May 2, 2015
This is the second race I have done that was put on by Run13. I ran the Hobbler Half Marathon last year and let’s just say I was not impressed. That same year my running partner ran Provo City Half, also put on by Run13, and raved about how great it was. So I had to give it a go!
Communication was great. Their website had a lot of
information and their emails were timely and informative. The race map on the
website needs a little work. It didn’t have the miles on there and that would
have been helpful to see how many miles were canyon, trail, and road.
I picked up my packet the morning of the race and all went
smoothly. There were no lines, the volunteers were nice, and the shirts were
the right size. What more could you ask for? Oh yeah, goodies in the bag would
have been nice! Unfortunately, I have found lately that the bags given out have
less and less in them. Unless you are counting the advertisements, cause they
are always abundant.
It was a beautiful course for the first six (or so) miles. I
love running in the canyon at the beginning of a new day with so much promise.
Then we got dumped on some trail for a few miles that was okay but only in hindsight
because after that we got dumped on city roads which did nothing for the scenery.
Then there is the three, or at the time what appeared to be 12, miles in which
you could see the finish line but couldn’t quite get there. I was starting to
wonder why they kept moving the finish line back!
If you read my race reviews you know that if it’s not
extremely downhill I don’t consider it a downhill. The canyon miles were
downhill, the trail had a nice mix of small downs and ups, the city roads were
at a slight incline the entire five miles. Those last five miles were
discouraging and hard. But as I was running them I was thinking that I should
change my view of downhill. Not everyone gets to run where there are mountains
and the opportunity to race down them so from here on out, a downhill is a
downhill no matter how steep!
Race support was fantastic. The police on the city roads
were nice and did a great job of controlling the traffic. The water stations
were packed with volunteers and had water and a sports drink. They had GU at
one station, which I have stopped gagging down but that is for another post.
The bling was a disappointment. It’s not cute, original, or
huge. Yes, it’s a medal and I got to add it to my collection, but that is all I
can really say. The shirts weren’t too bad. They had the race logo on a black
shirt. Again, not cute or original but definitely going to wear it.
I haven’t complained enough you say? Here comes my major
issue with this race. I didn’t appreciate drinking pesticide at the end of the
race. Clearly they were using hose water, non-filtered water, sewer water,
non-potable water, however you want to refer to it. I am going to call it
pesticide water because it tasted like something you spray on your lawn. I only
know this because I was literally spraying my lawn the night before the race
with some weed killer and got some in my mouth (don’t ask!) and it tasted just
like it. I still drank the tiny paper cup full because I was dying of thirst,
yes even after the first gulp I choked the rest down. And no I didn’t get sick
at all. I would have loved bottled water at the end. Or even water that tasted
like water would have been nice since there was nothing else to drink
(chocolate milk anyone?). They did have breakfast from a local restaurant
there, but the line was too long and they only gave you a half a piece of French
toast. I figured it wasn’t worth my time for a small piece of toast so we left
and got Swig cookies and a Dirty Dr. Pepper. Swig cookies beat just about any
after race snack! (Please let this post result in free cookies for life from
Swig!)
Overall I give the race three shoes. It’s a nice race and
super cheap, I paid $30 with a deal from Groupon. But there are some issues
that will keep me from running it again or any Run13 race.
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