Race #232 - Grover Pumpkin Run 5k - Grover, NC - 10/26/13

This was possibly the least organized race I've ever run. If all races were like this I'd probably revert back to being a mall walker.

I arrived in Grover having read in the directions that the race was on "Main Street." Okay, that sounds simple enough since Grover is just a small town. Since the race was being held in conjunction with the Grover Pumpkin Festival I thought it would be easy to spot, and sure enough, there were hundreds of people gathered for the Pumpkin Festival, and it was nice. Lots of good-smelling food (although I was trying to watch my diet), great entertainment with a band on stage that sounded surprisingly good I thought, and lots of people, many dressed in Halloween costumes.

I found the nearest parking space I could find, which was probably at least a quarter mile from the action, and walked up to find the race registration area. I walked completely to the other side of the festival without seeing anything, so I asked three guys who were directing the parking if they knew where I could register for the race.

"What race," one of them said.

"The 5k," I replied.

So he says, "Are you sure you're at the right place?"

And I said, "Is this Main Street in Grover and the Pumpkin Festival?"

Anyhoo, it was all downhill from there. Eventually I figured out where to go, and managed to register, but they didn't have change, so I went and bought some ice cream because I like ice cream and I needed correct change. You get the idea.

This is the route we were supposed to run.


When the race was finally about to begin they managed to clear a space in the crowd where we could at least get started before heading out of town. The race was tiny -- maybe 40 runners or so -- and a quarter mile or so I was one of the first 6 or 7 runners. I eventually caught a couple and passed them, and I finished 4th overall, which I was happy with. My pace of 6:36 was the best I've run in a 5k in a long time, but of course, things were screwy along the way and I don't think anybody ran an actual 3.1 miles. The first five runners, which included me, headed straight back into town. Apparently just a few seconds after I passed by somebody figured out we were running the wrong course and the guy in back of me said a man jumped off a golf cart and pointed for everybody to run down a street that we missed. So much for any chance at things being even. If the course is wrong but everybody runs the wrong route, at least it's an even playing field, but if part of the runners go one way and part go another way, it's just a mess.

Even the people who were directed down the missed road only ended up with about 2.75 miles, and the few in front with me ran about 2.28 miles (that was what I recorded).

This is the route that my Garmin watch recorded for me. As you can see,
not only did we miss the road that went by the elementary school, but
we also missed a loop up in the first neighborhood we ran through.
The lady who seemed to be in charge of the race was very apologetic about things being messed up, and she promised they would do better next year. She said they put her in charge three weeks ago and things just didn't get organized. I don't think anybody got very bent out of shape about it. Seems like the more races you run, the more you expect a disaster every now and then. It's just the way things go. Hopefully they'll do better next year.

Right now there are no official results posted, but when they're available they should be posted on this website...

http://www.finishwelltiming.com


My Stats:


Time:  14:58 (for 2.28 miles)
Pace:  6:36
Age Group:  1st
Overall:   4th

***************
* RACE RATING *
***************

RACE COURSE
0 - Chip Timing: (3 points if yes)
0 - Starting Mat: (2 points if yes)
0 - Water Stops: (0)none  (2)normal  (5)extras [Gu, sports drink, etc.]
0 - Course Marking:  (0)bad  (1)good
2 - Course Scenery:  (0)bad  (2)pleasant  (5)extraordinary
0 - Mile Markers: (0)poor or none  (1)normal  (2)with clocks or time called out
0 - Volunteers:  (0)too few  (2)good
2 - Finish line: (0)mediocre  (2)not bad  (5)very good  (7)spectacular!
0 - Certified Course: (0)no  (2) yes
0 - Correct Distance: (0)no  (2)yes
1 - Partly or fully on unpaved roads:  (0)yes  (1)no

REGISTRATION
2 - Cost:  (0)expensive  (2)reasonable  (5)cheap!
3 - Race Day Registration:  (0)no  (3)yes

RESULTS
0 - Posted promptly online:  (0)no  (2)yes
0 - Clear link on website:  (0)no  (1)yes

AGE GROUPS
0 - 3 deep awards: (2)yes (0 for anything less)
0 - 5-year age groups (5 points) (0 for anything less)
1 - 14 and under group (1)
1 - 65+ group (1)
1 - 70+ group (1)
0 - Top Overall M/F:  (0)none or first only  (2)top 3 or better
0 - Masters Category(40+): (0)no  (2)yes
0 - Grand Masters Category (50+):  (0)no  (3)yes
0 - Senior Grand Masters Category: (0)no  (5)yes

AWARDS
2 - Overall Winner Awards: (0)none  (2)yes  (5)excellent
2 - Age Group Awards: (0)none  (2)yes  (5)excellent
0 - Door Prizes or Drawing: (0)no  (2)yes   (5-9)fabulous door prizes!
0 - Finisher Medals for All Finishers: (0)no  (3)yes  (5)really cool medals

POST RACE
0 - Food for Race Participants: (0-10 with 5 being average)
9 - Entertainment:  (0)no  (1-9)yes
0 - Finisher times posted after race:  (0)no  (2)yes

REST ROOMS
2 - Porta Potties:  (0)no  (1)limited, long lines  (2)plentiful
0 - Indoor Restrooms: (0)no  (1)limited, long lines  (2)plentiful

T-SHIRTS
2 - T-Shirts: (0)no  (2)yes
1 - Design: (0)not good  (1)not bad  (2)nice  (5)beautiful!
0 - Material: (0)cotton  (2)technical fabric
0 - Discount for no-shirt option:  (0)no (2)yes

PHOTOGRAPHY
0 - Professional Photography: (0)no  (5)yes
x - Prices: (0)expensive  (2)reasonable  (5)cheap!
x - Free Photographs (newspaper, etc.):  (0)no  (2)yes  (5)lots of free pics!

