I want to congratulate the organizers of the Illinois Marathon. All things considered, they did a spectacular job making a start up race run pretty smoothly. There are always going to be some mistakes, but I think they were at a minimum. So here are the things I liked, and didn't like:
Liked:
-The course. It was flat, and although I would have liked to have gotten in to Champaign a little bit more, I think they did a decent job of showcasing Urbana. Maybe a run through downtown next time? (Yes, I know downtown Urbana is an oxy-moron.)
-The shirts. I should have taken a picture, but the shirts they gave out were spectacular. I will wear mine often.
-The medals. Really nice. I think it was a good touch to give them out to people who finished the 5K as well.
-Finishing at Memorial Stadium. Yes, I'm pretty lucky in that I get to get down on the stadium turf rather often, but I will admit, it was pretty cool to run across the 50 to finish.
-The volunteers/spectators. Great, great turnout by the community.
-My run. I ran smart, and part of that I owe to Doug, who got me in the right position at the beginning, and it helped keep me calm.
Here are the things that could be improved:
-The start. Do NOT have port-a-potties facing in towards where the runners should be lined up. That was crazy.
-The people complaining about traffic. You were given ample notice. If you did not plan an alternate route, or alternate staff, that's on you.
-I would have liked more in to Champaign, just to showcase both cities.
-Better signage. On the course, it would have been nice to see bigger notifications at mileage markers, or even a timer. Inside the stadium, we desperately needed some way to be told how to exit.
-Having a tennis match right afterward. I did not get in a good stretch, and I'm still sore two days later.
I'm very happy for all of my friends that ran and finished, especially Tony and Alex, who both killed their runs. Just destroyed them. And a special thank you to my Mom for yelling, and of course to Julia, for making a sweet sign, and getting me some delicious cookies for post-race (which I didn't get to until 10:30 at night). I'm just sorry she couldn't be there.
Next race is in Madison. Memorial Day weekend.
Today, I had a nice day off, and have been doing a ton of chores and things around the house. On my list of 10 things, I've only got one left, and that is to get the remaining casino things I have in this apartment to Cassie. After that, we're all good!
If you have any comments about what you think could change about the Illinois Marathon, let me know!
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4 comments:
If they run downtown next year, the intersection of Neil and Main/Church (outside Jim Gould and Guido's) they need to stop traffic a block north. Once the runners got going, there were cars backed up past Washington on Neil. Which granted, driving downtown was stupid, if they'd blocked off at Washington, people would've had a turn around. Plus the cop at that intersection almost got a disabled biker killed when he wasn't paying attention and let a tow-truck through.
Hey Mike. I enjoy reading your blog. I'm a fellow Tiger c/o '97.
Nice job on the race! Guess you'll have to move up to the full mary as it was mostly in Champaign and hilly.
You said you doubt you'll be able to repeat in Madcity. Have you taken Bratfest into consideration? The faster you finish, the more beer and brats you can eat after. Excellent motivation! I ran a pr there.
My thoughts on the IL marathon:
1) change from Easter weekend and pair with an event (see Bratfest above)
2) move the expo. competing with students for parking at the ARC wasn't good.
3) gear check was a cluster f as most are. have it in the circle drive of AH with BIG SIGNS!!.
4) locate post race food on field under horseshoe and label exits better.
Overall a great race and looking forward to next year.
ps- Your bball announcing was great this year. Loved the "_____ - for - three!"
Congrats on your run! I'm sure Tony will have more suggestions, but here are mine:
1.) Allow spectators to go into more than ONE entrance into Memorial Stadium...only one door was open for us.
2.) Organize Memorial Stadium better--relocate food for runners etc.
3.) Although you don't like complaining drivers, we knew the route of the race, but roads were blocked off where they were NOT supposed to be...we checked the maps. More signs should have been up prior to the race to notify drivers about road closures...sorry you disagree.
glad i could be of service :) it was a great day weather-wise, kinda chilly at the start, but that's good if you're trying to run fast.
overall, i'll echo your comments, i think that the race was fairly well organized for a first time race. i was a little perplexed by the full water bottles at some of the waterstops, but when you said that they were donated since they were going to expire, that made sense.
things i liked about the race...
- the shirts and the medals were pretty freaking cool. the best shirt i've ever gotten at a race.
- i thought the course was good. i hear what you're saying about not running in Champaign much, but we could've done the marathon and suffered through most of Champaign.
- several different flavors of gels at the waterstops that had gels. and each one had plenty of water and gatorade.
- the organizers' claim was right, it was flat and fast. hooray PR!
things i didn't like...
- port-o-lets at the start.
- the finish area was way too hectic. was there only 1 open gate to get off the field? kinda dumb IMO. plus i grabbed a couple bottles of water and i was like," okay, where's the food?" that probably would've made the field even more crowded, but it was confusing.
- the gear check pickup/post race food bottleneck. i ended up just jumping into line to grab a half banana and a granola bar. i felt kinda bad about it, but that line was ridiculously long.
- they should've had better/bigger signage for the mile markers, and preferably on both sides of the street.
- the jerkface that cut me off on my way to the finish line. i can appreciate that you want to help your boyfriend run the race, just don't get in the other runners' way dumbass. i really wish i had shoulder checked her onto her ass. oops.
like i said, overall, i thought it ran pretty smoothly considering it's a first time event. hopefully next year it'll be even better!
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