Race Review: The Elf Virtual Run

Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Elf Virtual Run to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

• 

• 

SANTA!!!!
Ok, I didn’t actually see him on my Elf Virtual Run but the bling I received for running this virtual race was pretty dang sweet! Before getting to that, though, let’s talk about the race itself. It was a 100% virtual race that could be run anytime and anywhere. So all you had to do was register and wait for your running kit to arrive and ready, set, go!

Race Management/Virtual Support: The RAM Racing team was really great with communication pertaining to when they were mailing out bibs and shirts and when to expect them. They were also extremely apologetic when an issue arose with the medals, informing all that they would be coming later than the other items. Consistent email updates and always ready and quick to respond to questions, should you have them. I can’t say how impressed I was and always am for RAM Racing events and their team.

SWAG: One of the best races I’ve run when it comes to the swag! First, you get a themed customized bib! next, you get a sweet forest green winter beanie with the Elf logo on the front. Third, a quite warm red zip-up hooded Elf sweatshirt, logo on the left breast. And last, you get a very sweet snow globe style Elf medal! The day these items arrived, it really was like yelling out, “Santa came!” Easily a virtual race you should consider running next year or sometime in the future because it is worth it.

• 

• 

• 

My Race Experience: I hate to admit it but I copped out with this run and ran it on a track where I could better keep track and calculate my distance without going over or miscalculating out somewhere random. So, it wasn’t the most interesting with views aside from the train that came by near the end of my race. That was about the only interesting thing, visually. But I did enjoy running a race on a softer surface than the roads I normally run on when I’ve done previous virtual races. So I’ll chalk up my run as fun in the sense that I had control and I came close to setting a 10K PR for myself.

• 

So that’s my Elf Virtual Run wrapped up in a nutshell! Oh, and yes, I did watch the movie later that night after the run! Definitely consider it for next year!

Race Review: National Procrastination Day Run & Walk

Let’s start with this: I signed up for National Procrastination Day Half Marathon very last minute and on a whim/desire to just run a real race for the first time since January. How crazy and desperate was I? This was my first trail race since 2017 and I never, ever train on trails. At all. Seriously, never. Add in the fact that the half marathon distance for this race had a loop of three times going up a hill labeled “Killer Hill” and it definitely earned that reputation; holy cow was it steep! Now, this being a race taking place during the pandemic, social distancing and all that jazz, I’ll explain why I give this race 4 stars.

T-Shirt/Swag: You receive a pretty sweet long-sleeve t-shirt with the race name on it and a fun slogan on the back: You put the ‘pro’ in procrastination….I thought that was too funny! And the finisher medal they provided was a pretty nice medal. Post race didn’t have the usual fanfare of tons of people (they discouraged spectators, obviously) but there was some edible treats like Gatorade, pretzels and a granola bar that you could have on request.

• 

Course Scenery: It was great. The race took place in a beautiful state park with wonderful trails and view points to look at while running; not to mention looking out from the top of Killer Hill. It’s been so long since I’ve done anything lengthy like this on trails so, for me, it was an amazing change of pace and I loved it. I’ll throw the Elevation Difficulty category into this section since they go hand in hand. My Strava app listed it as 1,102 feet of gain. So, yeah, it was a lot, lol. Not just Killer Hill either; there were some other inclines that were just tough where they were laid out on the course, but, of course, thankfully there were some declines too. Just gotta look out for those roots and rocks!

Parking Access: Easy and simple, except it required a park sticker otherwise you needed to pay five dollars, cash. Of course I drove in the vehicle WITHOUT the sticker AND failed to go to the bank the day before so I had no cash on me. Oops. Besides that, once inside, it was easy to find where to park and to get out after the race as well. Nicely organized….which leads to….

Race Management: Great job by the Silver Circle group who put on the race. They had had all the precautions in place so that there was social distancing for all runners as we queued up for the race. There were staggered start times for each wave of runners so there was no bottling up at the start or even during the race itself. I never felt too close to anyone on the course. You were required to have a face mask while waiting in the start line and post race if you were waiting for another runner to cross or just needed to stretch out. Now, I gave low scores to Expo Quality and Aid Stations but not because they were horrible. They really deserve an N/A since they didn’t exist for the obvious reason of COVID-19 and the risks having them before the race and on the course.