PARKING
0 - Close to Start:  (2)yes  (0)no
0 - Close to Finish:  (2)yes  (0)no
2 - Plenty of spaces:  (2)yes  (0)no
2 - Free Parking:  (2)yes  (0)no

WEBSITE
0 - Dedicated race website (0)no  (2)yes
0 - Results or link to results posted on website:  (0)no  (2)yes

OTHER
0 - Shelter from Inclement Weather (needed or not): (0)no  (2)yes
0 - Swag (free socks, water bottles, etc.): (0)no  (2)yes, some  (5)excellent
0 - Part of race series or Grand Prix:  (0)no  (2)yes


TOTAL:  35

Comments

Post a Comment

Recent Popular Posts

Race #214 - Mount Holly Springfest 5k - Mount Holly, NC - 05/04/13

Image
For the first time since last July I ran a 5k in under 21 minutes (20:58) so I was happy to know I still had a sub-21 in me at the age of 61. This race is just a few miles from my home and one of the few Gaston County races I had never run. It's a smallish race with 156 finishers this year, but there are a lot of good things about races this size: parking nearby, not losing your friends, a more casual starting line, etc. As I've been doing lately, I'll go light on the talking and let the photos tell the story since I wore my video glasses. Below is the video, followed by a few of the 100+ pictures I took. You can see all of the photos on my Facebook page. Click here for my Facebook gallery of this race. It was frigid for a race in May, when we expect springtime temperature. Bill refused to leave his car to warm up before the race. This was the first race I've been in with Dianne Allen in a while. She's coming back strong after an injury kep
Read more

Race #136 - The Scream! Half Marathon - Jonas Ridge, NC - 07/16/11

Image
The T-shirt says, The Scream! Half Marathon is "13.1 Miles of Pure Hill!" That's not entirely true. While there are probably 8 or 9 miles of downhill that will make your quads and calves scream with delight (or possibly horror), there's enough uphill to bring you back to reality. For me, every time we hit the small uphill sections they almost felt like huge mountains after getting used to all the downhill, but enough people passed me on those hills that I thought I might be in the minority. There's no doubt that the huge downhill sections helped a lot of people run their fastest half marathon time ever. I cut about a minute off my Personal Record from the 2010 Little Rock Half Marathon with a time of 1:32:11, which was 1st in the 55-59 age group and 24th overall. Honestly, I was just a little disappointed with my time since I've been running well lately and had dropped 10 pounds over the previous four weeks. I felt like there was a good chance for me to run
Read more

Race #174 - New River Half Marathon - Todd, NC - 05/05/12

Image
Being a glutton for punishment, I was elated to hear the alarm go off at 3 a.m. Saturday morning. It wasn't so much the early wake-up time -- I try to get up a 4 a.m. every morning anyway. The day's punishment that I eagerly anticipated was the 13.1 miles of hills at the New River Half Marathon. I ran this race last year and it was my slowest half marathon of the year out of 13 that I ran. I remembered that there were hills but I don't think I appreciated the magnitude of the hills. There are a couple of 300-foot climbs as well as a couple of 100-foot climbs, and since I do very little hill training the results are just about what you would expect. I've always been a proponent of the run/walk method and used to incorporate regular walk breaks in every race. Over the past couple years I've mostly stopped doing that, instead trying to run the entire race without any walk breaks, at least most of the time. This race is an exception to the rule though. Last year I wal
Read more

Race #212 - Run for the Money 5k - Gastonia, NC - 04/20/13

Image
It's nice to finally be settling in for some local races after all the traveling we've been doing for the past few months. This week's race was in our hometown of Gastonia, and it's the biggest local race of the year. This time around there were 1,235 finishers in the competitive 5k race and hundreds more in the 2k walk. The unique thing about this race is that in each 10-year age group the 1st place finisher gets to direct a $500 donation towards any local participating nonprofit group of their choice, and 2nd place directs $250 towards their choice. For the second year in a row I ran for Career Management Group (CMG), one of the lesser known nonprofit groups. They run Gaston Residential Services (GRS), which provides housing for handicapped adults. Linda's twin sister has been one of their clients for many years and they've done a beautiful job over the years in helping her to be as independent as possible despite being debilitated with cerebral palsy. She
Read more

Race #143 - Midnight Flight 10k - Anderson, SC - 09/02/11

Image
This was my third straight year of running the Midnight Flight 10k, the first race in the Running Journal Grand Prix. After running a disappointing time of 47:07 in last year's race I hoped to redeem myself by running under 45 minutes this year. Things worked out well for me and I chopped about 4 minutes off last year's time, finishing in 43:09 (with a chip time of 43:04), finishing in 1st place in the 55-59 age group. It was a little sad not having some of the Charlotte area guys there who I've run the RJ Grand Prix with over the past two seasons, but a couple of other Charlotte runners are there this year -- Butch Holt and Louis Messina -- so we've still got some representation from the area. I'll be switching age groups on February 27, 2012, before the end of the current season, so the only points I'll get will be in races before that date. I told Linda last year that I wouldn't run this series this year, but since I'll still be eligible for point
Read more