Polly Hoover's Staging Area

It’s hard to get to, it’s a really tough first 5 miles, but it’s all worth it when you get to the top! Vacation Races did a spectacular job this year, the on course support was amazing and the photos are out of this world!

My first time participating won’t be my last. This is a fundraising event for ALS research. It’s super chill and packet pickup is the evening before, they also had a super pasta spread (with vegetarian options) from a local Italian restaurant. They offer a place to set up and sleep inside, as well as, some spots for camper hookup to electricity. The course is also marked on Friday, so you can walk/run and get a feel for the route if you wish. This is a county park along a river, so in October there’s lots of fallen leaves and beautiful colors.
Saturday morning there’s a prerace meeting 15 minutes prior to the start, then it’s heading to the starting line. I feel like there weren’t more than 100 people running the 3 timed events. Everyone starts together and the loops begin. The course is beautiful, mostly trail with some areas of grass, just a bit of road at the end of the loop. There is one aid station, with Tailwind and water, along with snacks and food. They had sandwiches for most of the day, then added soup and pizza towards the evening hours. The park is open to the public, but there is an entrance fee. They allow pacers after 12 hours, but anyone can walk a lap with you if you choose. I will be back, as I didn’t do as well as I would have liked and ended my day after 14 hours. There are awards for top 3 male and female finishers in each of the 3 events, everyone got a very nice fleece vest and sunhat as swag. Good event. Everyone was very friendly, I met some awesome people who do this race every year. I will be back!

It’s a fun race, some minor hills, but nothing too bad. Great swag, pizza at the end, and entertainment along the way. Water stops were great. The neighborhoods sponsor different types of water stops, those are probably more fun, lol.

This is a very small race, maybe 30 half marathoners. It’s well organized, there are water stations about every 2 miles, and lots of snacks at the finish line. It’s a fundraiser for a scholarship, so it’s a great cause. There are no bathrooms on the course, so beware of that. It’s a lovely race in a country setting – very friendly and they waited to give out awards til everyone was finished. I was the final finisher and they cheered me on during the last part of the race, which is a lap around the track. I will do this one again.

This race is terrific! The weather was a bit windy this year, but you take what you can get in January. The course is lovely, lots of beach and water views. A four hour time limit allows to tons of photo ops and fun along they way. Many water stops and volunteers. It was really a good time, super flat, gorgeous medal & awesome long-sleeved tech shirt. It’s a fun race and I loved it! We walked nearly the entire thing, so my time is on the slow side, but it was worth it!

The Monumental Marathon is a really well put together event. Even though it’s the 19th largest marathon in the US, it didn’t feel that big. The expo is nice, lots of other races were there with discounts. Race morning I experienced a little confusion as to where exactly the start line was, but that’s probably my own fault for not reviewing the course beforehand. Race started on time, and the course was fast. I am not a fast runner, by any means, but the miles flew by. It is probably the flattest race I have ever run, and the after party is great. The medals were really nice, finishers gear for purchase at the finish line and free slice of pizza too. On course, there were so many people out and about cheering us on. (there were also some very unhappy drivers, but we had plenty of law enforcement out to deal with them.) I really enjoyed most of the course, it was parts of downtown that I haven’t been to before. Good race overall.

This race is designed to run past multiple Frank Lloyd Wright homes in Chicago. It is on residential roads and nearly all of them are completely closed. There are people cheering you on from their front steps and multiple water stations. It’s very well organized and the t-shirt was great. I was disappointed as they displayed a medal on the website, but you don’t get a finishers medal. I wish the houses were better marked without getting the map out, as I didn’t notice a couple of them. It’s a race I would do every year, if i was local.

The Hills! I am not used to gently rolling hills where I live, so these hills caused me great difficulty. The scenery was worth it though, as you crest a hill and see the water far below. The only part of the course that i didn’t really like was running on the shoulder of the road on the highway. It’s definitely a fast race, we were at the back and there were few people around. The support is amazing though, we had lots of water stops, there were people cheering us on at every stop. The view and the medal were worth it all. Even though the hills were like nothing i had ever run before, I would consider running it again.

