This is a half marathon or 5K race in Ellicottville, NY. Ellicottville is a small ski town about an hour from Buffalo and 2 hours from Rochester so this is … MORE
This is a half marathon or 5K race in Ellicottville, NY. Ellicottville is a small ski town about an hour from Buffalo and 2 hours from Rochester so this is a relatively local race for me. This is produced by the same company that does the EVL Halloween race in October and I’ve done a couple races with them before but this is my first time doing this race. There was good pre-race communication with an athlete guide sent before the race. I did stay in a hotel since I didn’t feel like waking up early to drive 2 hours. You can either stay or at ski resort or I stayed at the Wingate right in downtown which is 1 mile from the resort. Parking at the resort is really easy. The ski resort was a great place to start as there was indoor bathrooms and indoor seating area if there was bad weather. Luckily weather was beautiful though a bit warm for a 9am race start. There is only race day packet pick-up. There is no expo but there were a few vendors outdoors by the start. Packet included bib and a nice polyblend shirt. I generally prefer tech shirts but this race company always has the softest most comfortable T-shirts and they are my favorite PJ tops. The shirt had a fun design and is very comfortable. It’s not a very large race. There are about 200 runners. They had pacers to help line up but no specific corrals. I just lined up near the back as there did not appear to be many back of packers. The course starts with a loop through the parking lot and then it is about 4 miles on the shoulder of a busy road. I did not love how busy the road was as I don’t like cars zooming by me but it was coned off and didn’t feel unsafe. I get there are limited options for courses in such a small town. Then next 2 to 3 miles are through a quieter road with very little traffic. The course is an out and back. This is not my favorite design but it is a scenic course with mountain and farm views. Course is a bit hilly but not too bad. Better than the EVL half though this is tough because it is net downhill the first half and net uphill the second half. Also as I assumed at the start there were not many back of packers. There is a 3:30 time limit (which they let people have a little leeway on) and I had no issues in terms of aid stations being near the back but I was running by myself most of the race and I tend to be less motivated without other runners around. There were sufficient aid stations with water and gatorade and 2 had gels which you passed twice so 4 aid stations with gels. While the aid stations were well stocked I didn’t think the aid stations were efficient and I didn’t like how they used tiny dixie cups and also just had the cups on a table as opposed to being handed the cups. This race switched to this during covid and did not seem to switch back like most races have. I just lost a few seconds each aid station. I am not blaming volunteers this was clearly what they were instructed. The volunteers were great. I was making good progress and was on pace to finish a bit under 3 hours at the half way mark but around mile 8 it got hot and that’s where the hills start. I do think 9am is a little late for a May race as weather would have been perfect the whole race if it started at 7 or 8am instead of 9am. I realized at mile 8 I likely wasn’t going to make my goal so had more fun the second half stopping for pics (I saw some cute chickens) and interacting more with the volunteers. I ended up finishing over 3 hours but under my secondary goal of 3:10. The listed time appears to be gun time as my Garmin had me closer to 3:08 finishing. Not sure if that will be fixed. Oh well, it was not a PR race and I’m not going to lose sleeping over my listed time being 1 minute slower. I loved that after the finish arch they had a bubble machine so there were bubbles all over the ground and made it really fun. Also the medal is really cute and huge. There was pretty good post-race food options. A huge muffin, bananas, granola bars, pretzels, etc. Also beer for those who drink it. Overall I thought this was a good race. I did not love the set up of an out and back on open roads but the scenery and swag was very nice. I’d recommend this to locals but wouldn’t call it a “must run.” Not my first choice for NY for 50 staters although if it works well with your schedule it’s not a bad choice.
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Very Happy with the Medal
This is a half marathon or 5K race in Ellicottville, NY. Ellicottville is a small ski town about an hour from Buffalo and 2 hours from Rochester so this is … MORE
This is a half marathon or 5K race in Ellicottville, NY. Ellicottville is a small ski town about an hour from Buffalo and 2 hours from Rochester so this is a relatively local race for me. This is produced by the same company that does the EVL Halloween race in October and I’ve done a couple races with them before but this is my first time doing this race. There was good pre-race communication with an athlete guide sent before the race. I did stay in a hotel since I didn’t feel like waking up early to drive 2 hours. You can either stay or at ski resort or I stayed at the Wingate right in downtown which is 1 mile from the resort. Parking at the resort is really easy. The ski resort was a great place to start as there was indoor bathrooms and indoor seating area if there was bad weather. Luckily weather was beautiful though a bit warm for a 9am race start. There is only race day packet pick-up. There is no expo but there were a few vendors outdoors by the start. Packet included bib and a nice polyblend shirt. I generally prefer tech shirts but this race company always has the softest most comfortable T-shirts and they are my favorite PJ tops. The shirt had a fun design and is very comfortable. It’s not a very large race. There are about 200 runners. They had pacers to help line up but no specific corrals. I just lined up near the back as there did not appear to be many back of packers. The course starts with a loop through the parking lot and then it is about 4 miles on the shoulder of a busy road. I did not love how busy the road was as I don’t like cars zooming by me but it was coned off and didn’t feel unsafe. I get there are limited options for courses in such a small town. Then next 2 to 3 miles are through a quieter road with very little traffic. The course is an out and back. This is not my favorite design but it is a scenic course with mountain and farm views. Course is a bit hilly but not too bad. Better than the EVL half though this is tough because it is net downhill the first half and net uphill the second half. Also as I assumed at the start there were not many back of packers. There is a 3:30 time limit (which they let people have a little leeway on) and I had no issues in terms of aid stations being near the back but I was running by myself most of the race and I tend to be less motivated without other runners around. There were sufficient aid stations with water and gatorade and 2 had gels which you passed twice so 4 aid stations with gels. While the aid stations were well stocked I didn’t think the aid stations were efficient and I didn’t like how they used tiny dixie cups and also just had the cups on a table as opposed to being handed the cups. This race switched to this during covid and did not seem to switch back like most races have. I just lost a few seconds each aid station. I am not blaming volunteers this was clearly what they were instructed. The volunteers were great. I was making good progress and was on pace to finish a bit under 3 hours at the half way mark but around mile 8 it got hot and that’s where the hills start. I do think 9am is a little late for a May race as weather would have been perfect the whole race if it started at 7 or 8am instead of 9am. I realized at mile 8 I likely wasn’t going to make my goal so had more fun the second half stopping for pics (I saw some cute chickens) and interacting more with the volunteers. I ended up finishing over 3 hours but under my secondary goal of 3:10. The listed time appears to be gun time as my Garmin had me closer to 3:08 finishing. Not sure if that will be fixed. Oh well, it was not a PR race and I’m not going to lose sleeping over my listed time being 1 minute slower. I loved that after the finish arch they had a bubble machine so there were bubbles all over the ground and made it really fun. Also the medal is really cute and huge. There was pretty good post-race food options. A huge muffin, bananas, granola bars, pretzels, etc. Also beer for those who drink it. Overall I thought this was a good race. I did not love the set up of an out and back on open roads but the scenery and swag was very nice. I’d recommend this to locals but wouldn’t call it a “must run.” Not my first choice for NY for 50 staters although if it works well with your schedule it’s not a bad choice.