I was looking for a Saturday race in-between Rochester and Ann Arbor and was excited to find this one since it sounded really fun. There are several of these Gourdy's … MORE
I was looking for a Saturday race in-between Rochester and Ann Arbor and was excited to find this one since it sounded really fun. There are several of these Gourdy’s pumpkin runs throughout the midwest. Since I love medals, I also signed up for the Tough Pumpkin where you get an extra medal for running with a pumpkin (you do have to pay extra for this). The race started in Downtown Akron and they had packet pick-up either the day before or the morning of the race. Akron is about a 4 drive for me so I obviously picked it up the morning of. I arrived early so I could have first pickings of the pumpkins. Packet pick-up was easy. You got your bib, a tote bag and a very nice, tech material hoodie. I then went to pick out my pumpkin. Some people choose the biggest pumpkins they can to see how tough they are, not me. I carefully looked and found the smallest pumpkin I ever saw. It weighed 1.2 lbs. The race had a starting arch and for the start you were supposed to select a corral based on predicted speed. I choose “corral” C which was 10 to 12 min/mile. They had an announcer who instructed each corral when to line up. However the corrals were a mess. I don’t really think it was the races fault other than they could have had labeled bibs and been strict about assigning corrals (not sure it is worth the effort for a fun run). It was very clear to me exactly when to go and what corral was right. The race was chipped time at the start and finish so no advantage to running early. Each corral left about every 2 minutes but some participants just randomly went between the corral. I expected the run a little over 10 min/mil and figured I should be the fastest in my corral so lined up near the front but no one was running the same speed as me. Oddly it wasn’t just walkers and slow runners who moved up but people much faster than me running 8 minute miles. It was just weird and I don’t know how to fix it without again being super strict which would take the fun away from the race but if you are participating in a race like this please try to choose to right corral it is about safety so we don’t run over each other. The course isn’t super scenic but nicer than I expected. The first mile was through downtown Akron and the last 2 miles along a canal path. The canal path was a little tight and there were a lot of cracks and potholes this is where the crowding became a bit of an issue. The course was well marked. There was no water stops but it was a cold day and it was fine without water. I actually didn’t carry water since I carried my baby pumpkin. It was pretty flat just some inclines. I was pretty fast today and ran a little over 10 min/mile just as I expected. At the finish line there is water and bananas. I would prefer a food item other than bananas but I had snacks in my car. You then get your medals. The medal is ridiculous. It is bigger than most of my marathon medals. The tough pumpkin one is nice since it was really hard to carry a 1 lb pumpkin. There is also an area where you can get a delicious cup of apple cider and all participants get a pumpkin so I got two pumpkins. This was a very fun, fall 5K with great swag. I wouldn’t really drive 4 hours for this race alone but if this race or another Gourdy’s pumpkin run fits in with another race I am running, I would definitely do it again.
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Not so Tough Pumpkin
I was looking for a Saturday race in-between Rochester and Ann Arbor and was excited to find this one since it sounded really fun. There are several of these Gourdy's … MORE
I was looking for a Saturday race in-between Rochester and Ann Arbor and was excited to find this one since it sounded really fun. There are several of these Gourdy’s pumpkin runs throughout the midwest. Since I love medals, I also signed up for the Tough Pumpkin where you get an extra medal for running with a pumpkin (you do have to pay extra for this). The race started in Downtown Akron and they had packet pick-up either the day before or the morning of the race. Akron is about a 4 drive for me so I obviously picked it up the morning of. I arrived early so I could have first pickings of the pumpkins. Packet pick-up was easy. You got your bib, a tote bag and a very nice, tech material hoodie. I then went to pick out my pumpkin. Some people choose the biggest pumpkins they can to see how tough they are, not me. I carefully looked and found the smallest pumpkin I ever saw. It weighed 1.2 lbs. The race had a starting arch and for the start you were supposed to select a corral based on predicted speed. I choose “corral” C which was 10 to 12 min/mile. They had an announcer who instructed each corral when to line up. However the corrals were a mess. I don’t really think it was the races fault other than they could have had labeled bibs and been strict about assigning corrals (not sure it is worth the effort for a fun run). It was very clear to me exactly when to go and what corral was right. The race was chipped time at the start and finish so no advantage to running early. Each corral left about every 2 minutes but some participants just randomly went between the corral. I expected the run a little over 10 min/mil and figured I should be the fastest in my corral so lined up near the front but no one was running the same speed as me. Oddly it wasn’t just walkers and slow runners who moved up but people much faster than me running 8 minute miles. It was just weird and I don’t know how to fix it without again being super strict which would take the fun away from the race but if you are participating in a race like this please try to choose to right corral it is about safety so we don’t run over each other. The course isn’t super scenic but nicer than I expected. The first mile was through downtown Akron and the last 2 miles along a canal path. The canal path was a little tight and there were a lot of cracks and potholes this is where the crowding became a bit of an issue. The course was well marked. There was no water stops but it was a cold day and it was fine without water. I actually didn’t carry water since I carried my baby pumpkin. It was pretty flat just some inclines. I was pretty fast today and ran a little over 10 min/mile just as I expected. At the finish line there is water and bananas. I would prefer a food item other than bananas but I had snacks in my car. You then get your medals. The medal is ridiculous. It is bigger than most of my marathon medals. The tough pumpkin one is nice since it was really hard to carry a 1 lb pumpkin. There is also an area where you can get a delicious cup of apple cider and all participants get a pumpkin so I got two pumpkins. This was a very fun, fall 5K with great swag. I wouldn’t really drive 4 hours for this race alone but if this race or another Gourdy’s pumpkin run fits in with another race I am running, I would definitely do it again.