Davida Pantuso's Staging Area

What a great race! To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Akron Marathon, the race directors decided to create a challenge for the National Interstate 8K and 1 miler. Previously, both races were run on Saturday morning. This year, they decided to have the 1 miler on Friday night, and the 8K on Saturday morning. I ran both, and I am so glad that I did.

The 1 miler was a small race (~250 participants), but the amenities were plentiful and the production was top notch for it being so small. The 8K had ~1,500 runners, and everything was smooth from packet pickup to the post race party.

Packet Pickup, Parking & Swag:
Packet pickup was a breeze and volunteers were super helpful and friendly (as they always are for this race). I was able to pickup my packet, as well as a friend’s. It was a fairly simplistic packet pickup with no vendors or exhibit. I like that as I don’t feel every race needs to have vendors.

Parking was very close to the start, finish, and packet pickup. Plus, parking was free! There were plenty of signs indicating where everything is.

The swag was great, especially considering the low price for the mile race. Participants for the 1-miler received a medal, beer, popsicle (great idea for summer races!), post race food (banana and pretzels) and drinks (water and Body Armor), and a race certificate. 8K participants received a cotton t-shirt, medal, beer, popsicle, Krispy Kreme donuts, post race food (banana and pretzels) and drinks (water and body armor), and a finish line video. Runners participating in the challenge also received a commemorative pint glass.

Course:
The 1 mile race began with an uphill for .25 miles followed by a .25 mile downhill. The last half was pretty flat. I felt the course was fast, despite the uphill start, and I PRd!

The 8K race was hilly, and I thought it was challenging, but, I PRd! The course runs through both the University of Akron Campus as well as parts of downtown Akron. For it being in an urban environment, the course did have sections that had plenty of shade. The start time was 7:30. It’s nice being able to sleep in an extra half hour; however, with it getting so hot so early in the morning, I would prefer it if they started the race at 7:00. There were at least two water/Gatorade stations along the course and they also had porta-johns at the aid stations. There were mile markers along the course, as well as a sign indicating that you had 1 mile left. They also had a cooling/mist station around the halfway point, and music at every mile, which was really nice. Crowd support was minimal, but I didn’t mind that. A timing mat was placed at the 5k for splits.

Post Race:
The post race party was fantastic! They had a misting/cooling tent, a finisher backdrop for pictures, a PR bell, plenty of room for yard games, beer tents (Mich Ultra, Michelob Hard Seltzers, and Platform IPA- a local brewery), a water station to refill water bottles, indoor bathrooms (fantastic!), and music. Since the race series is celebrating its 20th anniversary, music was from the late 90s/early 2000s. I was loving the playlist as it took me back to my college years 😉

Another change from previous years was that the race did not finish in InfoCision Stadium. I was skeptical about this, but I actually really preferred the new finish location and I really hope that they keep this location. There was plenty of room to play yard games, and they had tall tables throughout the area for runners to socialize afterwards. A huge plus was that family and friends were able to meet runners in the post race area, and I love that!

Apps and Photos:
The race app had a delay with results, but eventually we were able to scan a QR code that displayed results.
Photographers were on the course, but I haven’t received photos yet.

The Akron Marathon has consistently put on great races. They pay attention to details, and those details really make a difference to runners. I love running this series, and I can’t wait to see what they have in store for the Goodyear Half/10K (Aug) and the Akron Marathon/Half/Relay.

Pros:
Running past the McKinley Monument was a highlight.
The medal is great- it’s a spin off of a Super Bowl ring.
In addition to the medal and shirt, runners also receive a blanket. Great to keep in your car!
Runners finish on the 50 yard line, which is really neat! Family and friends are allowed to join runners at the finishers’ party. The PR Village had life-sized 13.1 and 26.2 cutouts for people to take pictures.
Photos are free and are sent almost in real time.

Cons:
The start was not good. Runners were crammed into a side street that was in terrible condition. There was no official start (at least the runners didn’t hear the start).
The course was not the best. Road conditions were terrible with lots of pot holes.
Crowd support was minimal (this didn’t bother me so much, but my running friends were very disappointed).
Communication prior to the race is lacking.
I did not like the design of the t-shirt.
The website indicated that the course was flat- it wasn’t flat. It would be helpful if the race director included an elevation profile like many other marathons do. This would help runners to better prepare themselves for the race.
There were only a couple of sections on the course that were scenic. Most ran through some tough neighborhoods. Cars were also parked on the course. That was annoying having to run around them, especially when the course was crowded.
There were several sections were police were directing traffic and allowed cars to cross the course. I did not like that at all.
Improving communication and the course would greatly improve this race.

Tips:
Purchase the preferred parking! It was worth the $25 to park at the stadium and not have to take the bus shuttle.