Kory Katkus's Staging Area

This race was hyped big time for almost the entire year that I was signed up for it. As it got closer to race weekend I got more and more excited. This race had everything! Great expo, one of the largest I ever been to. Sponsors that made the SWAG better then most other race events. Communication on everything by all means. A race course that had great views. Then the afterparty that beyond expectations. Now the finer details, good and bad… Start with the obvious, they don’t have control over the rain but it made for memories you will never forget. After hearing why they had the runners go out instead of waiting; I agree. The potential for thunder and lightning storms were high but only for a small window. Their reasoning… if they got the runners off they would be spread out and not all together in one spot and they could have the runners take cover if needed. So back to the beginning… the communications were excellent but at times you could get confused with was needed when you needed but if you took the time to read it all it would make sense. Then the SWAG… I wish more races would have larger size items. Most items will not be large enough for the bigger guys (both height and size). This course, you better practice hills and if you don’t have hills nearby… drive to hills and do them often. It may not as bad in your head because despite the rain the course support was phenomenal. Both in cheering and things such as water and Gatorade stations, then your Gel stations and Medical tents. There were plenty of other aids such as bananas, oranges, twislers, sweedish fish, etc. The course was clearly marked and well supported with grunts (volunteers) and police. Most of the course was closed to traffic but some spots had traffic but they were in areas that had 4 or 5 lanes of traffic and they allowed 1 lane maybe 2 for vehicle traffic but the rest were for the runners. With all this it helped you feel safe. With all the paper cups, they also did a great job keeping the path as clear as possible for other runners so they did not slip. From the corrals to the start line everything was smooth sailings. 1 item that was hard to understand was since the speakers were loud and not equalized properly when speaking communications over the speakers the instructions could be hard to understand. In the end, this is a tough course but has great course support, it is fun because it is Pig themed, they communicate everything, it has an expo you can’t miss, parking is easy (small fee), and after party has plenty of food and drinks and vendors (wish some were included with race entry but most have a fee). This is a race I would look forward to running again…hopefully without the storms.

I participated by doing a leg in the marathon relay. This was the 1st time I had done Quad Cities or a relay and everything was well organized and well marked. From bus routes to the course to all areas in-between. I saw only a small portion of the course but from just that 1 leg I determined that this is the race that I want to do as my 1st full. I am a larger guy with big shoulder and tall torso my only complaint is that I wished they had a 3XL option for the shirt. Party after was fun easy to get around plenty of food and when they ran out they had more coming in a reasonable amount of time.