my second time doing it, and I'm already looking forward to doing it again next year.

Manteno is a village in the far south suburbs of Chicago (off of I-57 just south of the Will / Kankakee County line), and while a lot of people who live closer to downtown Chicago may not have heard of Manteno yet, it's actually one of the fastest growing towns in Kankakee County. Over the last several years it's seen a steady increase in residents while at the same time building up a pretty impressive downtown area with a nice mix of shopping and places to eat, while still maintaining the charm of a small town. Residents who live there, both new and old, seem to truly care about one another (which is one of the reasons this race was put together).

The race itself is also one of the better local 5Ks that I've run. It's not a big race - there are maybe a couple hundred runners total and most of the participants are local to the area (either from Manteno or surrounding towns like Peotone, Bourbonnais, Bradley, etc...) but it's organized almost just as well as some of the bigger races that I've done.

In addition to the 5K, there's also a one mile fun walk and a kids dash. You can either register online or on race day at the high school. Packet pickup is on race morning for everyone, regardless of how you registered (there's plenty of time to register or pick up your packet on race day since registration opens at 8am the race doesn't start until 9). Participants get race t-shirts and a goody bag that contains information about other local races, an outdoor guide to Kankakee County, and coupons for some local businesses and restaurants.

The course starts in front of Manteno High School and heads northeast. Runners go down Westshore Blvd, which borders Lake Manteno (nice houses with the lake visible in the background at some points) before heading west and then north through Legacy Park (nice scenic open area on the northwest side of Manteno). There's a water table in the park at around 1.5 miles into the course (the only one, but being a 5K, that's all it needs, and there are also a couple residents at various points along the course who stand at the end of their driveways and hand out water to the runners as well).

After leaving Legacy Park, the course goes through a couple other neighborhoods in Manteno before heading back to the high school and finishing with a lap around the high school track. Runners are provided with fresh fruit and water after crossing the finish line.

The course is nice and flat with just the right combination of different types of scenery, curves, and straight roads to keep things interesting and it also has plenty of volunteers directing runners and helping out at the start and finish lines. Since a lot of the runners are Manteno residents, there's also a decent amount of crowd support in the various neighborhoods for a race of this size.

This race is a touching memorial to a coach and teacher who was so well loved, not just by his students but also by the entire town of Manteno. My biggest memory of this year's race wasn't actually the race itself though - it was something that happened before the race started when people were still picking up their race packets. Outside of the high school, there was a big banner with a picture of Cory Blanchette on it and some text that said "In Honor Of Coach Blanchette". After I picked up my packet and was on my way out to my car to drop it off, I noticed a family that was getting ready to take a picture in front of the banner.... and a little girl who looked to be a few years younger than my daughter Sara said "I want to stand by daddy" and went and stood next to the picture..... I had a hard time holding it together after that. So the other thing about this race is that it should also serve as a reminder to runners that if you run on open roads, make sure to always be aware of your surroundings, wear reflective clothing, especially at night, and make sure your headphones are set at a volume where you can still listen for oncoming traffic.

Overall, the Cory Blanchette Memorial 5K is a fun race to run in a nice town during a time of year that typically also has really nice weather. The location happens to be convenient for me since I live in a neighboring town that's only about a 10 minute drive from Manteno, but even if I were to move a little bit further away, I would probably still come back to run this one. If you're looking for a nice laid back fall 5K to run and you live on the south side of Chicago or in the south suburbs, you should definitely give this one a look.

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(2014)
"One of the best running experiences ever"
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The St. Jude Chicago to Peoria Run is held during the first weekend of August every year and it's not like a typical race.... in fact, it isn't really even a race at all. It's a 150 mile relay run that consists of about 200 runners divided up into 20 or so different teams who run from Chicago to Peoria, IL over a 36 hour period with the goal of raising as much money as possible for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. In order to do the run, each runner is required to raise at least $1250.00, so in that sense, the process of registering and the activities leading up to the run are fairly similar to getting a charity race entry for a marathon, but the experience of doing the actual run itself is completely different.

The course is divided up into a series of legs that are between about 3 and 6 miles long. Teams designate runners to cover each leg and with a couple exceptions, the legs are all run at roughly a 10 minute per mile pace. Like I mentioned earlier, this isn't really a race as much as a charity run and anyone who raises enough money for St. Jude can participate regardless of how fast they are. Also, with the route being so long, there's no way to shut down the roads to traffic, so the state police provide escort for the runners, which means that they can't spread themselves out too far.

