Gregg Maul's Staging Area

Good race, high humidity, 30,000 runners two days, 4000 5k, 18000 hald marathoners, 8000 marathoners. Well done, easy to get to, good folks, several hills, run the top of San Diego and then down hill to the ocean. Finish in the city, walk to the party. Crazy bunch of people. You will like this race.

Well, this one, this time, was a disappointment. I do not believe the race director and who did the course planning and flagging do much running or know the folks. On the good side, the course is good, especially for a night race, mostly roomy, staging at the parking was good. As usual, the food tent, bibs pick-up all went well. Lots of parking. At this point I have a call into the head quarters in Phoenix and an email to talk about the issues. I spoke with the race director and I am not happy. The communication was poor and the loud speaker was working but the operator was clearly did not have a good ability with respect to running/runners. The only ones that could clearly hear was right up front. That was a problem. There are not distance markers, only colors, one lap, blue, one, pink, one yellow, etc. Let me say, at least 20 runners got lost Pitch black night and your lost??? I spoke to several. One lady from Mexico, got turned the wrong way, just because folks say nothing, that does not mean all is good. One group said they had 18 miles in at the 16 mile point, ( how did that happen?). The whole blue, pink, yellow flag idea is a very poor idea. No mile markers??? The Director said he would handle the timing issue, I guess we will see. For new runners take note and pick your race carefully.

Nice location to run, lots of parking, better to come early to get in closer. Lots of boats and boat parking so beat the boats. Great weather today, overcast. 72 degree to start and 84 degree to finish. Good course, lots of rocks though. Good race for slow folks. All ages and 5 races, something for everyone. Aid stations are well done, everyone is great, good mood. Good Food and they have diet coke….big plus. This between Phoenix and Flagstaff. Drive is an easy one.

Tough race, lots of sand, rock scrambles, hills and canyons, up and down and watch your map. Around 1000 runs all races, 55K is the most popular. Hit a bunch of the slot canyons. Did I say sand, yes indeed, lots of sand. DNF’s were high, be prepared. Well done aid stations and food was all good. Volunteers were great. The runners are amazing. Lots of folks had T-band issues, be ready of this one. See the photos, all are race day pics.

I ran the 5k and the 1/2, for me, I did well. Great night, perfect temps, sooooo many people. 2500 5k, and 12,000 in the 1/2. Can’t get better than this. Just a good fine race.

Lots of people, lots of runners, lots of parking. From a stand point of running, great race, from a stand point of communication and web site functioning, it needs a lot of improvement, and not improved from last year. Timing and timing results are next to impossible to get, what you get is so basic it is pointless to have. I have never been able to get accurate results, how many ran, on anything, times on mid points. So clearly a money operation and not for runners. Some volunteers rude. They want you to participate in heavy medals but rude lady their for two years. Course is mostly flat, two hills.

Can’t get better than this. Good parking, lots of folks, 1800 ft. evaluation gain. Hills, flats, rocks and dirt roads. 34 degree start, 54 degree finish, much cooler than last year. Fast runners and slow runners, all came out. Good food and aid stations. A well done race.

Very good production, trails were well marked, well organized, big good crowd of runners, lots of runners came out. Great temperatures. 5 races, something for everyone. Lots of rocks on this course. Lots of small hills. Crowded start with a thinning at about a mile. Photos below, check them out.

Fast course, you will need head lights, we only had about 25 runners. One big look. Pay attention so you don’t get off trail. Night lights are very cool.

This was my 7th time in running. 3rd course change, this one was just slightly changed. 2 times as many runners. Largest charity only run in the world. All sorts of runners. Please get rid of the pass words MCM. This is not a top secret run. Good start, cool start, perfect running day. Not near enough bathrooms. Staging area is very good, transportation is great, Runner village and area is giant. A very well done race and expo was perfect. By the way, you need more bathrooms. If you do 2026, you will love it.

Location is good. The rains came early, The Weather man said 10 PM, it started raining at 7:45, and Saturday ( today ) is canceled. Floods coming, raining into Tucson too. Good course, hills, lots of rocks, trail. Some deer came out to watch and we even saw a rattlesnake. Its very rare to see a snake at night with the rain coming. Very dark, no moon of course.

So, who goes first? So many wonderful buildings and a great history. I love churches and they have some good ones. Course is flat and does an excellent tour of the historical city. There is a mass of folks and the race is well done considering the numbers, lots of people. Very crowded but no options to improve. I think the race should start at 6:00 and then have the masses begin at 8 AM. This race was hot hot hot. Did I say hot? 84!!! the bad, well the heat. The Ugly, this is the largest race in the World, why is there trash, garbage, graffiti all over the place, dirty sidewalks and lots of cigarette buttes on the ground. Very dirty city. Now they made who knows how much money, $900,000,000 dollars and the streets are dirty??? The aid stations did not have salt or pickle juice. ( What? )

Very well done race, 35,000 marathon runners, 20,000 1/2 marathon runners. lots of hills, sea level, long start, good party, good folks. Transportation to the race is great, lots to do in this city. You will love this race.

I think at this point I need to address a few issues. The organization, all four races are a great group of folks. This race is a disappointment because of a lack of concern of the race director, the town of Manitou, Colorado Springs, and the Cog train folks. The lack of focus and concern for the runners and the support group is sad indeed. Clearly the town wants nothing to do with the race. Parking fees at every turn and a pure focus on making money. The race itself is focused on young fast runners, all others– to bad. 30 + runners did not finish because of the cut off. Most came in just minutes after cutoff. The minute it hit 4 hours, all timing mats were turned off, finish line broke down, tents gone and all moved in minutes to the park, a mile away. To make room for parking and tourist, tourist that are there everyday and move on to the next phase. There were volunteers on the trail wondering what to do with no direction. Runners still out. Zero communication. At some point someone is going to get hurt or die and that disclaimer everyone signs will do no good. How do you leave runners out??? Crazy. Look at the participants, most 98% are Colorado and high altitude areas. Running groups stay alive based on the slow and older folks who want to have fun. There is zero focus on fun with this race. Get in, get out, and disappear. If you run it, know you are on your own. This race is 6 miles up, rocks and a rough course, come back down. The after race event when the slow folks got there, was out of food, almost out. Nothing to drink except Champagne, some beer and Gater-aid. What if you don’t drink beer? Who wants Gater-aid after a race? That was a shot-gun put together with donated stuff. There was a lot of water melon. The other races do not have these problems. One could start the race 1/2 an hour earlier or and hour. There could be a little courtesy too. This same thing happened last year. No ears listing in this race. AND, a two mile walk to the cars. I have ran almost 400 races of all distances 5,10,13,17,20,26, 31,35 miles and not one finish line does this craziness, not one. If I was a first time runner, I would never come back. Check out the parking ticker for race day in photos. Unbelievable.