This is not a race for slower runners. It had a 6hr time limit but I watched lots of runners finish after 6 hours last year, so I thought it would be doable. I knew it would be tough, I was planning on finishing around 6:30 or so. That didn’t happen at all though. The race is well organized, the course is lovely. The park you run through was fabulous. The water stations that were still open were very friendly and had lots of people cheering. By the time I got to mile 10 they had shut down the course and told me that I was running on my own, there was at least one person behind me as well. All the signs were removed, the mile markers were picked up and I was running in a bike lane for several miles. I’m so thankful they allowed the medical staff on bikes to stay out until i got to about mile 24. they took the finish line down after i crossed it, even though there were at least 2 people behind me. I should have picked a different race for my first marathon. I did get a pair of socks, a water bottle, key chain and an extra t-shirt for it being my first marathon. The bib was a different color also, so that people could cheer you on, but after the half/full split I didn’t see many people. **My results are what was on my watch, not the official race results as I don’t know what that is.

This race was an excellent production. It was one of the most organized races I’ve ever attended. The prerace set-up, corrals and start line were well organized. The water stops lasted forever it seemed. It was really humid, so they had run out of cups at the beginning of several of the water/Gatorade stations, if you ran farther down, there was still plenty of water and Gatorade. The crowd support was excellent – lots of people cheering. Once the full and half met up again around mile 11, the crowds were amazing! Crossing the finish line was an entirely new experience as we were ushered into the convention center for photos and food. Real food! Eggs, sausages, biscuits and gravy! Reunion areas, drop bag location, everything was so organized. It was an excellent event.

Vacation Races does a great job of hosting events close to National Parks. Great Smoky was no different. Little snafu with the timeliness of the transportation to the start line, but once it started it went smoothly. The shirts/medals and other swag is awesome! Cup-free race, which does take a minute to get used to. I ran with a pacer at 3:30 and we had a great time enjoying the scenery and encouraging everyone. Difficult course in that it’s on open roads, with most of the roads are banked one direction or the other. One thing I don’t like is that hydration is not cold, it’s air temperature. They do offer cold chocolate milk at the end of the race, but nothing cold on the course. Vacation Races really put on a good event. Everyone should do one, at leasr once.

This race is on a very quiet island. It has a late start (10am) which made for a very hot run. The 13 miles is basically the perimeter of the island, so lots of water views. It’s the flattest course I’ve ever seen. There are many water stops (with Gatorade) which helped a lot. Several people had sprinklers set up for the runners to run through. Only one water stop had Gu, but since I was at the back of the pack there weren’t many options left. Finish line is at the end of a gorgeous grapevine filled arbor. Medal is a wine stopper. After party is a buffet with all you can drink wine, free wine glass included. Band and awards for top runners. Long-sleeved race shirt with the theme of one of the Vineyards signature wines. It was a lot of fun. A great weekend away. Only 400 participants, so it sells out quickly.

A well organized race, half was through a lot of neighborhoods. Well marked and really well supported. The people watching at the end of their drives, offering lemonade, beer, etc was great. Aid stations were okay. M&Ms handed out towards the end were just what I needed. Minor concern with the conditions of some of the roadways. Nearly tripped on a pothole more than once. Finish line was amazing with all the people cheering. Food/beer was good, overall a really fun day.

This race requires some planning, getting a hotel or home close by is really necessary as there’s only one mountain pass highway in from the north. The start line was a little congested, but the “no cups” aspect made for a great race for me. I loved to nutrition they offered (Honey Stingers). Course was absolutely beautiful and the finish line area had a ton of people still cheering, even for those of us at the back of the pack. Parking is limited, bling is awesome. Can’t wait to do more of their races!!