Nathan Shikenjanski's Staging Area

Writing this review under the Phoenix race although I competed in the Tucson race. This is one of those races that exists solely to profit off of you – nothing special added in, the swag was awful, finishers medals were average, and if you placed… you got a pin that said “half marathon” or whatever you ran. Anytime you see a race put on by Five Star, run.

I used this race solely as a gauge of fitness for my marathon training since I was in the area and it was relatively cheap. The course was a DOUBLE OUT AND BACK on a trail in Tucson… what the heck. You also had to carry your own fuel (if you were going for time) because they didn’t have anyone at the hydration stands, just a big jug of water that you’d have to fill yourself. The race also started at 9am MT which if you have any common sense you would never do – was the race even put on by runners or just some corporation looking to make a quick buck? At least the course was on a paved trail which made it somewhat easy with minimal hills.

Overall, do not do any Five Star races unless you happen to be in the area and want to test for time. They’re poorly organized, cheap, and not designed with the runner in mind.

Paced the 1:30 group for the half marathon at the Twin Cities Hot Cider Hustle. Even though I was prepared for this race, the hills were still killer! I was two weeks out from the Twin Cities Marathon and could still feel it a bit in the legs. The course was pretty scenic but could easily run over depending on if you get lost or space the route out a bit.

It was fun to volunteer at but I wouldn’t recommend this HM if you’re going for a goal time.

This is a very respectable 5k course with a few rolling hills and a trip into downtown Stillwater. The course begins by the Boom Site and starts with a weird loop where you end up passing everyone that started the race a bit slowed and the rest is down on the side of the road blocked with cones. There were two things I could do without:

1. The road wasn’t completely blocked off. Although we had the shoulder blocked, cars still flew right by and you wouldn’t have the best time running with a group.
2. There was maybe 200m of grass you had to run on right before the finish line. I understand there wasn’t really another area to put the finish line, but I wasn’t a huge fan of this.

The Lift Bridge courses have room to improve mainly with all the turns throughout the course and the brutal hill right before the finish. I ran the 5k and was thrown off by how often we had to turn, the weather didn’t help much either. The old course going into Bayport was much better – arguably the best one Run Stillwater had.

Lake Wobegon was a bit of a last minute choice for a spring marathon but I do not regret it at all. Packet pickup was small and located in the church at the end of the race; pasta feed for $10! I stayed in the Rodeway Inn down the road and did my warmup to the buses at the church. The bus took a bit to drive up as it is a point-to-point, but the bathrooms at the starting high school were nice. The race went on the trail for 25 of the 26.2 miles so don’t expect to see anything great if you’re a city runner or need scenery while racing. The post-race meal was awesome – pizza, snacks, cookies, Gatorade, and more.

My mom ran the Twin Cities Marathon two times back in the 1990s, two of the three marathons she ever ran. She was diagnosed with ALS back in October 2023 and has been slowly losing her ability to do a lot of typical things. I have always been a bit of a runner throughout high school but didn’t take it seriously until the past few months and decided to train – I got the opportunity to run this race in front of my mom and entire family! What a better spot to do it than the Twin Cities – beautiful weather, beautiful course, packet pickup was seamless, and so many participants cheering you on!

This was my first race back into running and it was a great start as I began my journey. I used to run back in high school and did minimally throughout college, so getting back into this with the Hot Trot was a lot of fun. The merch was okay and the course was very easy as it had little elevation the entire time – I just wish it had more shade but the early start certainly helped.

Not a very competitive field but still a great time to get out and run around Whiterock.