Bonnie Schroeder's Staging Area

I was one of the few people who did the Mushroom Challenge: a 40 mile bike tour on Saturday followed by the half marathon on Sunday. I really enjoyed the events, however, I have to say that there were a few issues that could be worked out to make next year a better experience for the participants.

The Bike tour seemed like an afterthought. We were supposed to get official times for the tour even though it wasn’t a race. Cool. This would be a great training effort so it seemed like a good notion to have an “official time” for both the bike and run to keep in the scrapbook and training log.

The course seemed sparsely marked and a few people were confused at the 20/40 mile split. Luckily I had printed the route sheet and was familiar with the area, so I knew which way to go. If you weren’t familiar you could have gotten lost easily on the course, especially since there were so few people out there to follow. I biked a very long stretch completely solo.

The actual bike course was really nice and I enjoyed the scenery. I bike in these areas often and was not disappointed. It wasn’t too hilly, either, so it made the half marathon on Sunday just challenging enough but not a complete sufferfest.

A few of the 40 mile finishers came in at the same time the kids’ race was finishing up so the finish line was a bit chaotic. Were we supposed to walk through the finish line going the backwards direction? Finally I dismounted and tried to walk carefully through the line, trying not to disturb or frighten kids and parents. A couple of cyclists had already gotten off their bikes and were sitting in the grass before they realized that “oh they need to walk through the finish line to get an official time”. This could have been staged better if the bike tour had a different finish arch than the kids. They needed clear markings (like arrows or something) as to where the tour participants were supposed to go.

Another small gripe is that I have yet to receive my bike jersey for participation in the tour. A few days prior to the tour we were informed by email that the race organizer was having “supplier” issues. Same thing with the promised “pint glass” swag. Yet to see that item either. Yes, some of us like to do events for the trinkets and swag!!! LOL.

I thought the half marathon was well organized and enjoyed the course. I disagree with the previous person that it wasn’t challenging enough. I think the new course had enough rollers in the back half to present a challenge. The first out-and-back part was a bit tedious but it was nice seeing all of the full marathoners on the course with us.

The race had a nice hometown feel. The finish festival was a friendly atmosphere with great volunteers and awesome muffins. The free photos for the running races were a great touch. It would have been nice to have photos of the cyclists on the bike tour as well.

Finally, I have to give kudos to the marathon and half-marathon pacers who did a wonderful job at keeping people on track to reach their goals. Hopefully, these guys will come back to pace next year.

Edited 11/24/2017 – I finally received the bike jersey and have to say it is very nice…