I was visiting Providence this weekend for Rhode Island Comic Con and the Colt State Park Half on Sunday so I wanted to see if I could find a 5K … MORE
I was visiting Providence this weekend for Rhode Island Comic Con and the Colt State Park Half on Sunday so I wanted to see if I could find a 5K Saturday and I found this one. Overall this was a solid, smaller 5K but not really too special. There was adequate pre race communication with an email before the race. It started at a park. There was plenty of parking at the park when I arrived and they also gave an address for a secondary parking lot if it was full. Bib pick-up was race day and was easy and included a fine cotton T-shirt the typical swag item for this kind of race. Race was generally well produced. There was a bit under 200 hundreds and production is smaller scale but not issues. It was manually timed. The start was about a block from the finish area/park. It could have been a bit clearer but they directed us there. The RD gave some instructions before the race though they were a bit hard to hear and off we went. The course is nice but again not that special through neighborhoods and along a river path. One issue is it started at 8am which I though was a bit early. There was a glare and you were facing the sun on the river pass so it was hard to see. There was also a very rude biker who almost hit me as I was trying to pass another runner and didn’t see them from the glare and was not very polite about it. I think this race could’ve started a bit later so there would be less issues with the sun. Other than the rude biker no other issues. Course was on open roads, public paths and side walks but was generally coned off and had course marshals at all street crossings. There was nice fall foliage and nice views of the river. There was a water station in the middle. There were plenty of course markings. Course is pretty easy and no major hills. I do wish I looked at the elevation profile though as I had a really fast first two miles and was hoping to get a 5K PR for the year. However I didn’t realize it but the first 2 miles were a gradual downhill which meant the last mile was mostly uphill. It wasn’t super steep or anything I just didn’t bank my energy right so was a few seconds over a PR for the year but still had my second fastest 5K this year. At the finish line I was excited I saw medals but sadly they were only for kids. Adults like medals too. This is typical for New England. There were granola bars and the typical post race snacks and water bottles. Overall this was a solid but not particularly special event. Would recommend if local or visiting Rhode Island.
Please login to reply to this review.
When in Rhode Island
I was visiting Providence this weekend for Rhode Island Comic Con and the Colt State Park Half on Sunday so I wanted to see if I could find a 5K … MORE
I was visiting Providence this weekend for Rhode Island Comic Con and the Colt State Park Half on Sunday so I wanted to see if I could find a 5K Saturday and I found this one. Overall this was a solid, smaller 5K but not really too special. There was adequate pre race communication with an email before the race. It started at a park. There was plenty of parking at the park when I arrived and they also gave an address for a secondary parking lot if it was full. Bib pick-up was race day and was easy and included a fine cotton T-shirt the typical swag item for this kind of race. Race was generally well produced. There was a bit under 200 hundreds and production is smaller scale but not issues. It was manually timed. The start was about a block from the finish area/park. It could have been a bit clearer but they directed us there. The RD gave some instructions before the race though they were a bit hard to hear and off we went. The course is nice but again not that special through neighborhoods and along a river path. One issue is it started at 8am which I though was a bit early. There was a glare and you were facing the sun on the river pass so it was hard to see. There was also a very rude biker who almost hit me as I was trying to pass another runner and didn’t see them from the glare and was not very polite about it. I think this race could’ve started a bit later so there would be less issues with the sun. Other than the rude biker no other issues. Course was on open roads, public paths and side walks but was generally coned off and had course marshals at all street crossings. There was nice fall foliage and nice views of the river. There was a water station in the middle. There were plenty of course markings. Course is pretty easy and no major hills. I do wish I looked at the elevation profile though as I had a really fast first two miles and was hoping to get a 5K PR for the year. However I didn’t realize it but the first 2 miles were a gradual downhill which meant the last mile was mostly uphill. It wasn’t super steep or anything I just didn’t bank my energy right so was a few seconds over a PR for the year but still had my second fastest 5K this year. At the finish line I was excited I saw medals but sadly they were only for kids. Adults like medals too. This is typical for New England. There were granola bars and the typical post race snacks and water bottles. Overall this was a solid but not particularly special event. Would recommend if local or visiting Rhode Island.