Each team gets an RV where people who aren't running spend most of their time. At each transition point, the RVs drop off the runners that are going to be covering that leg and then drive ahead to the next transition point and wait for them to finish. Teams have different ways of determining which legs get covered by which runners - some teams assign their runners to each leg ahead of time while others let their runners decide on the fly and pick which legs they want to do during the run. It's the same with driving the RVs - some teams have designated drivers who drive for the entire course and others just pick a runner who isn't out running to drive each individual leg. Some interesting conversations tend to occur on the RVs while teams are waiting for runners to come back. After spending an entire weekend with a group of people and taking turns running, talking and eating together, by the end of the run, you feel like you have a second family.

The course starts at Midwestern University in Downers Grove, IL with an opening ceremony that includes some light hazing of first year runners, some announcements about the route and if runners can expect to encounter any construction along the way, team introductions, and a motivational speech to remind everyone why they're doing the run which leaves most people both in tears and pumped up about tackling whatever the next day and a half has to offer at the same time.

The first leg typically starts around 8:30am on Friday morning and the route heads southwest through Chicago's Suburbs, starting in Downers Grove and then passing through Lemont and New Lenox before leaving the Chicago area and heading through a series of smaller towns to the south with names like Wilmington, Gardner, Dwight and Minonk. By Friday afternoon, the majority of the scenery consists of corn and soybean fields.

Some of the legs are harder than others as far as length and hills are concerned and each transition point is unique as far as what there is to see and do while waiting for the runners to arrive. The transitions are usually fast with runners either staying out to run another leg or hopping back onto their RV while the next runners hop off to get back out and continue the run as quickly as possible. There are two notable exceptions to this. The first is in Braidwood, where the owners of the Polk-A-Dot Drive In provide dinner for all of the runners. This is fairly new - we used to park the RVs in a parking lot across the street from the Polk-A-Dot and until a few years ago, it was just another transition point. On one particular run though, the owners came out to ask what we were all doing there and once we explained what the run was for to them, they asked us to stop there the following year so they could give us some free food. And that's exactly what they've done every year since - there are hundreds of bags full of hamburgers and french fries along with bottles of water and other snacks for the runners to stop and eat. There's also a nice check presentation from the mayor of Braidwood to St. Jude made up of funds that the town has collected over the course of the year, and a lot of runners have family members who come out to meet them for dinner.

After Braidwood, the run continues throughout the night, and since it's always held during the first weekend of August, the night legs are typically a lot more comfortable than the ones that are held during the day. Not only that, but by the evening, the runners have gotten so far away from downtown Chicago that there's no more light pollution and the sky seems to be covered by a blanket of a million stars. Usually by this time, anyone who isn't running is attempting to get a couple hours of sleep here and there on the RV before waking up to head to the next transition point. The nighttime legs are a little bit longer which gives people a little longer to sleep... although sleeping in an RV with 8 - 10 other people can be a bit cramped.... it's during these times that some of the best bonding between teammates takes place.

On Saturday the run heads through Roanoke, Illinois, which is the only other time along the route where the run stops for longer than the amount of time it takes to switch runners, and there's a story behind this stop. Roanoke was the home of a former St. Jude patient named Amy Schwind. When Amy was being treated at St. Jude, one of the things she used to always tell her parents was that she looked forward to watching the runners every year, so the town decided to do something special for her. The run into Roanoke is only one mile long and it's not just a regular leg, it's more like a parade - all of the runners (except for the people driving the RVs) do this leg and in addition to police escort, the runners also get an escort from the Roanoke Fire Department. Amy got to ride in the fire truck the first time this was done and unfortunately she passed away before the next year's run but we still do this every year to honor her. A lot of local residents line the streets to cheer on the runners during this leg and runners bring bags of candy to throw out to any kids they see in the crowds. The leg stops at the park in Roanoke where the runners are able to rest for about an hour or so, shower, and use the public pool to cool off in if they want to. We're also treated to some excellent homemade food that's made by the residents of Roanoke for lunch, including sweet corn that one of the local farmers plants at exactly the right time so it will be ready in time for the weekend of the run.

