KATHLEEN OSULLIVAN's Staging Area

This race was described to me as a “bucket list” Event. I normally only do 5 & 10K’s so I only signed up for the Half because friends were doing the Full. I thought it would be a great race for crowd support since I would be on my own. While there were great crowds, it would have been much different if the weather were better.
While the weather isn’t in the control of the RD, the ability to alert the runners of the Shelter in Place should have been. Everyone keeps saying “we’re all adults – we made our own decision”. I certainly agree with that, but the decision would have been a more informed one if we knew there was a SIP order. It seems that there could have been a more urgent notification. As many have stated, there was a notification on the app and a phone call hours later. I’m hopeful that the RD takes this as a shot across the bow and puts an alert system in the app that drives the point home if there is a situation that is dangerous. I was also running with a Pacer team. In the age of the cell phone, there could easily be a notification system that goes to those teams as well. They are spread out through the race and they would be a great way to get the message out.
TL/DR – everyone who ran made a decision, however it was not with the full amount of information.
All of that said, it is a great race that the entire city gets behind and supports. I was shocked at the number of people who were still out cheering and volunteering, despite the conditions. I would have loved to hang out at the after party because it looked amazing, but I was bordering on hypothermia. Oh, and the hills aren’t that bad! Coming from Savannah I was braced for the worst – totally doable!!