• 

I enjoyed this race and the, albeit brief, event around it. The course was great; it was a nice return for me to a trail race. The race organizers and all of their volunteers were absolutely wonderful. Friendly and encouraging when crossing the road in the park (where there was a person slowing/stopping cars) and the gentleman running at the back of the pack cheering on those runners to the random volunteers just monitoring mile marker points also offering up kudos. They all were just a great group of people at a real life racing event and they made it enjoyable when it easily could have been a hassle. Bravo! If ever in the mood to “procrastinate” you should run this race when in Wisconsin!

Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question!

Happy Running!!!!!

Race Review: Illinois Marathon

Disclaimer: I received free entry to the Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon race as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!!

What to say about my experience at the Illinois Marathon? It started out not so good but that was all on me. I left my house about two hours later than I had intended which made me get stuck into some nasty traffic more than once on the way. What should have been a three and a half hour trip turned into a four hour and forty-five minute trip and left me dangerously close to missing the designated packet pickup time. Thankfully, I got to the on-campus center where the expo was being held to pick up my bib and grab a pic or two. But, as you can see, the expo was really wrapping up and I missed all of the fun and informative stuff. Bummed about that but call it another lesson in traveling to a race, something I am still a relative rookie at doing so far.

I enjoyed what was left of the expo and did have the chance to talk to a few of the race representatives for some other local races in Champaign. It was brief and not as memorable as I would have liked, but, some is better than none. After the expo, I then headed to my hotel to check in and find a place to eat. This was not the best way to start my marathon night experience. By the time I found a place to eat that didn’t have too long of a wait, it was 8:45pm. I had dinner, got back to the hotel and wasn’t falling asleep until close to midnight. Why was I up so late you may ask? Because of being behind all day, I wasn’t even race prepped at all. So I got everything ready to attempt to make the morning run a little smooth.

But, of course, I then proceeded to sleep like crap. Tossed and turned and woke up once around 3am. Nothing like going into your second ever marathon on a restless night of sleep. Eventually my alarm went off and I was up and getting dressed for the race. Thank goodness for the abundance of parking at the start line area. The line of cars to get in moved smoothly and swiftly. Where for one moment I thought I was going to be late, then there was no worry at all and I had plenty of spare time to check my bag, stretch out some and get into my corral.

I was in corral F and it took about 20 minutes for us to move up and get into the front of the line. Oddly enough, somehow I ended up at the actual front of our corral; something that never happens. And then we were off! I had a great start. And that was after overcoming the weird feeling of something missing from the start. But that was just me. My only previous marathon experience was the Chicago Marathon and that was crazy noisy and boisterous crowds for miles. I remembered not turning on my music until mile 16. Here, it was amazing how the cheering and yelling at the start line just slowly disappeared about 300 yards down the road. Not completely quiet but definitely a difference. That being said, there was plenty of crowd support with families cheering on the side and students from the University of Illinois as well. There were DJ’s, rock bands, country bands and even a violinist at the split mark for the half and full marathon points. Plenty of aid stations with water and Gatorade. A couple of gel stations were sprinkled in as well with two orange stations. The volunteers were great! So supportive and helpful; they were the cheering section I needed at the end. I loved when running through the residential neighborhoods and there are folks offering up beer to drink; always cracks me up. And I’ll tell you what, I was ready to have one but I was making incredible time on my run and didn’t want to risk botching it up.

As the race went on and mile 6 became mile 13, I was still doing really well. Too well as it would turn out, but that didn’t rear its head until later. I was still averaging 8:33/mile at the 16 mile point which is really good for me. It wasn’t until mile 22 that things slowed down and my right hip started aching a little bit. By the end of the race, my hip was not happy but I muscled up enough energy and power through to the finish line and set a PR for myself. By almost 28 minutes!!! And I was able to break 4 hours too, which was my main goal.

I was more than happy with my performance with this race and how manageable the course was for me to navigate and dominate (at least for my level). The post race spread of food was awesome as well. Choices of chips, pizza, pasta with rolls and chocolate milk along with water were all available. And then the Riggs Beer Company beer for runners. I went with their IPL and it was awesome!

All in all, I had a great time with this race. The Illinois Marathon knows how to do it and do it well. They blended the full, the half and the 10K runners into one course at the same time (for the most part) and it was flawless in its operation. Would I run this race again? Hell yes. The full again? Perhaps. The half would be a fun challenge as well I think. You owe it to yourself to give this race a shot and earn yourself a sweet medal and maybe even a PR!

 

Did you run this year’s race? Have you run it in the past? I would love to hear your thoughts or respond to any comments or questions you may have about it!

Happy running!!