Stephen McDonald's Staging Area

This has got to be one of the most scenic courses anywhere. It starts with a three mile loop around lake Estes. The next 5.5 miles get your attention. 4 of those miles are up hill. From 5 to 8.5 it’s not a steep hill, but is relentless. If you run smart and get to 8.5 with something left in the tank, the rest of the way to the finish will see you run some fast miles. The hill climb is rewarded for several miles. Only one more short hill around mile 10. It is an awesome event, just like all the Vacation Races are. Their motto is “Run where you play”, and they sure have some beautiful courses they hold races on.

This is a great course and a fun run. Even though it was not hot this year, as it has been the past two, the hills, a little rain, wind and humidity made it surprisingly difficult. The wind was from the North and close to half the race was headed into it. It helped with the high humidity, but did slow one’s time I feel. Great finish festival and truly a destination race.

The course is a trail run. It’s a lot more technical than advertised I believe. Be ready for some serious rocky trail running. There are two hills in the course. The first is the longest which comes about at the 5 mile mark. At first you don’t see the incline, but soon start to feel it. The downhill that follows is through some of the most technical section so you really don’t get rewarded. You find yourself braking, not running freely. It would be a nightmare to fall in that section. I saw three people fall on the course and at the finish you could see many folks with war wounds. Take it easy would be my recommendation, but not sure that worked for all. Don’t be scared away. It’s an awesome race, but you will find yourself humbled by the course. My watch also showed the course to be almost a half mile short. My watch is usually very accurate, and comes up with a distance longer than the measured course almost always. Because of this, I think the course was considerably short. I heard others commenting on the mile markers not being where they expected them. I was glad to be done, but then you question your time. They need to check the course distance, I think it is not accurate. Only fly in the ointment. The Vacatioin Race series have the most awesome finisher medals given anywhere.

One of the Vacation Races series. Scenic course. Mostly on hot top surface, but a couple miles on hard packed gravel. The gravel portion was quite wash-boarded so was hard to stay in stride. This series is known for the scenic courses they run, and Tetons must be the most scenic. Overall 300 ft gain in the last few miles, but I would rate the course as forgiving. Their race medals are best you will ever see. Overall a great race.

Mostly on running trails. Varied surfaces. Flat as a pancake. Overall a good race. The out and back on the trail system was a little congested shortly after the turn around at the pace I ran.

I’ve run this race several times and normally the weather is perfect. This year it was extremely humid and lead to a slow time. it was apparent early on that the goal was to finish and not worry about the clock. I had no problems at water stops, but I heard those at the end of the pack were finding stops out of water. The race was cut short because of the conditions. I had already finished by the time that happened. For those that had a bad experience, give it another shot. Normally this is ideal running conditions, a beautiful course, almost perfectly flat, and awesome experience.

Simply amazing course. Race is well organized. Free finish photo, how many races give you that? This was the first time I had run a race put on by Vacation Races. It is now my favorite series. There motto is “Run where you Play” and it truly is what this series presents. The Rocky Mt course wasn’t that difficult. I found running at altitude not as difficult as I expected. It probably slows you down about thirty seconds a mile from what I experienced.

This is the second race in the Boston Medley. The race starts and finishes in Boston Common. Most of the course is an out and back on Commonwealth St, so you run a good portion of the Marathon finish. The 10k does not turn up Hereford however, you keep straight on Commonwealth to the Commons. You will see the race leaders on the out and back portion of the course and will realize how fast they are going. A great course and well organized race. 2015 race was run in a frog strangling shower, but that only made it more fun.

If you want to know what it feels like to turn right on Hereford, left on Boylston without running 26 miles to get there, this is the race. It’s held on Marathon weekend. Starts at Boston Common, and heads out Commonwealth, to a turn around, at about half way. From here it follows the Marathon course back Commonwealth, up Hereford, and down Boylston. The finish is back at Boston Common, but you do experience the thrill of crossing the Boston Marathon finish line, just keep going though, the 5k finish is about a half mile away. Awesome race and great time to be in Boston.

The Bronx 10 Miler is an awesome race. It starts on the Grand Concourse near Yankee Stadium. The course goes out the Grand Concourse, does a couple loops around a couple areas, then back down the Concourse. This course is tougher than it looks. There is a lot of rolling grades, on the concourse, it’s either up or down, never flat. Great finish atmosphere. They always have a great shirt design if you like shirts. One of my favorite races in the NYRR Borough Series.

It can get hot in Portland at this time of year, but the race is run early enough in the morning to avoid most of the heat. Awesome course with a great finish. Two fairly tough hills, but they are both in the the first half of the race and you get the downhill payback from both. Mostly flat once you hit the back bay. Some complain about the gravel surface of the back bay loop, but I love it. Finish area is awesome. Love this race.