Charlie Roberts's Staging Area

I’ve run in over 50 races around the country, and this was the most poorly organized of all. Starting with about a dozen port-a-johns for thousands of runners (causing a public health issue with people going in the bushes of the Van Wezel grounds and on the route), no announcements, no signs where to assemble, no national anthem, no starting gun, no restrooms on route, dangerous plastic (not paper) cups at stations, very few bands, very inaccurate course measurement, unimpressive medal compared to previous years, post race breakfast had cold pancakes, no coffee or juice. As a Sarasotan, this race was an embarassment to our fine city and there should be an apology. Obviously, this for-profit race was designed to make the promoters a lot of money at the expense of runners and tourists. Avoid this race and wait until a proven promoter takes it over. Our beautiful city deserves better and should not allow a permit for next year unless improvements are guaranteed.