After Roanoke, there are about 25 more miles to cover to get to Peoria. There are a few significant things about these legs that make them a little bit different from the rest of the run. One is that they tend to be a bit shorter since everyone has pretty sore legs by this point and another is that the fire trucks and ambulances who escorted the runners into Roanoke stay with the runners for the remainder of the run. The most notable thing about this part of the run though is that we also see teams of runners from other cities coming in as well. In addition to Chicago, there are runs from Memphis (the original run), St. Louis, Champaign, Moline, and several other cities throughout Illinois, Tennessee, and Missouri that all meet up at the Peoria Civic Center. As we start to approach Peoria, some of these other groups follow the same path, and as the runners pass each other, we cheer each other on.

The final leg of the run is similar to the leg that heads into Roanoke - it's a one mile leg that everyone who isn't driving an RV runs. This year it was extra special because it was dedicated to a St. Jude runner named Madison who passed away this past spring and whose father still does the run. We got special shirts that everyone just for this leg with her name on it and chanted Roll Tide (she had recently been accepted into University of Alabama) as we ran to the Peoria Civic Center, which is where the course ends.

The runners all get hotel rooms and spend Saturday night in Peoria before driving home on Sunday morning so after finishing the run, everyone heads to their hotel room to shower and get cleaned up before heading back down to the Civic Center to take pictures, enjoy a spaghetti dinner, and present a check to St. Jude for the amount we raised collectively as a group.

This year was a record breaking year for the St. Jude Chicago to Peoria Runners. We raised over $364,000.00 for St. Jude. With the exception of one year when I had a scheduling conflict, I've done this run every year since 2006 and for all of interesting places that I've traveled to for races and all of the race medals I've earned during that time, nothing beats this run. It's an amazing experience for a great cause and I'm looking forward to doing it every year until my legs finally give out and I'm not able to run anymore.

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(2014)
"Hot, Humid, Fast, Flat, and Fun...."
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After traveling to Washington, DC, Oklahoma City, and Anchorage, Alaska for races this year, I decided that Virginia would be a good destination for my next one, and I found the perfect race for it - the Rock n Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon, which is another race in the Rock n Roll Marathon Series from Competitor Group. This was the thirteenth year for this race, which is held every Labor Day weekend and is known for it's nice scenic, flat, fast course but also for the nearly unbearable heat and humidity on race day. This race definitely lived up to all of those things....

Virginia Beach doesn't have its own airport so if you're planning on doing this race, your best bet is to fly into Norfolk, which is no biggie - it's only a 20 minute drive from the Norfolk Airport to the beach and for as many times as I drove back and forth throughout the weekend, I didn't run into any traffic once. As far as where to stay, you have a few choices - stay at a hotel in Virginia Beach along the oceanfront (more expensive, but walking distance from the beach and all of the race events) or stay in Norfolk (cheaper and only a 20 minute drive). I chose to stay in Norfolk, mainly to save on expenses. This had its pluses and minuses - on the plus side, like I said, you can save a lot of money on your hotel room and parking is surprisingly cheap - parking at the convention center for the race expo and Mile on the Sand Race on Saturday is free and there are lots less than a block away from the beach that are only $20 for an entire day. On race day, there's also free parking at the Virginia Beach Amphitheater with free shuttles to and from the start and finish line (although in a little bit, I'll get into why I wouldn't recommend this).

The race expo is at the Virginia Beach Convention Center and it's open on Friday and Saturday. For obvious reasons, Friday is the least busy of the two days and if you're planning on doing the Mile on the Sand Race on Saturday morning, it's the best time to go and get your race number. The expo was fairly typical for Rock n Roll races. It was laid out pretty nicely with race number / t-shirt /goodie bag pick up at the beginning, a section with official race merchandise, and then several rows of vendors with product samples or information about other upcoming races and also a guest speaker or two (This year it was Frank Shorter).

I wrote a separate review of the Mile on the Sand Remix Challenge that was held on Saturday morning so I won't say much more about that here other than to just mention that it was a lot of fun. If you haven't run on sand before (or even if you have) and you're planning on doing the Virginia Beach Half Marathon, make sure you sign up for the Mile on the Sand race as well. It's definitely a unique experience and you not only get a finisher's medal for doing it, but you also get an extra medal for doing both races.

