I've been meaning to post my experience at the
Rock & Roll Half Marathon this past weekend, but I've been very busy recovering from the run, handling opportunities that came up as a result of our work at the Expo, and getting all the details squared away for the
Storm next weekend (by the way, we've posted
the latest official roster for the Storm so check it out if you're racing and make sure we've got everything correct for you!).
OK, first the good stuff from this weekend: lots of people. Our booth was very busy for most of Saturday, although Friday was a bust because of the tropical storm Ernesto (I was 45 miles away at home making sure the house didn't float away). Nearly everyone we spoke to seemed interested and a few were positively gushing over the thought of an adventure race. I think
VBAdventureFest has a bright future!
The half marathon itself had lots of participant energy; 22,000+ racers will do that. The organization was good and they herded all the people through the proper spots, although my 45 minute wait at the porta-john before the run was a low point. I got a great workout in and my longest road run to date; I did it in 2 hours and was on autopilot for most of the run since whenever I tried to up the pace I'd feel a slight twinge in my hamstring. So, I backed it off and did 9 minute miles until they told me to stop at the finish line.
As for the "not so good" stuff from this weekend: lots of people. 22,000+ people! Are you kidding me? I felt like I went shopping the day after Thanksgiving and everyone decided to run while they shopped instead of walk; the run was 13 miles of weaving this way and that, trying to get a lane to maintain your pace in. There were a few aid stations that you literally
had to walk through because of the traffic jam of people. I'm a guy big on solitude and getting "away" from crowds, so this didn't appeal to me.
The monotony of 13 road miles reminded me of college soccer practice when our coach would make us run through the Florida neighborhoods for hours at a time. The trick is just blocking out the hours of running and voila: you're done; it's like
Office Space, where the character wanted his doctor to give him a drug that would make him zone out for the entire work day. That's how I felt from about mile 4 through 10 at the half marathon.
This was a run where there were bands on the course, which was nice when you encountered them, but they seemed few and far between and I thought they overhyped the "musical half marathon" side of things. I guees it's something to break up the monotony.
I guess my perspective is that if you
need a band every 3 miles to break up the monotony of your exercise, maybe you need some different exercise? This is just my personal opinion, of course, but a course with 1 hill (we ran it both directions) and a bunch of neighborhoods pales in comparison with a long run at any of the great parks in the Hampton Roads area. I've ran a few very pretty "half marathon" distance runs at
First Landing State Park, for example.
I don't want to rain on the Rock & Roll Half Marathon parade as I know people train all year for this type of race; it's well run and they pull it off without a hitch. If you're into half marathons, this is probably a slam dunk. Personally, however, I came away thinking: for the time spent at the event (parking, waiting, running, waiting, shuttling back to the parking lot, etc) I could've ran 2 hours at
York River State Park and gotten in another couple hours of biking or paddling
and experienced some of the local woods, rivers, and trails at the same time.
In closing, I can't get the picture of the 30 or more volunteers lined up with their sole purpose being to remove the timing chips from the runners shoes after they finished the half marathon. The volunteers were all hunched over methodically struggling with shoe laces or scissors. None of the runners I saw (except me) spoke to the volunteers . . . none of the volunteers seemed to be having fun . . . very sterile and impersonal for everyone involved.
I guess when you operate an event with 22,000+ participants, there's not much room for personality.