The half marathon starts at the convention center at 7am on Sunday morning and the finish line is on the beach boardwalk. Everything around the start line was laid out pretty nicely as far as the locations of restrooms, gear check, corrals etc... The only real issue is parking - you can park at the convention center if you get there early enough, but there are about 15,000 people who sign up for the half marathon so parking there is limited since the race organizers need the space in the lots for the rest of the start line activities. The convention center is also about a mile and a half from the finish line, so if you park there you'll have a pretty long hike back to your car after the race. So unless you stayed at one of the hotels alongside the beach, your other options for parking are to either pay to park in one of the beach lots or park at the Virginia Beach Amphitheater for free and take a shuttle bus to the start and finish lines. I would strongly recommend just paying to park in one of the beach lots. Yeah it'll cost you 20 bucks, but the problem with parking at the amphitheater is that the normal route that the shuttle buses would take to the start and finish lines is blocked for the race, which forces the bus drivers to take alternate routes that ultimately turn a drive that should take less than 10 minutes into a half hour. So in the morning, you have to get up 45 minutes earlier than you normally would have to make sure you get to the amphitheater on time to park and catch the shuttle bus and then after the race, you have to sit on a smelly bus full of sweaty runners for a half hour to get back to your car (which in my case was made worse by the fact that after the race, my shuttle bus driver forgot what the alternate route was supposed to be and got lost, adding an extra 10 minutes onto what was already a bus ride from hell). So if you're not staying on the beach, take my advice and find a lot that's walking distance from the finish line and just fork over the money to park there and use the mile or so walk to the start line as your prerace warm up - you'll thank me for it.

The race itself was amazing though - like I said, it was extremely hot and humid (by 6:30am people were already starting to sweat just from standing around the start corrals).... but I have to give kudos to the race organizers for recognizing that the conditions were going to be rough and planning accordingly. There were plenty of water tables throughout the course, none of which were ever out of water or Gatorade, and there were also extra medical tents and buses at various spots along the course with air conditioning for any runners who needed to stop for a few minutes and go inside and cool off. There were also misting tents at various spots and some of the locals who have houses alongside the course and came out to watch the race set up their sprinklers for people to run through and handed out freeze pops as well. So to their credit, I really do think that the race organizers and volunteers did everything they could to make this race as comfortable as possible for the runners. The only thing I would have liked to see changed was that the start time could have been moved up by about a half hour. For as humid as it was, it was also overcast for most of the morning and the weather didn't start to become unbearable until the sun came out from behind the clouds a couple hours later when the majority of the runners only had a couple more miles to go.

Aside from the heat though, like I mentioned earlier, the course itself was great - other than a really steep incline at mile 3 1/2 and 11 1/2 (it was the same overpass that the course crosses over in both directions), the course was remarkably flat. For the first few miles, it heads from the convention center down to Atlantic Avenue and offers a some pretty nice views of the other side of the boardwalk. Mile 4 goes through some pretty nice neighborhoods with tree lined streets where runners get a lot of crowd support, miles 5, 6 and 7 go through some wooded areas (which is nice because the trees provide a lot of shade), and miles 8 and 9 are a little more open and then mile 10 through 12 go back through the same neighborhoods from earlier and back towards the beach. The last 3/4 mile or so is probably the most scenic part of the course because it goes straight up the boardwalk alongside the ocean.

To give you an idea of how flat and fast this course is, at about mile 6, I noticed that I had been running almost 2 minutes per mile faster than my average pace in the last several races I've done. Part of that was due to the fact that I've been doing a lot of extra speed work for the last couple months and I'm starting to see the results of it, which is great, but the fact that despite all of the heat and humidity, I didn't even notice how fast I was running until I checked my GPS and then had to make myself slow down because I knew the temperature was starting to climb pretty fast and I needed to save some energy for the end of the race really does go to show how fast the course itself is. If I were to this same course in the late fall when the temps were in the 50's, I would easily get a PR (but it would also be too cold to go swimming in the ocean afterwards so that would have taken some of the fun out of it).

The entertainment on the course was also really good. There were 14 different local bands playing a variety of different types of music and they were set up perfectly so that as soon as one band got to be out of earshot, you would start hearing the next one.

The finish line is right alongside the ocean next to the Virginia Beach Pier. There are tons of volunteers giving away food and drinks along with cooling fans and popsicles.... but the best part about finishing alongside the ocean was that after crossing the finish line, the best way to cool off was to just take a short walk across the beach and hop into the water. There was a post race concert alongside the beach and besides the race, there's also a big music fest in Virginia Beach the same weekend, so runners could go back to their hotels and get cleaned up and go back out and listen to more music for the rest of the evening if they wanted to. Like I said, despite the heat and humidity, the race organizers really put together an excellent event and I would definitely recommend this race to anyone.

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